SASS Training Schedules & Courses Information
Training Course Dates - in Nashville, TN:
Basic FEES Training Courses
February 8-9, 2025
May 17-18, 2025
August 9-10, 2025
November 1-2, 2025
Tentative 2026 Training dates:
February 28-March 1 2026
May 16-17, 2026
August 9-10, 2026
November 1-2026
Advanced FEES Training Courses
March 15-16, 2025
September 6-7, 2025
2026 Schedule To Be Determined
Training Course Dates - Onsite Training
Go to the Basic or Advanced Training Course Pages and Discover an Open-Registration Onsite Training Course that Fits Your Schedule or is Near You.
Levels of Training:
Basic FEES Training:
Intermediate professional-level, specialty training in the use of Flexible Fiberoptic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) to assess oropharyngeal swallowing functions.
For Speech-Language Pathologists desiring medical specialty training in instrumental assessment of deglutition and its disorders.
Course content: anatomy/physiology of the swallowing mechanism from endoscopic view, medical issues encountered with nasoendoscopy, specific equipment necessary for FEES administration, infection control measures, handling and manipulating a nasoendoscope, standard definitions of terms, scoring scales, and systematic analysis of findings.
Hands-on, one-on-one supervised endoscope insertion laboratories using a 15-step progressive skill learning regimen.
Completion of 15 FEES procedures (not passes) on normal volunteers.
Interactive analysis learning and practice using actual video clips of FEES studies to learn to view, score, and analyze.
16 hours of seat time instruction
Advanced FEES Training:
Advanced professional-level specialty medical training course for Speech-Language-Swallowing Pathologists with previous clinical experience using FEES.
Designed to improve observation, scoring, analysis, and interpretation of clinical findings related to oropharyngeal swallowing assessment, and to write concise, information-specific reports.
Advanced evidence-based presentations followed by interactive learning exercises with class reviews, discussions and debate. Plenty of opportunities to ask questions.
16 hours of seat time instruction
FEES Competency Training:
One-week immersion program to improve FEES clinical competency for qualified SLPs.
Travel to facilities with SASS clinicians to assess real patient referrals.
Minimum 10 patient-FEES procedures - chart review, equipment setup, food stimuli setup, scope insertion, direct complete study procedure, endoscope/equipment cleaning, study scoring, analysis, interpretation, and completing concise 2-page (maximum) report. One-on-one direct supervision/mentoring.
To qualify, the potential trainee must first complete the SASS basic FEES training course. FEES training from other training sources is not accepted due to differences in clinical methodologies.
Trainee is required to dedicate 100% of the training week to training, if competency training is provided onsite at contracted facility.
Contact Dr. Matt Ward (Tnvolunteer81@gmail.com) for more information and to reserve training week.
Types of Training Courses:
On-Site Training Courses: Basic and advanced FEES courses can be provided by SASS on-location at facilities with one to two conference room spaces. The minimum course participant size is 10 SLPs. The maximum course size is 16. These courses may be open-registration (recommended) or private for staff only.
Nashville-based Training Courses: Nashville is SASS’s home. Both basic and advanced FEES courses are provided throughout the year. See schedule above. Training is held at the Select Specialty Hospital, 2004 Hayes Street, Nashville, TN. Course sizes are from 10 to 20. Groups of 2 to 4 from the same facility are encouraged to take the training together. No special group rates.
Open Registration Courses: All Nashville-based training courses are with open registration with a first-come, first-served registration. On-site courses may elect to hold open courses to allow SLPs from across the US, Canada, and other countries to register for these courses and provide a variety of experiences to the training experience. Allowing non-facility SLPs to register assists the host facility to meet the 10-participant minimum for a course.
Private, or Closed, Registration Courses: Private courses are requested generally by facilities, or healthcare organizations with multiple facilities, with larger staffs and training requirements. This assures they can meet the minimum requirement of 10 participants. Smaller facilities with limited staff/participant requirement may elect to remain private and invite other SLPs from local hospitals and facilities. No special rates or discounts.
Cancellation and Course Switching Policies:
All cancellations must be received in writing via email message.
If you cancel 30 days or more before the course date, full refund, less credit card processing fees.
If you cancel between 11 and 29 days before the course date, 50% refund, less credit card processing fees.
If you cancel 10 days or less before the course date, no refund. Course reservations and preparations (materials, food, instructors, equipment,—travel, lodging) have been made for you anticipating your participation, and cannot be refunded.
Requests to switch registration to a later course, if received 30 or more days before the date of the original registered course, will be made without charge.
Requests to switch registration to a later course, if received less than 30 days before the date of the original registered course, will be subject to a $150.00 reprocessing and rescheduling fee.
If SASS cancels a previously advertised and scheduled training course or event, all registration fees plus credit card processing fees will be reimbursed.
For More Information:
Training Courses: Contact John R. Ashford, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Education Director. Email: John.r.ashford6703@gmail.com Tele: 615-426-5505. A formal proposal detailing all facets and aspects of the training program will be sent upon request.
FEES Competency Training: Contact Michelle Skelley, M.Ed., CCC-SLP. Email: Michelleskelley711@gmail.com. Tele: 615-306-3693.