Interuniversity Speech Therapy Study Office :

• President : A. Content (ULB)
• Vice-President : M. Remacle (UCL)
• Members : M. Constas (deputy of the Faculty of ULB), P. Deltenre (ULB), M. Piquart (deputy for study mangement, UCL), M.-A. Schelstraete (UCL).

This is composed of all the "licence" Speech therapy lecturers and a students representative per programme year.

The management of the apprenticeships is entrusted to the Apprenticeship Management Committee, composed of four people, two from each university.

Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. Tel. 010472011, 010474022, 010478617.

At the crossroads between the medical and psychological disciplines, Speech Therapy is the top therapy of language. The studies in these disciplines provide a scientifically based training which is technically efficient and of great human quality.

The admission conditions are governed by the articles 10, 11 and 12 of the Decree relating to the reglementation for university studies and academic diplomas (c.f. "General Information" section of the brochure).

The first year of the "licence" programme in Speech Therapy is accessible to :

1. holders of the first university cycle of studies ( "candidature") diploma, delivered by one of the Belgian university faculties of Psychology ;
2. higher education institution diploma holders, on condition that they have passed an exam enabling prior verification of their relevant knowledge and capabilities ;
3. holders of the " candidature" diploma in Medecine or the Arts -orientation : Romance Studies, Germanic and Linguistic Studies- delivered by the faculties of UCL and ULB, subject to any necessary programme modification.

Cases not featuring above will be analysed individually by the offices of the Psychology Faculties, on the recommendation of the Interuniversity Study Office for Speech Therapy.

Mastery of the French language is a prerequisite for obtaining this university degree ("licence") in Speech Therapy. A dispensatory test is organised for students at the beginning of the first academic year, under the responsibility of an assigned member of the programme Jury.

Participation is compulsory.

The test is divided into three sections :

• spelling
• summary writing
• oral expression

The results will be communicated to the students on the three following bases : satisfactory level for doing the course, recommended remediation work or advice on reorientation of studies.

For those students whose level is not judged as being satisfactory, the exam must be retaken during the June session. The student must pass in order to be eligible for the second year of studies.

Admission and enrolment procedures are detailed in the "General Information" brochure.

Admission applications should be addressed to Michèle Piquart, Deputy Course Manager at UCL. She will then hand them in to the Speech Therapy office.

The degree programme in Speech Therapy is organised jointly by the Catholic University of Louvain and by the free University of Brussels.

The pluridisciplinary nature of speech therapy is reflected in the study programme. The "licence" programme in Speech Therapy includes theoretical and clinical courses in all the disciplines required on the professional field, as well as the writing of a thesis. The programme places a lot of importance on Biomedical Sciences, Language Sciences, Cognitive Psychology and Neurosciences and Clinical Psychology.

Students are requested to consult the rules and regulations relating to the "licence" programme in Speech Therapy via the following site :
http://www.psp.ucl.ac.be/etudes/horairesetinfosDV/infoslogo2.html

60 hours, from among :

A research period can be carried out during the course of the second quadrimester of the second year.

The third year includes work experience periods in centres approved by the Apprenticeship Committee. This year is also dedicated to the writing of the end of course thesis.

In order to obtain a university degree in Speech Therapy, the students must have completed two periods of professional practical training, for a total duration of 900 course attendance hours, divided into two periods of 450 hours.

A research placement of 300 hours may be carried out during the second semester of the second year of the programme. Two professional practical training periods of 300 hours each must then be carried in the third year of the programme.

In the third year of the programme, a period of practical professional work experience must be dedicated to general clinical speech therapy (essentially to problems with oral language and written language), the other professional practical training period must be dedicated to specialised speech therapy. The practical training must take place in institutions or with different teams. The students will preferably choose work placements which will enable them to make contact with the different domains of speech therapy practice (hearing problems, handicaps, oral and written language problems, neuropsychology, learning problems and voice).

All apprenticeships will be subject to the writing of a report destined for the academic tutor and an assigned member of the Apprenticeship Committee.

In order to obtain approval as a work placement centre, an institution needs to contain a full-time operational speech therapy entity with a regular psychological and medical support system. Priority will be given to institutions with speech therapy licences.

A list of the institutions recognised by the apprenticeship Committee is available for the students. This list is updated at the beginning of each academic year.

The students have the possibility to carry out their work placements in a Belgian or a foreign institution not included on the list (in a francophone region). In this case, they will need to hand in a justified request to the Apprenticeship Committee whose approval will have to be given prior to the beginning of the work placement period.

On the one hand, the student will benefit from group supervision. He is required to participate in the practical tasks of the professional training programme (TPFP) throughout the duration of the third year of studies.

On the other hand, the student will benefit from individual supervision assured by an academic tutor. In the context of the general work placement training, it is the tutor who leads the TPFP. In the context of the specialised training, the student will choose an academic tutor with the relevant competence, from among the whole team of speech therapy lecturers on the course.

The tutor will meet with the apprentice student at least 4 times during the work placement period, to get to know him and also to discuss the nature of the practical work done as well as its theoretical bases. In case of a research apprenticeship, the work placement supervisor may also assume the role of tutor if he is a lecturer on the course.

Each period must be successfully completed separately from the others. For each one, 50% of the marks are awarded for the TPFP. The TPFP tutor will establish the mark in accordance with the active participation of the student and the tasks required of him during the sessions. The other 50% of the marks are awarded by the practical training academic tutor who keeps a record of the supervision and includes the report handed in by the student and the evaluation of the training supervisor from the Institution. The work placement Committee can give their opinion on the evaluation of those periods. For the calculation of the final grade, the average of the marks obtained for the work experience counts for a quarter of the final score.

The students must record their work placement experice in a special note book. This book contains the identity of the student, the host institution and the training supervisor, a summary of the activities undertaken by the student and the evaluation on the part of the supervisor.

The student must keep his note book with him for the full duration of the practical training period and present it at each of the meetings with his tutor. The University insurances (civil responsibility and corporal damage ) only cover the student if they are signed by the training supervisor, the academic tutor, the student and one of the Committee members, even if the experience takes place abroad. The student is required to collect these signatures within 15 days, counting from the first day of the training period.

These records must be handed in, duly completed, to the assigned member of the work experience Committee, at least 10 days before the deliberation.

The thesis is supervised by a member of the Council of Interuniversity Speech Therapy Studies. The thesis "jury" is composed of the thesis promoter and two readers. For each thesis "jury", both universities will be represented. Among the three"jury" members, at least two will be doctors.

The thesis "jurys" are constituted by the President of the "licence" programme jury, after consultation with the Council members. For the thesis to be defended in the third year, the student will hand in the title, the description of the thesis subject and proof of the promoter's approval to the administrative Director of the Faculty of Psychology before 1st May of the second year and give confirmation thereof before 15th December of the third year. No dispensations can be granted.

The oral defence of the thesis will be public. It will take place before the thesis "jury" and be open to anybody interested. The defence will consist of a succinct presentation of the work followed by questions and answers on the part of the "jury".

The final evaluation, calculated out of 1000 points, includes the evaluations of each year of the programme, divided up as follows :

• the total of the marks obtained for the tuition is evaluated out of 500 points ;
• the total score of the evaluations of the apprenticeships is calculated out of 250 points ;
• the thesis counts for 250 points.

University graduates in Speech Therapy have access to the specialised study degree in Speech Therapy and to the PhD programme in Psychological Sciences, Speech Therapy orientation.