Thanks to a generous Global Grant from The Rotary Foundation, our SSTC collaboration with the University of Puthisastra for the “Foundations of Adult Dysphagia Management” course will begin on October 7.
This will be Cambodia’s first university-level certification course in medical speech pathology!
In a vote of confidence by the Cambodian government, the course has been approved by the Cambodian Medical and Nursing Councils.
This year-long course brings the training programs we have been developing in Cambodia over many years to a new level. The university program incorporates state-of-the-art lectures, exams, and competency benchmarks to be met, as well as carefully designed dysphagia services within the five hospitals and clinics sending trainees.
Dysphagia is a common and serious health issue that can lead to malnutrition, dehydration, aspiration pneumonia and reduced quality of life. According to the World Health Organization, dysphagia affects up to 22% of adults over 50 years old and up to 68% of stroke survivors. In Cambodia, there is a lack of trained professionals and specialized services to address this problem.
The university program aims to fill this gap by providing high quality training and mentoring to the participants, who are doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists from two public hospitals and three top-rated private institutions. The participants will receive clinical supervision from internationally licensed speech pathologists with at least five years of dysphagia experience. The employers of the participants have pledged to support them during their one-year training and to provide ongoing and lasting dysphagia services for their patients.
Click here to learn more about the university course.