NSSLHA Annual Conference

"Clinically implementing evidence-based tools in dysphagia practice: Getting started DIGESTing"

September 12, 2025 | 8:00am-4:00pm
Cashion Academic Center 506 (Fifth Floor)
1401 S. 4th Street, Waco, TX 76798

Presented by the National Student Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA) at Baylor University with support from the Baylor University Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences

REGISTRATION

Register Here

Cost:

$75 registration fee 

(No fee for current Baylor faculty, students, or families receiving services at the Baylor Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic.)

Payment Options:

• Venmo @NSSLHABaylor (Comment "Conference")
• Mail check payable to "NSSLHA at Baylor" to NSSLHA at Baylor, One Bear Place #97332, Waco, TX 76798

Cancellations:

Cancellations should be emailed to Jeremy_Hathaway@baylor.edu within 7-days of the event.

This program has been approved for 6.0 clock hours of continuing education credit by the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA). TSHA approval does not imply endorsement of course content, specific products, or clinical procedures. Partial CEUs are not available.

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Katherine Hutcheson, PhD, CCC-SLP

Dr. Katherine A. Hutcheson, Professor in the Department of Head and Neck surgery at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, is the Chief for Speech Pathology and Audiology. She serves as the Director of Research in the section of Speech Pathology and Audiology. She is the Director of the Voice Center and AUD Fellowship Director and is a lecturer at the University of Houston. Dr. Hutcheson is a certified Speech-Language Pathologist with a Doctorate Degree in Epidemiology.

Dr. Hutcheson has authored over 100 peer-reviewed and invited articles with funding support from the National Institutes of Health, the MD Anderson Institutional Research Grant Award program, and a fellowship award from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas UT Health Innovation Training Program. She has also authored or co-authored 12 book chapters.

Dr. Hutcheson is a Board Certified Specialist in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders (BCS-S). She is an accomplished clinician and educator who lectures nationally and internationally on adiation associated dysphagia and head and neck cancer rehabilitation. The mission of her research is to optimize functional outcomes and quality of life in head and neck cancer survivorship. She directs a line of practice-oriented research in functional outcomes of head and neck cancer with emphasis on radiation associated dysphagia.

OUTCOMES

Participants will be able to:

• Conduct the MBS and FEES according to a standard protocol necessary to obtain a valid DIGEST grade.
• Apply the DIGEST criteria to reliably derive a DIGEST grade and
  safety/efficiency profile from MBS.
• Describe how DIGEST relates to other measures of swallowing function.
• Clinically implement the DIGEST method as part of their dysphagia practice.

CONTACT US

1. For questions or concerns about Baylor CSD continuing education services and programs, please contact:

Kacie Dolezel, CCC-SLP
Kacie_Dolezel@baylor.edu

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Baylor University

254-710-6609

Or

Jeremy Hathway, CCC-SLP

Jeremy_Hathway@baylor.edu

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Baylor University

254-710-1350

SPEAKERS DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Financial:

Honoraria: Atos Medical, MedBridge, Inc., Gap Education, UCSF, OSU, NRG, American Board of Swallowing and Disorders

Research Funding: Atos Medical

Patents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: DIGEST™ method developer

Non-Financial:

Developer and Principal Investigator, DIGEST unpaid