Personal statement
I have been working at Strathclyde since 2005. Before then I held posts in the NHS and Academia as a Speech and Language Therapist and Research Fellow.
My job combines a mixture of teaching, research and external collaboration with colleagues in the NHS where I am Vice Chair of a NHS Research Ethics Committee.
Expertise
Has expertise in:
- Speech disorders in children and adolescents
- Voice disorders in children and adolescents
- Communication disability in those with an associated genetic condition
- Clinical Education and Professional Development
Qualifications
I currently hold several areas of responsibility within the University and externally:
University responsibilities:
- Deputy Head of the Graduate School
- School of Psychological Sciences and Health Ethics Committee
- University Quality Assurance Contact for Health and Care Professions Council
- Professional Lead in Speech and Language Therapy (2016 - 2021)
- Mentor STEP SFHEA Support Network (2017)
- University Personal Development Planning Network (until 2016)
- Responsible for leading negotiation of PPA for 8/10 health boards as listed above on behalf of SLT and NCPO programmes (until 2016)
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Board of Study member (2013 - 2016)
External and Professional responsibilities
- Member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (9502)
- Registered member of the Health and Care Professions Council (SL02551)
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PR119602)
- Health and Care Professions Council Fitness to Practice Panel Member (2022 - current)
- RCSLT Committee of Representatives of Education in Speech and Language Therapy (CREST) (2016 - 2021)
- Secretary to CREST (2017 - 2018)
- Chair of CREST (2018 - 2021)
- Maxwell Bequest Committee (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde) (2017 - 2022)
- West of Scotland NHS Research Ethics Committee Member/ Vice Chair (WESROC4) (2017 - current)
Teaching
The SLT programme at the University of Strathclyde is one of only two in Scotland, and one of the longest running programmes in the UK. SLTs have been formally educated in Glasgow since 1935 and the course is currently regarded in high esteem across the UK. This high esteem continues with high response rates in the National Student Survey.
I have several key teaching responsibilities including voice disorders and developmental language disorders, both aligning with my research interests.
From 2005 until 2016 I coordinated all aspects of the student's undergraduate practice placement programme, working closely with colleagues across Scotland. This role required me to work closely with national systems including the Scottish Government, the Health and Care Professions Council and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists to ensure that our graduates are able to enter into the workplace with the required skills to work as speech and langauge therapists.
I have considerable external examining and external assessing experience including:
- External examiner for BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Therapy, City, University of London. current
- External examiner for BSc Clinical Speech and Language Studies, Trinity College, University of Dublin. October 2017 - 2020
- External examiner for BSc Hons Speech Pathology and Therapy, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh 2013 – 2017
- External adviser for Manchester Metropolitan University - BSc Hons Speech and Language Therapy - June 2022.
- External adviser for Sheffield University - BSc Hons Speech and Language Therapy Programme Revalidation – November 2017.
- External adviser for Birmingham City University - BSc Hons Speech and Language Therapy Programme Revalidation - October 2016.
- External assessor, Faculty Programme Panel, Manchester Metropolitan University (AKMI Metropolitan College, Athens). May 2013
Research interests
My research interests are aligned to University’s health and wellbeing strategy in the area of speech, language, voice and communication.
Recent projects focused on developing tools for evaluating voice difficulties in children.
My longest standing interests relate to a national collaboration investigating the genetic factors associated with language and communication difficulties. My involvement in this (the SLI consortium) dates back to the design, collection and analysis of genetic and language performance data from a Scottish family cohort study. The SLI Consortium brought together key personnel from a series of cohort studies to increase the statistical strength of the data. I led the design of the language assessment protocol and data gathering for the Scottish cohort. The data continues to be analysed as genetic analysis techniques are refined. This is resulting in current collaborative publications which are attributed to key named authors and all members of the SLI Consortium who had principle involvement in the data gathering and early analysis.
