Health Care Team (HCT)

An Audiologist is a professional who is educated and trained to evaluate hearing and balance disorders.

Audiologists entering the profession need to have a Doctorate of Audiology (AuD) or equivalent degree. Audiologists who apply for certification by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association must have a certain amount of post-baccalaureate education hours culminating in a doctoral or other recognized graduate degree. The course of study must address the knowledge and skills pertinent to the field of audiology.

During the fourth year of an audiology academic program, the Audiologist participates in a year of specialized training. The audiology student is supervised by an Audiologist who holds a current license to practice. If the audiology student is interested in obtaining certification by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, he or she must be supervised by an Audiologist who holds an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Certificate of Clinical Competence. Certified and licensed Audiologists practice independently.

In health care settings, Audiologists provide and document screenings, assessments, and treatment of patients’ hearing, auditory processing, or balance problems. They perform diagnostic audiologic evaluations and balance assessment for patients of all ages using specialized, calibrated equipment. In some health care settings, Audiologists manage the newborn hearing screening program for the facility or work on the cochlear implant team. In addition, Audiologists can be a part of the cranio-facial (cleft palate) and vestibular (inner ear) evaluation and treatment teams. They recommend and fit hearing aids and other assistive listening equipment or alerting devices. They participate in team and family conferences and collaborate with other professionals, including speech-language pathologists, physicians, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, and social workers. They may also conduct research.

Infants, children, adults, and senior citizens with suspected or known hearing or balance problems would benefit from the care of an Audiologist. Hearing problems are often unrecognized by the person who experiences them but may be noted by the family, health care providers, or others working closely with the patient. Symptoms of hearing loss include not responding when spoken to, frequently asking for repetition from the speaker, complaints of tinnitus (ringing in the ears), problems hearing with background noise, or turning up the volume of the TV or radio.

Medical diagnoses frequently associated with hearing or balance problems in adults include Meniere’s disease, acoustic schwannoma, syphilis, stroke, or head trauma. The majority of hearing problems in older adults, however, are the result of presbycusis (hearing loss from aging). In children, medical diagnoses that can be associated with hearing loss include ear or other cranio-facial anomalies; recurrent otitis media; post-natal infections, such as meningitis; syndromes associated with progressive hearing loss, such as neurofibromatosis, osteopetrosis, or Usher’s syndrome, or with in utero infections, such as toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus infection, herpes, or syphilis; and head trauma.

Untreated hearing loss can affect speech and language development in infants and young children and can also affect academic achievement. In adults, hearing loss can lead to communication difficulties and result in social and emotional difficulties, such as problems communicating with health care workers, family, and friends, withdrawal from social interactions, anger and frustration, anxiety, and depression. Appropriate evaluation, counseling, and treatment can help the hearing impaired individual to overcome or reduce the effects of the hearing loss.

In a health care setting, an Audiologist is consulted by the referring physician when a patient exhibits a hearing or balance problem. This may be determined by routine screenings, reports from other professionals, or medical evaluations.