Education of speech-language pathologists and audiologists in Brazil.
The field of speech-language pathology (SLP) in Brazil, named 'fonoaudiologia', comprises both a therapeutic approach to communication disorders and audiology and was officially recognized on December 9, 1981 (law No. 6965). University programs exist since the 1960s. The undergraduate level is a 4-year honors Bachelor of Science program and requires at least a 3,700 h of coursework. Since 1996 four areas of specialization were established: language, audiology, voice and oral myology, requiring a minimum of 500 h of course. Graduate programs in the narrower sense,master's degree and doctorate, exist since the 1970s. Brazil is a 180-million inhabitant country with approximately 25,000 speech-language pathologists, of which 2,700 are specialists, 800 masters and 210 doctors. There are almost 100 undergraduate programs and 70 specialization courses; however, for master's degree and doctorate purposes there are only 8.
Behlau
Mara
M
Centro de Estudos da Voz (CEV), São Paulo, Brazil. mbehlau@uol.com.br
Gasparini
Gisele
G
D001298:Audiology / Q000193:education*; D001938:Brazil; D003479:Curriculum; D004500:Education, Graduate; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008004:Licensure; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology / Q000193:education* / Q000266:history