Professional activities
- CAHPR Scotland lunchtime webinar: Demystifying ethics
- Speaker
- 23/3/2023
- Scottish Government (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 8/2022
- Scottish Government (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 7/2022
- HCPC Partner - Fitness to Practice
- Consultant
- 6/2022
- Developing and applying skills in psychological science across health, social care and industry
- Host
- 10/5/2022
- CPD in PSH: Developing and applying skills in psychological science across health, social care and industry
- Recipient
- 10/5/2022
More professional activities
Projects
- Evaluating the extent to which the Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) impact on future student placement development
- Cohen, Wendy (Principal Investigator) Timmins, Claire (Co-investigator)
- When designing the current BSc (Hons) in Speech and Language Pathology, OSCEs were identified as having a role at a specific stage in student development. Using the Scottish Curriculum Qualifications Framework (SCQF, 2012) as a skills’ benchmark, there was a clear description in two skill sets (Practice, applied knowledge and understanding; Communication) at levels 8 and 9 of the framework that corresponded to 2nd and 3rd year level of undergraduate study in Scotland. Four specific clinical skills were identified as suitable for OSCE and these were introduced into the curriculum in academic session 2015/16. Each task was intrinsically linked to a specific skill that would be developed during the 2nd year clinical placement with class based support activities. The OSCEs were then timetabled to take place during the summer examination diet for 2nd year students. Student feedback has been positive since the introduction of the OSCEs, with students commenting on aspects related to their relevance to clinical practice, their understanding of what the OSCEs were assessing, parity across the cohort and the value of constructive feedback for future learning (Cohen & Timmins, 2017). External examiners have also commended the course team on the introduction of the OSCEs.
Recent studies have explored OSCEs from the learners’ perspective and in particular from the field of nursing. Nursing students have reported that OSCEs lead to increased self-directed learning and increased self-confidence (Ha, 2016) and that the constructive feedback learners receive contribute positively to their future learning and development.
The extent to which speech and language therapy students can implement the skills they have demonstrated during their 2nd year OSCEs has not been evaluated and this study proposes to undertake this type of evaluation. By sampling, anonymously, the current 3rd year SLP cohort, who have successfully completed their OSCEs it is hoped that we can understand whether or not students have been able to implement these skills successfully in practice. Through additional discussion with the clinical tutors who provide guidance and support to these students as they progress through their subsequent 3rd year placement we hope to understand more about the effect that OSCEs have on future student learning and development.
- 24-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2019
- Effect of a voice care programme on student teachers
- Cohen, Wendy (Principal Investigator) Andrews, Carolyn (Principal Investigator)
- The proposed study aims to introduce voice hygiene at an early stage in student teacher training and follow this up with materials designed to stimulate self-management throughout participants’ teacher training programme. This approach will be evaluated using validated questionnaires and a demographic questionnaire. This will establish if there is a sustained impact of vocal hygiene training on student teachers, with a focus on those who are following a shorter duration of training so that retention might be facilitated with the project lasting during their registered studies. Follow up of participants to the end of their first year as a newly qualified teacher will be offered to participants who opt in to the study so that longer term impact can be evaluated
- 24-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2020
- Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis: Towards improved clinical diagnosis using analysis of voice recordings
- Di Caterina, Gaetano (Principal Investigator) Cohen, Wendy (Co-investigator) Soraghan, John (Co-investigator)
- Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis: Towards improved clinical diagnosis using analysis of voice recordings
- 01-Jan-2018 - 28-Jan-2019
- Voice outcomes following airway reconstruction in children
- Cohen, Wendy (Principal Investigator)
- Voice outcomes following airway reconstruction in children
- 01-Jan-2015 - 31-Jan-2015
- Parent perceptions of Down’s Syndrome Scotland (DSS) communication groups
- Anderson, Carolyn (Co-investigator) Cohen, Wendy (Academic)
- 06-Jan-2014 - 16-Jan-2014
- Speech factors predicting change in children with repaired cleft palates (Maxwell Bequest - MPhil Studentship SLT)
- Cohen, Wendy (Principal Investigator) Lowit, Anja (Co-investigator)
- 29-Jan-2013 - 30-Jan-2015
More projects
Address
Speech and Language Therapy
Graham Hills
Graham Hills
Location Map
View
University of Strathclyde
in a larger map