As I grew up my parents had an expectation that higher learning (graduate school and beyond) was simply a given. We were imigrants in 1970 comming to North America to achieve, audiology was a word I had probably never had a connection to. I doubt that audiology was a word that was part of my vocabulary until I was in University.In todays world there are many professions that did not exist 20 years ago, specializations in areas that seemed improbable in the past. In our education system students are supposed to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives as 18 year olds before they even have an inkling of all that is out there.
As an Audiologist I posses a Bachelors degree in Communicative Disorders from Andrews University in Michigan, a Master of Science degree from The George Washington University and clinical Doctorate from Salus University in Pennsylvania.
Audiologists through their years of education are trained in hearing and hearing disorders including vestibular and balance disorders as well as the remediation that might be appropriate. Remediation may be Hearing aids, Cochlear implants, Aural rehabilitation, Tinnitus management and vestibular rehabilitation to name a few areas of practice.
A few years ago a young woman that I have watched grow up from the time she was a little girl asked to come to my office to find out what an Audiologist does. When a student comes to me to ask for advice or profesional direction this is what I have to offer, "you may not know exactly what you want to do professionally but you should have an idea of what kind of work you want". Do you want to work with people? Do you prefer working with equipment, computers, your hands? Do you want to work with others or by yourself?
I just attended the 2014 Audiology Now conference which is a convention hosted by the Americam Academy of Audiology and was overjoyed to catch up with this same young woman, now a second year Doctoral student who had the honour of having a poster session at the conference. Lachelle has gone down this professional path and is enthusiastic about her future in her profession.
Until you walk in our door at "The ear Company" you may not know what an Audiologist is and so I write this post for those of you that are in need of anything related to better hearing or balance. This is that little known profession that almost every one of us will one day need to utilize.
This link describes the profession od Audiology in a little more depth.
http://www.audiologist.org/ada-students/careers-in-audiology
