Student clinician vs speech therapist

The differences between student clinicians and speech therapists 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 therapist. Additionally, a speech therapist has an average salary of $70,411, 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 therapist are patients, home health, and rehabilitation.

Student clinician vs speech therapist overview

	Student Clinician	Speech Therapist
Yearly salary	$59,506	$70,411
Hourly rate	$28.61	$33.85
Growth rate	21%	21%
Number of jobs	36,281	57,509
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
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 therapist do?

Speech Therapists work with patients across multiple age groups to facilitate the treatment of speech and language disorders, such as stammers and stutters. They work with people who cannot produce speech sounds or cannot produce them clearly.

Student clinician vs speech therapist salary

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

	Student Clinician	Speech Therapist
Average salary	$59,506	$70,411
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $85,000	Between $52,000 And $93,000
Highest paying City	-	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Ohio's Hospice of Dayton
Best paying industry	-	Professional

Differences between student clinician and speech therapist education

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

	Student Clinician	Speech Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Communication Disorders Sciences	Communication Disorders Sciences
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Northwestern University

Student clinician vs speech therapist demographics

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

	Student Clinician	Speech Therapist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 16.5% Female, 83.5%	Male, 9.0% Female, 91.0%
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, 9.6% Asian, 4.5% White, 76.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between student clinician and speech therapist 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 therapist example responsibilities.

Conduct individual and group therapy with individuals diagnose with speech and language impairment, learning disabilities, and autism spectrum disorder.
Conduct IEP meetings and provide documentation for Medicaid billing.
Provide services to children with developmental delay and autism.
Graduate student supervisor, and supervisor for CFY's.
Work under the supervision of an ASHA's certify SLP.
Instruct children in the proper use of assistive devices such as hearing aides.

Student clinician vs speech therapist skills

Common student clinician skills

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

Common speech therapist skills

Patients, 29%
Home Health, 25%
Rehabilitation, 8%
Acute Care, 7%
Asha, 5%
Treatment Programs, 4%

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Student Clinician
Student Clinician vs Speech Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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