The College outlines different requirements to practice depending on an Applicant’s practice hours. These requirements may include completing the College’s Mentorship Program. As a practicing SLP or Aud, there is a hoped for expectation for members to participate in the development of colleagues, new or re-entering the profession. You may be asked to be a mentor.
Mentorship is requested of all applicants who have completed their profession-specific education program in the preceding 12 months or have fewer than 1000 hours in the preceding four years. It is designed to ensure that a registrant’s knowledge base, skills, and professional networks reflect the basic standard of practice for the registrant’s area of practice and are current. Mentorship aims to ensure new graduates have a firm foundation for effective independent practice.
REQUIREMENTS OF THE MENTOR
A Mentor must be a General Status Audiologist or Speech-Language Pathologist in good standing with a minimum of three years of experience in the identified profession. A Mentor shall discuss her/his expectations with the applicant in advance of the commencement of the mentorship period. In most cases, one mentor will provide guidance. Where the College has approved it, more than one mentor may be involved in providing mentorship to the Applicant. The Mentor is not responsible for the patients/clients under the care of the Applicant. It is the Applicant who has the ultimate responsibility for all care provided. If the Mentor observes practice that may result in harm to the patient/client, the Mentor has an obligation to intervene. Apart from this extreme example, the Mentor serves as a consultant to the applicant during the reentry process.
Mentorship involves overseeing and evaluating the clinical work of an Audiologist or Speech-Language Pathologist which may include but is not limited to: conducting performance evaluations, case reviews, assessing written reports, and monitoring professional standards. Mentorship is typically 200 total hours over 6-month period: 20 hours (10%) being one-on-one hours with the mentor with 10 of the 20 hours being observation of client’s sessions or assessment. The Mentor will review a minimum of five of the Applicant’s patient/client records in the 200-hour period. Mentorship should be face-to-face when feasible. If face-to-face guidance is not possible, the observation method(s) must be outlined in the Mentorship Guidance Contract. Client assessment or therapy observation can be observed in person or via virtual care (live or video review). Confidentiality must be ensured and client consent must be obtained for all modes of observation. If a mentor feels that a mentee requires more mentorship than prescribed, they can note it on their feedback form for the college.
Specific details on what can be shared from the client record can be found in CASLP-NL Policy 2-50.
THE MENTORSHIP GUIDANCE CONTRACT
Together the Applicant and the Mentor must discuss plans for the content of the upcoming mentorship period, including the Mentor’s expectations during the mentorship. The membership Guidance Contract should identify specific learning goals that adhere to practice standards. Goals must reflect on skills needed to function effectively in her/his area of practice, help the applicant recognize her/his strengths, and to identify areas to be developed.
MENTORSHIP SKILLS INVENTORY
The Mentor will evaluate the Applicant’s performance during the mentorship using the Mentorship Skills Inventory. The Mentor will continuously evaluate the Applicant’s progress to:
- determine if the Applicant has any problems or concerns
- identify areas of success
- identify challenges or frustrating experiences
MECHANISM FOR FEEDBACK
The Applicant and the Mentor must include in the Mentorship Guidance Contract (form 5-30) how feedback will be provided (e.g., during face-to-face meetings, by written communication, phone conferences, email).
MENTORSHIP REPORT AND RATING FORM (MRRF)
The MRRF must be submitted electronically by the applicant after every 200 mentored hours or after completion of the Mentorship Program. A Mentor shall complete a MRRF within 14 calendar days of completion of each 200 hour period during mentorship.
The Mentor may recommend that the mentorship period be extended, start a new mentorship period with a new mentor, or have her/his registration terminated.
SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT SETTING
An Applicant wishing to engage in the practice of audiology or speech-language pathology at a secondary employment setting may do so if the Mentor is willing to include the secondary employment site in the Mentorship Guidance Contract. Otherwise, a second mentor must be chosen and approved by the College.