For speech-language pathologist Lori Vreeland, every day and every patient presents new challenges. ”It’s always different,” she said. “I see patients from 1 year-old to 100 years-old with many different kinds of disorders so I have to be a good problem-solver to work with them on an individual basis. You almost have to be a detective” In practice at UPMC-Bedford since 2000, Lori has 16-25 patients who she sees one to two times a week. “You’ve got to have a great deal of patience and really like people to undertake this career,” she said. “Frustration goes hand-in-hand with great satisfaction.”
Lori said she knew while she was still in high school that she wanted to pursuse a career in health care. “I was always interested in working with people and the health-care field. In school, classes such as anatomy and physiology came easily to me.” She started her career as a surgical technologist, working in an operating room. “But I knew pretty quickly that wasn’t for me,” she said. She then managed a physician’s office before going back to college - first for a bachelor of science degree and then for her Master’s Degree in Communications Disorders.

She likes the one-on-one interaction with her patients. “It’s a very gratifying profession to take someone who has no speech and work with them so they can communicate,” she said. She sees many children with language delays that if left untreated would fail in school. She also works with adults who have language and reading difficulties. “The majority of adults who can’t read have problems that were never diagnosed when they were children. It’s not that they’re stupid, it’s that they have never had the kind of help they needed,” she said. In addition, she works with patients with head injuries, who are victims of strokes and who have other medical conditions that effect their ability to communicate.

She recommends her career to others. “There are many different options for employment - hospitals, schools, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, private practice - and there’s a high demand for speech pathologists, particularly in this region,” she said. “You do have to like school - it takes six years after high school to become licensed. But I tell everyone if I can get my degree at 40, anyone can do it.”

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