I'm in the process of applying to 4th year's --NOT fun! Anyone want to discuss acceptances, rejections, salaries, interview questions?
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Anyone want to talk about 4th year?
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I'm a prospective student applying now, so I don't have much to contribute, but several schools I'm looking at now help students find fourth year placements, make the first contact, etc. This year, all 14 students have already been placed in their first choices. I know this doesn't apply to all programs, does your program not give you any assistance? Everything related to audiology is extremely competitive I'm finding... however, I'm also finding that most who are interested are very passionate, hard working, and competitive so hopefully it won't be too bad!
My school offers no assistance to its students looking for 4th year placements. In fact, my school offers little assistance in finding rotation sites. I wonder if most schools are helping students get placed in a 4th year externship?
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Our school doesn't really provide a lot of assistance, but I think that's better than getting a lot of help with finding an externship location. It is more like the real world when you have to look for a job, all on your own.
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Just out of curiosity for any 4th years or current AuDs (if you remember!), how many clock hours had you already accumulated at the time of your externship applications?
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Most schools in my experience do not provide much help in locating 4th year opportunities. Most schools will have a list of previous sites where students have performed rotations or worked as 4th year externs. I would inquire if such a list exists as these sites would be familiar with your program and have a good handle on the strengths of its students.
I think it's best for a program to be pretty hands off for 4th year placements and only check to be sure the site is legitimate for the student's needs and nothing illegal/unethical is occurring and that's pretty much it. Students should be responsible for finding their own 4th year positions as it's great training for the real world. You are young professionals. You need to be able to sell yourself and skill set to potential employers. The 4th year is a lot like employment as many are paid externships. Yes you're being clinically trained, but by the 4th year you should be pretty independent with basic evals on adults and pediatrics, hearing aid fittings (at least the basics), and ABR's/OAE's. Vestibular and cochlear implants are often a weak area in all programs as it's more specialized and students might only get 1-2 rotations working with these populations, but students should still understand the basics.
I know I was upset with the VA externships. They often did not know funding or how many students their site could take until late in the year and so many of the top students in each program had already found placements and accepted offers and the weaker students slid into the higher paying VA slots. That's just my personal gripe though.
Good luck to all the students applying for 4th year positions! My best advice is if you have a certain area/state you wish to be in then just start looking up offices/audiologists and reaching out to them by e-mail/phone and simply asking if they would be interested in taking a student for their 4th year externship.
I think it's best for a program to be pretty hands off for 4th year placements and only check to be sure the site is legitimate for the student's needs and nothing illegal/unethical is occurring and that's pretty much it. Students should be responsible for finding their own 4th year positions as it's great training for the real world. You are young professionals. You need to be able to sell yourself and skill set to potential employers. The 4th year is a lot like employment as many are paid externships. Yes you're being clinically trained, but by the 4th year you should be pretty independent with basic evals on adults and pediatrics, hearing aid fittings (at least the basics), and ABR's/OAE's. Vestibular and cochlear implants are often a weak area in all programs as it's more specialized and students might only get 1-2 rotations working with these populations, but students should still understand the basics.
I know I was upset with the VA externships. They often did not know funding or how many students their site could take until late in the year and so many of the top students in each program had already found placements and accepted offers and the weaker students slid into the higher paying VA slots. That's just my personal gripe though.
Good luck to all the students applying for 4th year positions! My best advice is if you have a certain area/state you wish to be in then just start looking up offices/audiologists and reaching out to them by e-mail/phone and simply asking if they would be interested in taking a student for their 4th year externship.
