Audiologist Interview

I went into University after high school, but was unsure of what exactly I wanted to do. Growing up, I had always said I wanted to be a lawyer and that is what I would discuss whenever I had to do an assignment or project that related to my future career goals. Then when I was in grade 12, I realized I did not really think I was well-suited for the law profession. I went into University and took my first year of general sciences. I think my major was Biological Sciences and my minor Political Science. I was considering being a naturopathic physician or a veterinarian. I did not find that I enjoyed Political Science as much in University as I had during high school. I also volunteered at a veterinary clinic and found that while I love animals, I prefer to deal with them while they are healthy! I absolutely hated a couple of the lab classes in my first year and was dreading my second year, so a week before my second year classes were about to start, I switched into the Faculty of Arts (which involved writing letters, etc. because it was such short notice) with a Psychology major and sociology minor. In the Faculty of Arts, I had to take a variety of other classes, including a second language, a fine arts course, etc. For my fine arts course, I took a general class that involved drawing, painting, sculpting, etc. I had liked to draw when I was little, but had never taken a class like that before because I focused on my studious subjects like French and Computers! I wasn't so sure that University would be a great time to take my first fine arts class! In the end, I loved that class - especially the painting part! I nearly switched to a Fine Arts major and even applied to the design program (because I figured there were more career opportunities in design than in painting). However, I had a very small portfolio because I had only taken one class and so got denied. I had to decide at that time whether I was going to pursue design by working on building up my portfolio or stay on the same track as I currently was. Around the same time, my hearing aid started acting up. I went into my Audiology clinic and it turns out the earmold tubing was torn. I had the earmold tubing changed and was on my way again. It got me to thinking about Audiology though because my Audiologist really seemed to love his job! I checked into what sort of courses I would have to take to go into Audiology - psychology and linguistics courses primarily. I was already taking many of the psychology courses because that was my current major. I just had to switch my minor to linguistics (from sociology). I stayed in the Faculty of Arts, but ended up taking primarily science-based Psychology courses, so in the end I could have gotten my undergraduate degree through either faculty. I decided to pursue Audiology as a career because it seemed like maybe that was the reason I had hearing loss - so I could be empathetic and provide care to others facing similar challenges.

I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. I completed my Masters Degree at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. I am currently completing my AuD (Doctorate of Audiology) through the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and School of Audiology.

Throughout my entire academic career, even as early as childhood, I have always found that the classes I enjoyed most depended on who was teaching the class. I am fortunate in that I am a relatively quick learner and so have not had too much difficulty with many subject areas. If I had a great teacher, I loved the class. If I did not really like the teacher or their teaching style, I did not enjoy the class as much. In terms of what classes were the most difficult for me, that would definitely be linguistics. It was not really an area of interest for me, but rather something I was taking as part of the requirements for entrance to the Audiology masters program. In particular, I found phonetics classes to be very hard due to my hearing loss. I could not really hear the difference between many of the phonemes, particularly those not used in the English language. And I definitely couldn't reproduce them myself!

I completed my undergraduate program in 5 years. It took me longer because as mentioned above, I changed my area of study numerous times. In the end, I had too many introductory level courses and had to stay an extra term to make up for that. I completed my masters program in 2 years and I started my AuD program in June 2006 and expect to finish in April 2008 (so almost 2 years).

In high school, I would recommend just taking as many general courses as possible. This way you can pursue as many different areas of potential interest as possible. You will thus have more confidence in your decision. Similarly, during the first year of University, I think a student should take a wide variety of courses in order to find out what subjects and areas they like. Audiology involves a lot of education, so you want to be sure of that choice before going through that many years of post-secondary schooling. Then I would recommend contacting the Universities that you are interested in attending. They usually can tell you what subjects and/or courses are recommended for entry into their program. This is what I did and was why I based my undergraduate education around psychology and linguistics courses. Presently, I think most Universities are currently putting more focus on science-based courses for Audiology.

I have a moderate sloping to profound sensorineural hearing loss bilaterally. A few years ago, I had my childhood records passed onto me. They indicated that when I was first diagnosed, my hearing loss was more in the mild sloping to moderately-severe range. After each test, there was no significant change, but when I look at my hearing loss now relative to when I was first diagnosed, it is obvious that it has been very gradually worsening over the years.

