Duration
2 years full time
Mode (Location)
On campus (Parkville)
Intake
February
Key dates
Key dates
Fees
Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) available
Learn more
Learn more
Entry schemes
Access Melbourne is available
Learn more
Learn more
Student experience
Overview
- Specialised learning in a tight-knit community
- Engage in diverse clinical placements and onsite learning opportunities
- Develop critical research skills through a supervised final-year project, with the opportunity to contribute to international peer-reviewed publications
As a Master of Speech Pathology student, you will be passionate about communication access and improving the lives of people with communication and/or swallowing difficulties.
Throughout the two-year (full-time) program, you will experience a range of clinical placements, giving you exposure to a variety of different practice areas.
Highlights of the Master of Speech Pathology experience
Day-to-day experience
Step into the vibrant Parkville campus and experience an enriching student life. As a speech pathology student, you'll join a close-knit cohort guided by passionate educators with impressive research pedigrees.
Small class sizes allow you to connect meaningfully with your fellow peers and take advantage of a diverse range of teaching approaches. Students will gain knowledge from expert teaching staff who have established research portfolios across areas of speech pathology. Furthermore, you'll translate theory into real-world expertise through extensive clinical placements and training at unique facilities like our Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) clinic for swallowing assessment.
Learning mode
This two-year full-time program combines a strong scientific foundation with practical clinical experience across diverse practice areas. In the first year, you’ll build knowledge in anatomy, physiology, phonetics, linguistics, speech and language disorders, and clinical processes. The second year expands your clinical skills and introduces research methods. You’ll also complete a supervised research project, gaining valuable experience and preparing a manuscript for potential publication in an international peer-reviewed journal.
Opportunities
As a student of the Master of Speech Pathology program, you will have access to unique onsite clinical experiences, including the FEES clinic – the only one of its kind at any university in Melbourne.
Read about Lottie’s experience in the Master of Speech Pathology program below
Profile
Lottie Morison
I’ve wanted to do speech pathology since I was young. Some of my cousins were diagnosed with autism and saw a speech pathologist and so did one of my grandparents, for help with swallowing.
The course is wonderful, I am loving it. We’re exposed to a big range of learning opportunities, a lot of clinical experiences and very impressive and inspiring guest lecturers.
It is making me re-evaluate what area I’d like to work in. I came in thinking I wanted to work with kids, but on my most recent placement I worked with adults with acquired neurological conditions, which was very complex and rewarding. So now I’m reconsidering.
Our coursework has also been very diverse and interesting – the people teaching us are passionate. I’m really looking forward to starting my thesis, which makes up 25 per cent of our second year. At Melbourne we have the chance do our thesis with supervisors from some of the country’s leading research institutes, which is particularly exciting.
I’m interested in researching speech and language impairments in children with genetic disorders, but there’s a lot of variety in the course for students to pursue their own areas of interest. I know some other students are interested in researching voice and performance, for example.
Our cohort is small – in my year there are 60 of us. I came from a very big undergraduate course and I didn’t know anyone! But this course is really lovely – we do everything together and so we all end up knowing and supporting each other.
The course has really ignited a passion in me to give back to society and make positive change. Speech pathologists are often the advocate for a patient when they are accessing other services, because communication underpins everything.