Medical/Neuroaudiology

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BrianaGrace17

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Hello everyone!

I'm really interesting in medical audiology and neuroaudiology, like diagnosing pathologies and being involved more on the ENT side of things. What could I do as an undergraduate to get some experience there?

Also, does anyone know what kinds of grad programs have an emphasis in the "medical side" of audiology?

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hmm, so as I understand it, as an Audiologist, the scope of practice only allows us to diagnose hearing loss. Any other pathologies, such as a retrocochlear tumor (for example), have to be diagnosed by an MD (hence, an ENT). That being said, there are plenty of opportunities to do diagnostic work, which involves standard audiometric test battery - and by looking at the collective results of Pure Tone Audiometry, Immittance, Speech Audiometry etc, we can write reports to the effect that patient X has results that are consistent with ______.

As far as getting some experience, as an undergrad all you probably would need is to contact a local ENT office and ask if you can go in to do some observation. Once you finish your undergrad work and get into an audiology program, your school should offer opportunities for you to work at an ENT clinic/practice or in a hospital where you would get some exposure to the diagnostic side of things.
 
From looking into programs before beginning grad school, some schools that have a good deal of exposure to this include Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Northwestern and Indiana. Also, look for schools that have a strong otology or neurotology presence or track in the med school...
 
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if that is your interest why not plan on going to med school and becoming an ENT? if you are already strongly motivated in that direction I think you will end up being dissatisfied as an audiologist and not having more power in diagnostics. audiology is a rehab therapy profession really, not a medical profession, though we are a critical part of the diagnostic process. many audiologists may be able to perform otoscopy better than the average MD (ENT's aside), but we still don't have the power to diagnose otitis externa, for example.
 
Thanks cidanu! That's a good point. I'm stuck in this weird limbo place because I love audiology since I don't have to go to med school, yet I love the mystery of being able to diagnose someone and give them an answer.
 
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