March 24, 2020
*This accommodation is being made to assist applicants during the COVID-19 crisis in order to assist in meeting the public need of access to care with a pool of graduates prepared to provide Speech and Language Pathology service in the safest manner possible under the current circumstances. This accommodation is limited to Board requirements only. It is the responsibility of each applicant to confirm that their University has satisfied the clinical requirements of the applicant and it is the responsibility of each University to ensure that they satisfy the clinical requirements of the professional associations and the requirements necessary to maintain accreditation.
In order to assist with these special circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Speech and Language Pathologists and Audiologist has temporarily enacted the following:
Intern students who are unable to attend their clinical work placements due to the outbreak of COVID-19 may use the following methods to obtain hours that will be accepted toward the clinical hour requirements ONLY for the purposes of licensure through the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Speech and Language Pathologists and Audiologists.
(1) The Board will count a one (1) hour lecture that is highly concentrated in the specific clinical area as equal to three (3) clinical hours in that area. This may be done through video recording or virtual classroom. For every one (1) hour of lecture, there must be a 15-minute debriefing with the clinical educator or professor. A maximum of twenty-one (21) clinical hours may be obtained in this way;
(2) There will be no maximum number of allowable simulated case hours;
(3) Standardized Patients may be used in place of actual patients. Standardized Patients are individuals who are trained to portray a specific patient case in a highly consistent and measurable manner;
(4) All of the above mentioned methods may be used in the 20-hour minimum areas.
(5) The hours of direct supervision for temporary licensees completing their supervised experience year may be obtained through telesupervision.
(6) The need to continue these policies will be reviewed at each monthly Board meeting.
*On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 a pandemic. (See WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on Covid- 19, https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the- media-briefing-on-covid-19—11-march-2020 (last updated Mar. 11, 2020).) Thereafter, On March 13, 2020, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency. (See Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Conference, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump- vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-conference-3/ (issued Mar. 13, 2020).) To slow the viral spread, the President and the White House Coronavirus Task Force, on March 16, 2020, issued guidance recommending that Americans “[w]ork or engage in schooling from home whenever possible.” (See Coronavirus Guidelines for America, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/coronavirus-guidelines-america/ (issued Mar. 16, 2020)); and in accordance with Governor Roy Cooper’s Executive Order No. 116 issued March 10, 2020.