Capt DiAnna Calvin, CCC–SLPStaff Speech–Language Pathologist, WHMC
Capt DiAnna Calvin, CCC–SLP
Staff Speech–Language Pathologist, WHMC
I originally showed an interest in joining the United States Air Force after thorough research and discovering how many great opportunities the Air Force had to offer for career broadening and education. I worked for over 5 years in a variety of environments and always felt that there was so much more to learn about in my career field. My experience here thus far has been immeasurable, I soon realized that the Air Force would provide me with the skills I need to be successful in every aspect of speech pathology, as well as offer me excellent leadership skills that I will be able to carry over into the future. I have been assigned here for a little over a year now and am fortunate enough to work with some of the brightest and most experienced speech pathologists and audiologists in the Air Force.
I work with a variety of classic communication disorders, as well as swallowing disorders. Our population ranges from newborn/pediatrics to adult/geriatrics. I am privileged enough that we are able to receive state of the art equipment for learning new procedures as being introduced into the field of speech pathology. A large portion of the population includes patients with swallowing disorders, which we are capable of diagnosing and treating with a variety of measurements depending on environmental situations and medical status. This is inclusive of, but not limited to videofluoroscopy, as well as flexible endoscopy procedures using a swallow wagon, which we plan on receiving shortly. Many of the patients that I see are from inpatient wards and ICU wards in part due to this hospital being a Level 1 Trauma Center. The otolaryngology/speech pathology/audiology flight also specializes in head and neck cancer, which I play a large role in, especially for laryngectomee patients. I participate in Tumor Board, as well as Cochlear Implant Board. We have possession of a digital videostroboscopy enabling me to receive the highest quality images for patients with laryngeal pathologies and/or dysphonia.
Thus far, the knowledge and experience I have received has been outstanding and I can only look forward to the future and AIM HIGH!
