California State University San Marcos opened a unique off-campus speech and language clinic Monday to treat community members and provide training for students in its popular speech-language pathology major.
Janet Powell, dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services, said the 1,700 square-foot clinic in San Marcos will offer students “a meaningful, real-world experience” while serving the community.
“With a significant shortage of qualified speech-language pathologists in the public schools, the university made this a priority,” Powell said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Clinic Director Kristen Nahrstedt said the clinic expects to serve 80 patients annually who are suffering from speech disorders. Treatment typically takes 60 hours over a period of time and is free to community members.
The clinic, located at 135 Vallecitos De Oro, will be open fives days a week during the summer and two days a week during the academic year. Previously students worked out of a converted dorm room.
“We’re trying to provide a high-quality educational experience for the students and also reaching out to the community,” Nahrstedt said.
The university has nearly 75 students enrolled in its Master of Arts in Education with Communicative Sciences and Disorders Option.