139: Working Towards Expertise in Dysphagia Management with Rinki Varindani Desai, M.S.,CCC-SLP, CBIS, CDP

In this conversation, Rinki discusses how acquiring “expertise” is more than just education and clinical experience, but rather, a cumulative result of lifelong learning, self-reflection and refinement, advocacy, involvement, and striving to create positive impact in the field of swallowing and medical speech-language pathology.

topics covered:

Expertise:

o Who is an expert? What differentiates education and experience from expertise?

o Knowing what you don’t know and seeking additional opportunities

o Self-reflection, growth mindset, and lifelong learning

Advocacy:

o Volunteering and involvement at the local / state / national level to advocate for patients and the profession

o Benefits of advocacy and involvement in developing expertise

Impact:  

o Dissemination of information via social media – the pros and cons

o Sharing dysphagia expertise - considerations for judging the validity of your knowledge and the reception of it

o Acquiring expertise and creating impact as a result of deliberate, consistent, and thoughtful investment in lifelong learning, interpersonal skill development, advocacy, involvement, and collaborations.

resources mentioned in the episode

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Resources: 

Swallowing Training and Education Portal (STEP) website 

Dysphagia Therapy mobile app 

Dysphagia Research Society 

Informed SLP 

Speechbite 

DIG DEEPER WITH THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES: 

ALL THINGS RINKI!

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Rinki Varindani Desai is a medical speech-language pathologist, certified brain injury specialist and certified dementia practitioner; specializing in the assessment and treatment of swallowing disorders in adults. She is currently the adult outpatient lead and a clinical instructor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head Neck Surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. She serves as Associate Coordinator of ASHA’s Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders Special Interest Group (SIG 13), Co-Chair of the Dysphagia Research Society’s COVID-19 Task Force and Chair of the MSHA Membership Committee. She is the co-founder of the Swallowing Training and Education Portal (STEP) website, founder of the Medical SLP Forum group and co-creator of the Dysphagia Therapy mobile app. A recipient of seven ASHA ACE awards, Rinki was one among 30 clinicians selected for ASHA’s Leadership Development Program in 2017 and ASHA’s Faculty Development Institute in 2019. After receiving her B.S. in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology in 2009 from AYJNISHD in Mumbai, she earned her M.S. in Communication Disorders from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2011. She has practiced for over a decade in acute, sub-acute, outpatient, and long-term care medical settings. Rinki has presented at national and international conferences and published on topics related to dysphagia. She enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and doing what she can to help advance the profession by paying it forward.

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