Health Care Professionals

Siskin Hospital periodically offers Advanced Learning Courses for therapeutic professionals. The classes are educational opportunities designed to satisfy the occupational therapy rules and regulations to become certified to use physical agent modalities, prior to the documentation/supervision requirements in the clinical setting.

For more information on any of the Advanced Learning Courses, please call Betty Penley at 423-634-1579.

The following is information on the last Advanced Learning Course held at Siskin Hospital. Please check back periodically for new course opportunities. Thank you!

Siskin Hospital's Advanced Learning Courses for Therapeutic Professionals

"Advanced Oropharyngeal Dysphagia Assessment & Treatment"

- Course sponsored by Siskin Hospital

This course is for Speech-Language Pathologists.

Cost: $89 for Professionals

Credit: This program is offered for .6 CEU's

(Advanced Level, Professional Area).

Course Description: Our goal is to offer high quality continuing education opportunities at a reasonable cost. This advanced course is dysphagia assessment and treatment is for speech-language pathologists treating swallowing disorders, with particular emphasis on patients at a higher risk for aspiration pneumonia.

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Compare the purposes, test items and outcome information of several currently used clinical dysphagia assessment tools including data related to sensitivity and specificity fo individual test items.
• Compare the advantages and disadvantages of the clinical dysphagia assessment versus instrumental studies, and transnasal endoscopic swallowing assessment versus the videofluoroscopic swallow study.
• Discuss findings from the clinical dysphagia assessment to assist in making better decisions regarding direct therapy intervention and/or the need for further instrumental assessment.
• Explain how common laboratory tests of blood cultures can be used in oropharyngeal dysphagia assessment and management.
• Explain the relationship between elevated white blood cell count and conditions conductive for pneumonia development.
• List the progressive pathophysiological steps leading to the development of bacterial nosomial pneumonia in patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia.
• Discuss the Tennessee laws regulating SLP administration of endoscopy.
• Discuss VFSS and FEES and the value of both tools in the assessment of dysphagia.
• Discuss findings from systematic reviews to assist in determining the potential effectiveness of a treatment regimen.
• Identify the need for further research and study in methods of dysphagia treatment and discuss potentially new approaches.
• Discuss the physiological changes to the oropharyngeal environment and their causes as a result of serious illness onset, and the implications of these changes in the development of pneumonia in acute and critically ill patients.
• Discuss observational and formal assessment tools to determine the potential risk to patients with improper or poor oral hygiene.
• Discuss cleaning practices, protocols, and procedures in oral care, and the rols of the health care team in insuring proper care.

Course Instructor: John Ashford, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Dr. John Ashford is a preofessor of Speech-Language Pathology at Vanderbilt University and Tennessee State University. He also serves as a consultant and guest lecturer with special interest in the area of dysphagia. His published topics include a series of articles on evidence-based treatment of swallowing disorders, laboratory values and the implications for swallowing assessment, oral care in the elderly population, reliability of the clinical swallowing evaluation, and factors involved relative to patients with pneumonia. He is a co-owner of a private practice, SA Swallowing Services, PLLC.

Course Schedule: Saturday, August 21, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

9:00- 10:30 a.m.     Revisiting the Clinical (Bedside) Dysphagia Assessment

10:30- 10:45 a.m.   Break

10:45- 12:15 p.m.   Blood Culture Values in Oral Feeding Decisions; VFSS or FEES, Have Times Changed? 

12:15- 1:15 p.m.     LUNCH (provided)

1:15- 2:45 p.m.       Evidence-Based Practice: Swallowing Maneuvers and Compensatory Strategies for Neurogenic Patients

2:45- 3:00 p.m.        Break

3:00- 4:30 p.m.        The Importance of Oral Care in Patients with Oropharyngeal Dysphagia

4:30 p.m.                  Adjourn