Audiologist, Audiologist Schools, Education, Employment, Career, and Jobs

What is an Audiologist?
Audiology is a vital part of medicine because it is the audiologist who deals with balance, hearing and other related disorder and conditions. These people are specially trained professionals who try to prevent and treat people who are losing their hearing and other kinds of conditions in all sorts of different patients.

A career in audiology is a great choice for a person who has a strong desire to help different people who have hearing problems. An audiologist must possess good interpersonal and communication skills in order to be able to work with a wide variety of patients. Here are just a few things that an audiologist is responsible for doing:

• Examine different people diagnosing hearing loss, auditory, sensory, balance and neural problems.

• Effectively communicate the diagnosis, test results and treatment plans in a way that the patient will be able to understand.

• Make use of a number of devices such as hearing tests, audiometers, computers and other sophisticated equipment and tests to measure someone's hearing ability, which includes the volume that is necessary to hear sounds as well as the ability to distinguish the differences between the sounds.

• May advise a variety of treatment plans including hearing aids, cochlear implants and the cleaning of the ear canal.

• Provide counseling to their patients in order to help them adjust to their hearing loss and treatments.

The audiologist must also possess good listening skills, compassion, patience and be good at solving problems. She should be able to be objective in approaching issues and be good emotional support for her patients and families.

How to Become an Audiologist:
First, students interested in the field of audiology must graduate from an accredited high school. They must then take the ACT or SAT in order to get into an accredited college or university.

The audiology professional must first complete their bachelor's degree and then must go on to attain their master's degree in audiology. It seems that in today's society, with such stiff competition, many positions are looking for someone who has either a doctorate or professional degrees. Many audiologists today have received their professional doctorate in audiology degree or Au.D. A student will usually have to complete the following courses:

• Anatomy and Physiology
• Physics
• Normal and abnormal communication development
• Genetics
• Pharmacology
• Diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the auditory system

All states require that audiologists must be registered or licensed. The audiologist will find that requirements will vary from state to state, but the least requirement is that one have a master's degree and must pass a certification examination.

Certification can take place through the "American Speech-Language-hearing Association" as well as the "American Board of Audiology". Audiologist must stay current with the newest diagnostic and treatment methods, and they must often take part in continuing education courses, workshops and conferences.

Audiologist Salary:
There’s good money to be made if you become audiologist. The average salary is $83,000 per year. You can expect your pay to keep going up as you gain more experience and years of service.

Audiology School:
If you’re looking to study audiology, you need to attend the right school. Visit the Embanet website to find the right school for you. While there, you can request for free no obligation information through this link.

Return from Audiologist to Medical Assistants Schools and Careers