My biggest challenges in University were related to non-native English speaking professors and teaching assistants. Because of my hearing loss, accents are very difficult for me to understand. In those cases, I would rely heavily on my textbooks and my peers to help me to understand. Doing the assigned readings ahead of time made it a lot easier to figure out what the instructor could be saying. As mentioned above, I found phonetics classes challenging as well due to my hearing loss. Otherwise, I would have to say I did not face too much difficulty. During my first year of University, I had peer note takers but I found that I was taking just as good of notes as them and it was so much extra work to try to sort through my peers' notes. As such, I did not request any note takers after my first year. I also used a recorder, particularly during linguistics classes, but I found that if I missed what was said the first time around, I still could not understand it by playing back what I had recorded because there were no visual cues (and I rely a lot on lip reading). I always sat at the front of the class for all of my courses. I went up to every instructor after the first class to explain to them that I had hearing loss and that I may need additional assistance as a result. In particular, I requested that when a peer asked a question during class, it would help if they would repeat the question before answering it - because I often would not hear what someone at the back of a large lecture hall had asked. This usually helps everyone so I found most professors did this anyway. Occasionally, I would go to see the professor during their office hours to get clarification if I missed something that was said during class. Also, if there were any videos during class, I explained to the instructor that without closed captioning it is hard for me to follow what is being said during a video. I was lucky in that none of my professors in University based any assignments or exams based on video materials.

I would have to say the overwhelming majority of my patients like the fact that I have a hearing loss. They realize that I can relate to what they are experiencing. I think that it makes them feel more comfortable coming to see me, knowing that I have a hearing loss.

During my masters program, I was often asked by my peers and professors about my experiences with hearing loss when we were discussing various topics in class. I had never really given much thought to my hearing loss before. I always wore my hearing aids consistently, but they were not really part of my identity. For a couple of weeks, I started second guessing my choice in Audiology as a career - because essentially I had taken my biggest weakness and made my life revolve around it! In the end though I reminded myself of how my experiences could potentially help others. Currently I do think about my own hearing loss more than I had as a child, but most of the time, I am focused on my patient's hearing loss, not my own.

I enjoy fitting those patients who are self-motivated and absolutely thrilled with all of the new sounds that they are hearing around them. I work with all ages and find all ages to be great to work with! Kids can sometimes be the most challenging but at the same time, very rewarding. Adults who need hearing aids to continue to function and work independently are also very rewarding to see because we truly make a tangible difference in their lives, in terms of their social relationships, employability, earning potential, etc. Helping seniors to stay socially involved, maintain possible employment (if they want!), etc. is also very rewarding. I guess I like being able to interact with a diversity of people!

The hardest part for me is that I am not a natural salesperson. In private practice, sales skills are important. I do not ever want to sell someone something they do not need. But sales skills are also important for helping to sell someone something that they do need!

Absolutely! Like any job, there are days that are more trying than others and days that are better than others. When you see that patient that is doing so well and is so grateful to you, it is absolutely worthwhile. The nice thing about Audiology is that there are so many different aspects to the job. If I become bored or tired of my current job, I could also work in a health unit or hospital. I could be involved in other areas, including auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing, vestibular testing, vestibular rehabilitation, newborn hearing screening, just to name a few. Also, there is a high demand for Audiologists in Canada and throughout the world, so there is a high level of job security.

I had a patient who wanted to describe to me how his hearing aid was bothering his ear. He grabbed my hand and before I realized what he was doing, he pinched me and twisted it! I quickly grabbed my hand back. I think saying the hearing aid was pinching or hurting would have been sufficient enough!

During my days of university study, I also had some fairly unusual things happen. For example, when I went up to speak to a professor at the first day of class, to inform them of my hearing loss, she said, "You don't look hearing impaired." I wasn't really sure what a hearing impaired person was supposed to look like! I knew she meant it as a compliment though so that's how I took it. This happened in my very first class in my first year of university - what a start!

Because I am currently working full-time and working on my doctorate, I am not as involved as much as I have been in the past or would like to be. When I finish my doctorate degree, I will have more free time on evenings and weekends for volunteering. I have recently become involved with an ACSLPA committee.