Is There Good Money Being An Audiologist?

Not to be obtuse but what more does a audiologist do besides giving a hearing test and calibrate the ha's for the individual frequency losses.

Personally, I would rather buy the hearing aids cheap off the internet and calibrate it myself.
 
Doug5 said:
Not to be obtuse but what more does a audiologist do besides giving a hearing test and calibrate the ha's for the individual frequency losses.

Personally, I would rather buy the hearing aids cheap off the internet and calibrate it myself.
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Well, there's many medical disorders for deafness, hence why the Audiologist need to know them.

You can't calibrate digital hearing aids. I know I can't. Same goes for CI audiologist, there's no way anyone can calibrate their CIs themselves...if we could we could REALLY screw up with our implants, so it's best left to the experts.
 
Doug5 said:
Not to be obtuse but what more does a audiologist do besides giving a hearing test and calibrate the ha's for the individual frequency losses.

Personally, I would rather buy the hearing aids cheap off the internet and calibrate it myself.
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Electrophysiological testing (ABR, ASSR, MLR, LLR, P300, ECOG, VEMP, VEP) and balance testing (ENG, VNG, posturograghy, rotary chair, ect), and auditory processing to name a few. Perform the test, interpret the results, recommend a course of treatment, and in some cases provide the treatment. Yes, hearing tests are a part of what we do and so are hearing aids, but it's not everything.

You could buy a hearing aid online, but the only one you'd be capable of adjusting yourself is an old conventional trim-pot (screw set) hearing aid. You cannot legally obtain the fitting software or interface to program the aids from a manufacturer.
 
Hi guys n gals,

I am considering audiology as a career option and hoping to get into one of the 2-year masters programs in australia. I chose it because it is a low-stress 1on1 9-5 job and I find helping people rewarding. I am also hearing-impaired and admire my audiologists. I was good at physics and maths in high school. I was previously a mechanical engineer but was so stressed out with solving mechanical problems, group meetings (burns me out) and tight deadlines. I just can't handle the stress in the corporate world.
I was unhappy.

I want to ask for your advice on the difficulty of audiology subjects.

Can I survive the course given that I had difficulty memorising biology/anatomy terms and concepts in high school?

Any tips on studying biology/anatomy subjects?
How about succeeding in clinical work subjects?

I have good long term visual memory, but not short-term memory such as remembering people's names, etc.

Thanks heaps!
 
Doug5 said:
yeah, its hard to live comfortably with under 100k a year.
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Hah, try 25k a year, and I'm sure others survive on even less with a family.

To the OP about being an audiologist - please do not become a hearing aid mill, where you do the audio, say, "You need hearing aids," recommend to VR the aids, slap them on and send them on their way. I had an audiologist like that, and I promptly fired her and reported to VR what happened.
 
mdm0305 said:
I am a Hard of Hearing person just starting my first year in my Doctors of Audiology graduate school at the U of MN. The requirements are that you complete either an AuD or PhD according to the ASHA (American Speech & Hearing Association) law in order to practice in hospitals, clinics, schools and private practices.

<snip>
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Sooo... Let me ask - is that 100k a year even going to be enough to cover the interest payment on the school loan by the time you graduate, if you haven't burned out by that time?
 
Trust me, if being audiologist was easy, more people would do it.

I believe that there is a shortage of audiologists.
 
Doug5 said:
I think the technical aspects of engineering would help.
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My audiologist used to be an engineer. He graduated from an Ocean Sciences school. He used to travel the world and made a lot of money in engineering. He switched to audiology because he is hearing impaired and he makes less money.
 
Imagine this:

--your income is limited to however many clients you can see in a day
--most hearing devices are expensive, so your compensation is determined by insurance rates or however many people can pay for your services and products
--hearing aids are replaced maybe every five years or so
--you have to buy expensive equipment and pay rent/mortgage on the office space
--audiologists who sell hearing aids mark up their HAs as much as four-five times the manufactoring price
--it costs money to maintain your credentials

So, you won't get rich that easily off DHH people.
 
I didn't read anywhere in this thread, or I missed it. I am curious if audiologist are required to know ASL. I have not seen anyone at the large clinic I go to sign.
 
