Entering his profession due to his desire to diagnose and treat physiological disorders of the upper digestive tract, Dr. Robert James Arnold is a board-certified specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders who has been serving as chief clinical officer of Southeastern Biocommunication Associates LLC (SBA) since 2010. Boasting 80 years of experience in the practice and research of medical speech-language pathology, SBA has engineered several holistic medical speech-language pathology programs in such programs as long term care, outpatient rehab, outpatient clinics, physician practice, home health care and hospitals.
Drawing upon 29 years of practiced experience in medical speech-language pathology, Dr. Arnold is a seasoned diagnostician, therapist, clinical research scientist, author, inventor and adjunct professor. A former vice president of clinical services at Restore Therapy Services Ltd. from 1995 to 2010, he was also a direct care provider of and developer of the endoscopy program at NovaCare from 1991 to 1995 and staff speech pathologist at New Medico in 1990. Likewise, he served NovaCare as a teacher of continuing education from 1991 to 1995 and has conducted numerous workshops on medical speech-language pathology across the United States and in Canada.
During his career, Dr. Arnold developed and later patented a device called the oral motor dynamometer in 2000, which he cites as a career highlight. However, he notes his largest accomplishment was the creation of a differential diagnostic algorithm for diagnosing physiological disorders in the upper respiratory tract. Titled “Comprehensive Swallow-Voice Assortment Endoscopy,” it is an endoscope-based examination that integrates 10 procedures into one examination to provide a snapshot of the physiology from the human mouth to the stomach.
The proud father of three children, Dr. Arnold enjoys composing music, engaging in water sports and flying in his spare time. Looking toward the future, he intends to establish his own freestanding upper air digestive tract clinic. Dr. Arnold was highlighted in the second edition of Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare in 1998.
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