Finding Their Voices

Duke Voice Care Center celebrates 20 years of helping patients with vocal challenges

healthcare professional looking at a woman's vocal chords
Audrey Walstrom, CCC-SLP, DMA, MA, using videolaryngostroboscopy, to look at a patient's vocal folds.

This is a summary of a story by Alissa Kocer on The School of Medicine.

For 20 years, the Duke Voice Care Center has helped patients regain their voices.

“Our voice is part of our identity,” says Leda Scearce, a speech-language pathologist and director of Performing Voice at the center.

Since opening in 2006, the center has brought together physicians and speech-language pathologists to provide integrated care for patients with voice disorders, helping them return to the conversations, careers, performances and daily interactions that matter most.

The center’s multidisciplinary approach has made it a national leader in voice care.

It used to be that when patients had trouble with their voice, they had to see several different doctors. A patient might see an ear, nose, and throat physician, then wait for a separate appointment with a speech pathologist for additional testing and therapy. 

Recognizing the need for a one-stop shop, Dr. David Witsell, now professor emeritus of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences, partnered with two speech pathologists to create an integrated voice center where doctors and speech pathologists could work side by side. 

The streamlined process eliminates weeks of uncertainty and gives patients a clear path forward during a single visit.

Today, the center is one of the largest specialized voice centers in the country. It includes two laryngologists, a pediatric otolaryngologist, and 11 voice-specialized speech-language pathologists working across five Duke locations.

"The close work between speech pathologist and laryngologist is part of what makes the Duke Voice Care Center so unique," said Lauren Fay, MS, CCC-SLP, a senior clinician at the center. "We can offer coordinated care because we're seeing patients together and constantly collaborating.

For more information about the Duke Voice Care Center visit The School of Medicine.