Student clinician vs speech pathologist

The differences between student clinicians and speech pathologists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a student clinician and a speech pathologist. Additionally, a speech pathologist has an average salary of $62,640, which is higher than the $59,506 average annual salary of a student clinician.

The top three skills for a student clinician include language disorders, patients and autism. The most important skills for a speech pathologist are patients, language, and speech.

Student clinician vs speech pathologist overview

	Student Clinician	Speech Pathologist
Yearly salary	$59,506	$62,640
Hourly rate	$28.61	$30.12
Growth rate	21%	21%
Number of jobs	36,281	22,779
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

What does a student clinician do?

A Student Clinician is a healthcare practitioner who works as caregiver of a patient in a hospital or clinic. They integrate knowledge obtained in courses into the clinical practicum assignments.

What does a speech pathologist do?

The job of speech pathologists is to diagnose, treat, and prevent speech, social communication, language, swallowing, and cognitive-communication disorders in both children and adults. They are responsible for providing aural rehabilitation for people with hearing impairment and hearing loss, and alternative and augmentative systems for people with severe language comprehension disorders such as progressive neurological disorders and the autism spectrum. Speech pathologists may also work with individuals without language, swallowing, or speech disorders, but are eager to know how to communicate more effectively.

Student clinician vs speech pathologist salary

Student clinicians and speech pathologists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Student Clinician	Speech Pathologist
Average salary	$59,506	$62,640
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $85,000	Between $43,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Nevada
Best paying company	-	Mayo Clinic
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between student clinician and speech pathologist education

There are a few differences between a student clinician and a speech pathologist in terms of educational background:

	Student Clinician	Speech Pathologist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Communication Disorders Sciences	Communication Disorders Sciences
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Student clinician vs speech pathologist demographics

Here are the differences between student clinicians' and speech pathologists' demographics:

	Student Clinician	Speech Pathologist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 16.5% Female, 83.5%	Male, 11.9% Female, 88.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 4.5% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 4.5% White, 77.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between student clinician and speech pathologist duties and responsibilities

Student clinician example responsibilities.

Provide group base intervention for elementary age students who use AAC, with and without communication disorders
Deliver speech therapy in individual and group settings; focuse on improving overall functional communication in patients with non-fluent aphasia.
Evaluate patients in the acute care setting for communication disorders, develop and implement therapy for acute care and rehabilitation patients.
Provide speech and language intervention for a varying population with stuttering, receptive-expressive language delay, aphasia, and articulation deficits.
Addressed concerns such as articulation, augmentative alternative communication, autism-spectrum disorders, pragmatic issues, expressive and receptive language issues.
Provide AAC training utilizing communications book.

Speech pathologist example responsibilities.

Manage staff development activities including sensory integration and IEP goal writing.
Provide speech and language therapy under the supervision and guidance of assign SLP supervisor.
Administer and interpreting diagnostic evaluations on children with a variety of speech and language disorders in an out-patient facility.
Develop specific treatment plans and family education plans for rehabilitation patients in anticipation of discharge home or to appropriate rehabilitation facilities.
Participate as a member of the acute care and outpatient rehabilitation team in diagnostic and therapeutic services to neurologically impair adults.
Develop policies and procedures to secure Medicare and Medicaid provider numbers.

Student clinician vs speech pathologist skills

Common student clinician skills

Language Disorders, 19%
Patients, 15%
Autism, 10%
Traumatic Brain Injury, 5%
Group Therapy Sessions, 4%
Aphasia, 3%

Common speech pathologist skills

Patients, 18%
Language, 17%
Speech, 17%
Patient Care, 8%
Rehabilitation, 7%
Home Health, 6%

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Student Clinician
Student Clinician vs Speech Pathologist

Updated January 8, 2025

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