Therapist of the Quarter – Julie McCay
My name is Julie McCay and I have been a speech-language pathologist for six years. I obtained my bachelor‘s degree in communication science and disorders from the University of Pittsburgh and my master‘s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. My career began in North Carolina where I was in private practice.
While working in North Carolina, I met my husband Kelly who is a Major in the United States Army. After we married, our lives took a dramatic change when we were stationed in Mannheim, Germany. There I worked for the Department of Defense as a speechlanguage pathologist for the Extended Year Program. I had to keep myself busy because soon after our arrival, my husband was deployed to Iraq for 16 months.
During my time in Germany, I was fortunate to become the president of the Overseas Association of Communication Sciences. The OACS is a state organization for ASHA and is made up of SLPs and audiologists who work for the US government primarily in Germany. The group has members throughout Europe who work for the US military and early intervention services, assisting in military dependent schools to serve the children of military families. There was a committee of approximately ten of us that would choose speakers who are formative in our field to fly over and present their information. This enabled us to receive continuing education credits and most importantly to increase our skills as speech-language pathologists.
Once my husband completed his deployment cycle we learned that he was accepted for the Joint Chief of Staff Program, which includes a graduate degree from Georgetown University. We packed up the two cats and dog and off we went across the Atlantic to Washington D.C. I was very nervous because I really did not know where, how, and when I could begin my career as a speech-language pathologist in the area. I did my research and spoke to a number of schools, private practices, hospitals, and contract companies. The only one that I felt listened to me and sought out interviews that matched or suited me was ProCare.
I now work at a center that is the best job of my career so far and I am truly happy being an employee for ProCare. Thank you for providing me this opportunity to share my thoughts with others.
Sincerely,
Julie McCay MA/CCC-SLP
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