Dr. Gagan Bajaj

Associate Professor

Department of Audiology & Speech Language Pathology (at Mangalore)

Qualification: Ph.D; FAIMER Fellow; MASLP; BASLP

CURRENT ACADEMIC ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

    • Teaching: Undergraduate and Postgraduate students
    • Clinical supervision and patient care
    • Admission coordinator, Allied health courses, Mangalore campus, MAHE 
    • UG Academic Coordinator, Dept. of ASLP, KMC Mangalore, MAHE 
    • Student Teacher Guardian, Dept. of ASLP, KMC Mangalore, MAHE 
    • Recognized PhD guide, MAHE  
    • Core Faculty, Manipal-FAIMER International Institute for Leadership in IPE, MAHE 
    • Member, Medical Education Unit, KMC Mangalore, MAHE 
    • Member, Health profession Education Unit, MCHP Manipal, MAHE 
    • Guide: Dissertations/Conference presentations/Clinical & Journal clubs 

     

SUBJECTS CURRENTLY TEACHING

Subject Semester / Year
Aphasia III Semester M.Sc (SLP)
Fluency and its Disorders Fifth Semester BASLP
Practices in Speech Language Pathology Fourth semester - M.Sc (SLP)

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

Degree Specialisation Institute Year of passing
Doctorate in Philosophy in Speech and Hearing Speech Language Pathology Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore 2017
FAIMER Fellow Medical Education CMC Ludhiana 2017
MASLP (Masters of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology) Audiology & Speech Langauge Pathology Dr. SRCISH (Institute of Speech and Hearing), Bangalore 2011
BASLP (Bachelor of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology) Speech and Hearing Dr. SRCISH (Institute of Speech and Hearing), Bangalore 2009

Experience

Institution / Organisation Designation Role Tenure
Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, KMC Mangalore Associate Professor Teaching, Research, Clinical Management 2017 - Present
Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, KMC Mangalore Assistant Professor - Senior Scale Teaching, Research, Clinical Management 2014 - 2017
Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, KMC Mangalore Assistant Professor Teaching, Research, Clinical Management 2011 - 2014

AREAS OF INTEREST, EXPERTISE AND RESEARCH

Area of Interest

Cognitive communication and Ageing, Fluency Disorders, Parent Child Dynamics, Teaching and Pedagogy in Speech and Hearing

Area of Expertise

Cognitive communication and Ageing, Fluency Disorders, Teaching and Pedagogy in Speech and Hearing

Area of Research

Cognitive communication and Ageing, Fluency Disorders, Teaching and Pedagogy in Speech and Hearing

Professional Affiliations & Contributions

  • Member of Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) – A25875
  • Member of Indian Speech and Hearing Association (ISHA) - L12092074
  • Medical Education Unit member, KMC Mangalore
  • Faculty at MAHE-FAIMER International Institute for Leadership in IPE

 

Stuttering: Foundations and Clinical Applications (The Allyn & Bacon Communications Sciences and Disorders Series)

2014 Fluency Gagan Bajaj

Book publication: Pearson, 2014 Edition

Fluency disorders. In Communication disorders illustrated in ICF framework

2020 Fluency and ICF Gagan Bajaj

Book chapter publication: NISH Trivandrum

Child, Parent, and Play–An Insight into These Dimensions among Children with and without Receptive Expressive Language Disorder Using Video-Based Analysis

2021 Parent-child interaction Apramita Deshpande Gagan Bajaj

Independent project

“I Think I Can Remember” age-related changes in self-efficacy for short-term memory.

2021 Cognitive aging Dasmine D’Souza Gagan Bajaj

Dissertation

Efficacy of working memory training among middle aged adults

2020 Cognitive ageing Vinitha Mary George Gagan Bajaj

DST fellow project

Temporal Processing Ability in Normal Hearing Participants with Type-II Diabetes.

2019 Hearing in Diabetes Sujay P Gagan Bajaj

Dissertation

Development and Validation of the Pre-Operative Counselling Module for Total Laryngectomy-An Interprofessional Approach.

2019 Interprofessional practice Sheela S Gagan Bajaj

FAIMER fellow project

Effect of Bhramari Pranayama on the acoustic and aerodynamic parameters of voice in normophonic females.

2018 Yoga and Meditation in voice Usha Manjunath Gagan Bajaj

DST fellow project

Effect of Age on Strategic Problem Solving Abilities Using an Open Ended Version of the Twenty Questions Task.

2018 Cognitive ageing Dhanya Shrunga Gagan Bajaj

Paper presentation at ISHACON

Effect of working memory training on cognitive communicative abilities among young-and middle-aged adults.

2017 Cognitive ageing Mridula Gagan Bajaj

Dissertation

Effect of yoga and working memory training on cognitive communicative abilities among middle aged adults.

2017 Cognitive ageing Namratha Gagan Bajaj

Dissertation

    Stuttering during developing years of children- Parents play a crucial role - Arogyavani

    2018-05-02

    It is a pleasure to see a parent holding the hands of their young children when they learn to walk. Every time the child wobbles and falls down, the parents use such reinforcing words to the kids which again motivates them to get up and walk. One wonders, where does this reinforcement and concern disappears from a parent when their developing child wobbles in his/her talk. Yes, you are thinking right! I am talking about stuttering in the developing child’s speech. It is often observed that when the young child exhibits interruptions or breaks in his/her speech (like My My My Naa…a…me is is is Ga/Ga/Gagan), referred to as Stuttering, then some parents get too concerned with the child’s speech and end up giving negative reaction to the child’s utterances. These concerns from parent’s end are genuine and natural but it further worsens the child’s condition in form of enhanced awareness about speech, avoidance behaviors, low self-esteem, and inferiority complex among the children. Possessing concerns towards child’s speech is good but reacting to it in negative manner, like overcorrection of speech breaks and using anger as a mode of expression, is not good. It is important to channelize the parental concerns towards the child’s speech into the right direction. There exists a very thin line between normal breaks in the speech and stuttering. Both needs to be handled in a distinct manner. A parent should consult a qualified Speech Language Pathologist to understand if the breaks in their child’s speech are normal or disordered in nature. In either of the conditions a Speech Language Pathologist would advise the parents about the necessary steps which should be taken to rectify the child’s speech disfluencies. If not handled properly during the early years of life i.e. between 3-6 years then this condition can aggravate and turn to a full blown stuttering which might continue lifelong. Stuttering in later life can lead to several activity limitations and participation restrictions in one’s life. This can range from teasing and bullying in the classroom, academic difficulties during school years, difficulty socializing with friends and strangers, finding hard to get an appropriate job, personal issues like difficulty in marital life and so on. It is essential to handle stuttering during the development period of the young children and offer appropriate remedy to it. Researchers from the field propose a theory which says that stuttering begins in the ears of the parents rather than the mouth of the child. It is the negative parental reactions towards the speech of the child which converts normal breaks in child’s speech into stuttering. Being a parent, one must be observant to child’s speech errors but at the same time prevent oneself from becoming the cause of a major speech disorder later in life. Therefore, if you are a parent of a child who is showing breaks in speech or you know any child who stutters, then refrain yourself from giving negative reaction towards child’s speech. It is imperative to show similar love, sympathy and motivation to child’s wobbly talk which one shows to child’s wobbly walk. Consulting a speech language pathologist at the right time and early in life is the key to success in stuttering management. So let us join hands and make an effort in making our children’s life ‘Stutter free’.