For Vocal Health: CHS Collaborates with School of Music for Screening

College will also co-host symposium to celebrate World Voice Day

By Ryan Clark
CHS Communications Director

Katie Ivie felt it was better to be safe than sorry.

After spending a week traveling the country and trying out for graduate schools, the senior musical theater major from Henderson, Ky., said she felt she’d used her voice to its max.

“Our instrument is our voice,” said the 21-year-old. “When I saw this service was available, I had to come in and make sure I hadn’t strained anything.”

Ivie, along with dozens of other students, took advantage of a free UK Voice and Swallow Screening Clinic over the course of the semester here in the College of Health Sciences. Held in collaboration with the School of Music, Ivie was able to watch as students examined her vocal chords with a small camera, making sure to note any anomalies they saw.

“The clinic is an excellent opportunity for students in both fields,” said Keiko Ishikawa, Ph.D., M.M., CCC-SLP, and assistant professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders. “For students in speech-language pathology, it provides a valuable training opportunity for evaluating voice disorders among professional voice users. For students in vocal performance, students will receive a free screening of their vocal health, which can help prevent potential problems from developing.”

Ivie watched as the small camera was lowered down her throat. She was told to make a sound, so it could show her vocal chords moving on the screen.

“You can think of this clinic as a screening for athlete’s injury but for vocal health,” Ishikawa said. “Just as student-athletes in basketball undergo regular physical evaluations to assess and prevent potential injuries, this clinic offers singers and other professional voice users a chance to have their vocal health evaluated by trained professionals.” 

Ivie made a series of high and low-pitched notes for her clinician. Each made a surprising image on the monitor screen in the room.

Thankfully, nothing was found on her vocal chords; she was 100 percent healthy.  

“It’s reassuring to know that my studies here have not only taught me how to be a better singer, but how to be a healthy singer as well,” she said. “The whole scoping procedure took about five minutes and wasn’t painful at all. I’m very happy that I was able to have this opportunity — all of my colleagues who also had free voice screenings also had nothing but great things to say about their experience as well.”

“The UK Voice and Swallow Clinic’s involvement in the screening program underscores their unwavering commitment to providing exceptional clinical education and serving high-risk underserved populations,” said Vrushali Angadi, PhD, CCC-SLP and clinical associate professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders. “The clinic recognizes that there is a general scarcity of specialized voice and swallow clinical placements, which limits the diversity of clinical experiences available to graduate students in SLP. Furthermore, students are often unaware of the nuances of the problems faced by singers and professional voice users beyond the information provided in their didactic coursework. In an effort to provide a unique clinical experience to our graduate students and serve an underserved population, the faculty in the CSD department and members of the UK Voice and Swallow Clinic collaborated to plan this significant undertaking.”

Faculty involved included:

• Keiko Ishikawa, Ph.D., M.M., CCC-SLP (CSD)
• Vrushali Angadi PhD, CCC-SLP (CSD)
• Professor Aimee Sayre, MA, CCC-SLP (CSD)
• Ms. Haley DeWitt, MM, MS, CCC-SLP (CSD/UK Health/Voice and Swallow Clinic)
• Ms. Haley Gilroy, MS, CCC-SLP (CSD/UK Health/Voice and Swallow Clinic)
• Angelique Everett, DMA, MM (School of Music)

“The UK Voice and Swallow Clinic’s dedication to the wellbeing of singers at UK and in the Commonwealth will undoubtedly persist long after the completion of the screening program,” Angadi said. “The clinic is fortunate to have two highly experienced singing voice specialists, Haley DeWitt and Haley Gilroy, who not only provide the singers with state-of-the-art care, but also impart their expertise through their teaching collaboration with UK School of Music.”

But the faculty have also been busy preparing for another event to help celebrate World Voice Day, which is April 16.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Michigan State University, and the University of Kentucky are inviting vocal artists, clinicians and scientists to a World Voice Day event entitled, “The 2nd Symposium: A Day of Voice at the University of Illinois,” from 2 to 3:40 p.m. CST, April 20. More information can be found here:  https://spaa.shs.illinois.edu/symposium/ .

The virtual conference aims to raise awareness of the vital role the human voice plays in communication and art. This event is free and open to all, with no registration required.

To get the Zoom link for the symposium, please email: wvoiceday.uiuc@gmail.com

World Voice Day is an annual event that occurs on April 16 and is celebrated worldwide. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness of the importance of the human voice and its role in effective communication.

Ishikawa is collaborating with Dr. Pasquale Bottalico and Dr. Lady Catherine Cantor-Cutiva, as well as Professor Yvonne Redman, to organize the symposium. Last year, the event started as an initiative of the University of Illinois, and this year, the University of Kentucky has been invited to co-host the event. The symposium's theme is “The Acoustics of Voice,” and researchers, speech-language pathologists and voice teachers from around the world will present their work.

Among the speakers are CHS’ own Ishikawa and Angadi, who will discuss “Vocal health screening at a university setting.”