Elizabeth
How do I increase awareness of audiology to increase the reputation and respect that audiologists should receive as a Doctor?
Audiology is not well known and therefore people do not go see an audiologist, or if they do go see one, they don't stick around very long, have a hard time believing the audiologist and there is less respect for audiology as a fellow colleague. There is a stereotype that since A.uD's are not MD's therefore they are not as knowledgable or well-respected as an MD would be. The problem, in my opinion is that people don't understand what audiologists do, so how do we increase awareness/ gain the respect from others? #audiology #audiologist #medical-education #doctor #marketing #marketing-strategy #autonomy #respect
2 answers
Dr. Lilach Saperstein
Dr. Lilach’s Answer
Hi! I'm an audiologist and I am active on my personal instagram page, sharing aspects of my job and my day freely as a way to adress this exact concern. The people who know me and are acquainted to me, whether in person on online, know what I do, why I'm so passionate about it and have an increased awareness of the field. I belive it is important to know our own value as professionals and spread that information by being of value to others, including other medical professionals, parents, educational staff, other therapuetic professionals etc.
I also believe that (in line with recent twitter campaigns), audiologists should be more assertive as to their use of the title "Dr." It is no shame that I worked through a rigorous 4 year program and earned my AuD (Doctorate of Audiology) degree. I certainly don't demand that people call me by my title and many of my students and pateints call me by my first name, however my desk plaque says "Dr. Lilach Saperstein" and I sign emails with the signature Lilach Saperstein, AuD.
Great question and discussion topic!
Dr. Lilach recommends the following next steps:
Scott Lamb
Scott’s Answer
I was not aware that there was such a PhD. Thank you for raising the question, but after some research, I cannot find evidence that audiologists do not receive respect they should receive, and there is no evidence regarding their "reputation."
The American Speach-Language Hearing Association https://www.asha.org/Academic/Guidelines-for-the-Clinical-Doctorate-in-SLP/ states, "The Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) currently accredits only entry level graduate programs in speech-language pathology (i.e., master's degree programs)." So there's not actually any PhD's in Audiology. Why? I'm not sure, but possibly because the field simply does not require that much training.
Join the ASHA and create a committee to advance your agenda.
Scott recommends the following next steps:
Thanks for your response. You mentioned there is no evidence but the response itself lended to my point about audiology being unknown... You are correct. There is no PhD in audiology because it is an AuD to practice clinically. If you want your PhD it’s to do research in the audiology field, but is an AuD for clinical practice. You cited ASHA only needs a Masters degree but that was information for SLP not audiology. If you were to look under the Council on Academic Accreditation under 3.0A it states that the Doctoral program in audiology must meet several requirements (https://caa.asha.org/wp-content/uploads/Accreditation-Standards-for-Graduate-Programs.pdf)
Elizabeth
Additionally ASHA is only one of several bodies that oversee the field. There is AAA, ADA and others. As a doctorate . It is the only non-MD that can be in an OR. (For monitoring purposes). Perhaps if it was easier to find information on Audiology one would be able to find the evidence.
Elizabeth
There are plenty of threads on student doctor forum and many other sites out there that complain about the very issue of being tired of the comments of making a ton of money because other people find out they are going to be a doctor, because they are simply untrue. Being regarded as less than the medical doctor. This is a link to the audiology forums in general, I didn’t want to select a certain topic and add bias. https://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/audiology-au-d.209/
Elizabeth
The reality is, according to complaints from audiologists, there are areas of medical practices that view audiologists as hearing test techs and don’t value the amount of schooling and expertise they hold. It certainly isn’t true of every Practice obviously but the changes come with individuals making their relationship stronger. Part of the problem is audiology not standing up for itself so I’m wondering how to start doing that on a larger scale to change the stereotypes for when I’m graduated. Your idea to create a committee is certainly a great one and I will most definitely look into it. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Elizabeth
I'd expect that if there was a market demanding the services of PhD Audiologists, then we would see more programs offering the degree. Joining professional organizations like ASHA and AAA and ADA, creating/joining committees to advance this agenda would be the recommended course of action.
Scott Lamb