Angel1989 said:
I didn't read anywhere in this thread, or I missed it. I am curious if audiologist are required to know ASL. I have not seen anyone at the large clinic I go to sign.
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No, and very few do know ASL.
 
Angel1989 said:
I didn't read anywhere in this thread, or I missed it. I am curious if audiologist are required to know ASL. I have not seen anyone at the large clinic I go to sign.
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They are not; they have a hard enough time convincing hearing impaired clients to wear hearing aids. The deaf have no interest in hearing devices as they don't see hearing loss as anything that needs fixing, so where's the need for the language? The clientele isn't there to justify the cost and time to learn it for most professionals.


Laura
 
Bottesini said:
No, and very few do know ASL.
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That just seems so wrong and very, very sad. Out of all my doctors I have seen, you would think the office who deals with many deaf patients, would be able to communicate with us. I assumed when I was approved to see this clinic, I would get a lot of information, in the very least offer a support group and locations for learning ASL. They had no information. That is why I am so grateful for all of you here on AD. I have learned so much and everyday I learn something new.
 
Angel1989 said:
That just seems so wrong and very, very sad. Out of all my doctors I have seen, you would think the office who deals with many deaf patients, would be able to communicate with us. I assumed when I was approved to see this clinic, I would get a lot of information, in the very least offer a support group and locations for learning ASL. They had no information. That is why I am so grateful for all of you here on AD. I have learned so much and everyday I learn something new.
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Well, here's a link to another forum where the audiologists themselves offer their viewpoint:

AUDIOLOGISTS -- Do you sign? - Hearing Aid Forums | Hearing Loss | Hearing Aids
 
Lau2046 said:
They are not; they have a hard enough time convincing hearing impaired clients to wear hearing aids. The deaf have no interest in hearing devices as they don't see hearing loss as anything that needs fixing, so where's the need for the language? The clientele isn't there to justify the cost and time to learn it for most professionals.


Laura
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Are you speaking for all deaf people, or yourself? There are so many deaf people here on AD who's primary language is ASL, with or without "hearing devices".
 
Just looked again, there's only two replies so that won't help you. Despite what is said, there are people in the field that do Sign. In fact I've had two hearing aid dispensers that know Sign language - not sure how often it was used on their job but they do know it. I've been with one of them for years, she's great and very knowledgeable in the field. Yet, I think what one of the people on the other forum pointed out was telling - audiologists largely treat the hearing impaired. If the demand was there, they'd probably learn it as it just makes business sense. Unfortunately, not many deaf have enough interest in improving their hearing to make it viable for professionals to learn.


Laura
 
The audis at the CI clinic we use, associated with a large hospital, all have had varying levels of ASL (and either AuD or PhD degrees in audiology). We've had two audis with hearing loss, one fluent in ASL, one not fluent, but with enough sign to communicate the basics. Our audis often have a doctoral student or two observing, and I've noticed that more often than not they know ASL as well, and enjoy practicing with my daughter. The one observing last month was a hearing doctoral student at Gallaudet.

At a CI clinic, obviously every patient is deaf, not hoh or "hearing impaired," which might account for the common use of ASL.
 
Deaf ASL signers have the right to use interpreters at their audiology appointments, and audiologists are obligate, by law to provide interpreters if requested.

If audiologists don't like the extra expense of interpreters they can learn ASL or employ staff members who can sign. If they become fluent enough to satisfy their consumers then they might not need to hire terps as often.

There are plenty of Deaf ASL signing people who use hearing aids. Using ASL and using hearing aids are not mutually exclusive practices.
 
Reba said:
Deaf ASL signers have the right to use interpreters at their audiology appointments, and audiologists are obligate, by law to provide interpreters if requested.

If audiologists don't like the extra expense of interpreters they can learn ASL or employ staff members who can sign.
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They can write off the expenses on their tax forms.
 
Angel1989 said:
I didn't read anywhere in this thread, or I missed it. I am curious if audiologist are required to know ASL. I have not seen anyone at the large clinic I go to sign.
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Audiologists are not required to know sign language, even though they SHOULD BE! This is because many audiological programs that audiologists graduate from do not require ASL as a major or an elective class.

Many programs stress that sign language is not how one will cure one's hearing loss as they focus more on the medical/pathology model when they should focus on the cultural model.
 
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