OUR LOCATIONS
VISIT US
CALL US TODAY
1800 193 362
Montrose will be known as Northcott from 1 January 2024
Montrose Sunshine Coast Service Centre

Speech Pathologist Katie Orange Steps Up

Montrose Speech Pathologist Katie Orange joined our Sunshine Coast team in October 2020 as an experienced therapist. Now, 18-months later she has stepped up as Sunshine Coast Team Leader.

Whether you are a new graduate or an experienced therapist, Montrose encourages you to tailor your career growth to align with your interests – just like Katie.

After originally pursuing the Service Centre Manager (SCM) role, it wasn’t until a discussion during Katie’s interview that her career goals became clear.

“I was quite clear in the interview that I want to keep developing clinically whilst gaining experience in management.

“After that discussion, I was presented with the Team Leader role as historically the SCM role doesn’t involve much clinical work,” Katie said.

For Katie, the decision to progress her career and become a Service Team Leader was easy. In her new role, Katie provides professional clinical leadership to the Sunshine Coast team whilst delivering Speech Pathology services to her own caseload of clients.

“I thought I still have all of these goals clinically as well as those professional goals so I just knew all of those would be met in the Team Leader position.”

Luckily for Katie the opportunity to tailor her career growth has allowed her to continue developing her clinical facing roles.

Sunshine Coast Service Team Leader Katie Orange

“Now, I work with four different hats on. I feel so lucky to be able to work as a Team Leader as well as a Speech Pathologist, a Clinical Supervisor and a Clinical Educator.”

For Katie maintaining clinical practice comes back to a desire for lifelong learning.

“From a Speech perspective I love seeing clients and their families, I love accessing Speech Professional Development and I love learning so I need to keep it a part of my world.

“No matter where you are in your career, you can never know it all, so it is important for me to maintain that connection to clients and more broadly the NDIS,” she said.

The clinical component of the role has proved beneficial for Katie, helping to shape her interactions with other clinicians in her team.

“I have that clinical perspective of what it is like to be currently practicing and I’ve got that business side where I go ‘this is what we need to do’ or ‘this is what’s happening’. It really allows me to reflect and understand why things may have been difficult or tricky to navigate both clinically and professionally,” Katie explains.

When embarking on new stages of your career, including moving into more senior roles like Team Leading, Montrose continues to provide structured clinical supervision and professional support. In Katie’s experience, this included access to mentoring, a peer support group, training and upskilling, and finically funded PD like a new leader training course.

“With all the support I have received to help with the transition I am definitely feeling more confident. I have already dealt with things that I initially thought would be challenging so that has given me a boost too,” she said.

Although admittedly she is still finding the perfect balance, Katie says the position is a great fit and a positive step toward fulfilling her career goals.

“It feels right! I can’t see myself as an SCM now that I am in this role. I don’t think I could have given up my clinical practice and stayed happy.

“I love team leading,” Katie said.

Careers at Montrose

Montrose if offering opportunities for Speech Pathologists on the Sunshine Coast and across South East Queensland. View our current vacancies and apply here or learn more about what is like to be a Montrose Speech Pathologist here.

Meet our staff

Staff spotlight: Genie Knight-Smith

Montrose Speech Pathologist Genie Knight-Smith is a clinician and a mum. And while she enjoys many areas of speech therapy, Genie is passionate about educating Parents on how early literacy development not only links to strong reading and writing skills but also the ability to communicate. Having previously worked in hospital settings Genie was drawn [...]

Staff spotlight: Isabella Kwon

Montrose Physiotherapist Isabella Kwon enjoys being able to watch her clients grow, develop and achieve their goals. And while she works with a diverse range of clients, Isabella has developed a strong passion for working with infants and children with neuromuscular conditions. Having learnt about Montrose’s reputation as a leading therapy provider at University, Isabella [...]

Achieving career goals as an Occupational Therapist at Montrose

Georgie, one of our amazing Occupational Therapists based at our Slacks Creek Service Centre, takes time out to tell us more about herself and working for Montrose. “When I was younger, I would often visit my Great-Grandmother at her nursing home when growing up. Being with her made me realise I wanted to help people [...]

TeleTherapy

You can access Montrose Physio, OT and Speech Pathology using TeleTherapy

Find Out More

Can We Help?

Talk to one of our friendly support staff on:

1800 193 362

Or visit one of our Queensland support centres

View Centre Locations