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Skilled KU faculty practitioners educate the next generation of health care providers and develop innovative ways to promote health. View our faculty practice strategic plan (PDF) and explore the active faculty health care areas.
Active Faculty Health Care Areas
Community Impact
Here we highlight faculty members currently engaged in work to benefit our local communities and residents across the state of Kansas.
A Bootcamp for Swallowing Disorders
Melanie Somogie, M.A., CCC-SLP, a faculty member in the school's Department of Hearing and Speech, developed a three-week "boot camp" for individuals with swallowing disorders. This initiative has helped individuals in the Kansas City metro regain swallowing function, sometimes years after stroke or brain injury. She has also treated patients with Parkinson's disease and functional neurogenic disorders.
Participation in this program allows individuals who have either "failed" prior therapy, or who have lived years with no relief, to return to eating and swallowing effectively. Three days per week, these participants drive to campus for one-hour sessions; they also complete daily homework.
Somogie's boot camp is currently held only during the summer, although she hopes to expand it to a year-round endeavor. It is offered through the speech clinic at KU Medical Center, which offers services to the local community at no cost to the patient.