Experiences establishing a new speech-language pathology training program in Ethiopia, a resource-limited setting: Lessons learned

Abstract

Purpose Ethiopia is the second most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa. While Ethiopia’s health care system includes primary health centres, general, and specialised hospitals, allied health care like speech-language pathology was not available until 2003. This article was written with the aim of sharing the experience of establishing speech-language pathology as a profession and the first speech-language pathology training program in Ethiopia. Method In this paper, we retrospectively examine how the leadership of local stakeholders, a multidisciplinary team, and the development of a professional infrastructure led to the success of the program. The authorship group, who were involved in the program from inception to implementation, share their experiences. Result The speech-language pathology undergraduate program at Addis Ababa University graduated its first class in 2019. Plans to grow the training program at the graduate level are ongoing. Conclusion This novel program, grown from several international partnerships, is an example of how low- and middle-income countries can improve access to the service providers necessary to treat their populations.