Chairman's Message

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders website. My name is Stephen Painton and I have the distinct honor and privilege of serving as Chairman of the Department that enables individuals like you to become Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists. Our department is located in the John W. Keys Speech and Hearing Center building on the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center campus in Oklahoma City. The OUHSC campus is an ever-expanding, ever-bustling, beehive of activity in health service provision, health education and health-related research. We are proud to be a part of such winning tradition!

Our primary goal is to offer the best EDUCATION AND CLINICAL TRAINING possible in the disciplines of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. We manage this by offering an undergraduate, pre-professional bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. This degree prepares the graduates for graduate school in either Audiology or Speech-Language Pathology. Also, we offer both an M.A. and an M.S. degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Our wide variety of clinical practicum sites for the M.A. degree, both on and off the Health Sciences Center Campus, make it the premiere clinical degree in Speech-Language Pathology in the state. Our Au.D. degree, a clinical doctorate in Audiology, is the only Audiology degree in Oklahoma and enjoys the same wealth of clinical experiences. In addition, we have the only Ph.D. programs in both Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology in the state of Oklahoma.

Another major goal of any department on an academic health sciences center, including ours, is to engage in CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH. We are fortunate to have research faculty who are constantly pushing the envelope in their areas of interest. Examples of such research are: 1) childhood language, 2) prosody, and 3) high-frequency sound discrimination. Students at all graduate levels work as graduate assistants in many of the labs. Be sure to check further into our website for detailed information regarding faculty research interests.

Professional services in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology are provided to the public in the John W. Keys Speech and Hearing Center. These activities not only help fulfill our goal of SERVICE to the populace of Oklahoma City and surrounding areas, but also account for a large number of clinical practicum hours for our students. The quality of supervision in the Keys Center is second to none. As can be seen in our website, we offer services for all ages and with all different types of communication disorders.

Please contact me or any of our contact personnel if you would like to visit the department and take a tour.

We are constantly moving forward and we invite you to be a part of the excitement!