should I go for master or AuD program?

[utnaer]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I have received a Phd in Neuroscience with a focus on the auditory system. I'm familiar with auditory neurophysiology stuff. I'm now doing a postdoc in the same field. Because it's hard to find a real job in our field. I'm thinking about going to audiology department and get either a master's or AuD so I can find a job in clinics. I have some questions;

(1) I'm 30 already. Is it too late to enter the graduate school again?
(2) Should I go for master or AuD program?
(3) will my PHd in neuroscience help me finding a job as a AuD.
(4) How hard to find a AuD job in a certain city (I don't want to move because some family issue).

Thanks.

 

[spring88]

I have received a Phd in Neuroscience with a focus on the auditory system. I'm familiar with auditory neurophysiology stuff. I'm now doing a postdoc in the same field. Because it's hard to find a real job in our field. I'm thinking about going to audiology department and get either a master's or AuD so I can find a job in clinics. I have some questions;

(1) I'm 30 already. Is it too late to enter the graduate school again?
(2) Should I go for master or AuD program?
(3) will my PHd in neuroscience help me finding a job as a AuD.
(4) How hard to find a AuD job in a certain city (I don't want to move because some family issue).

Thanks.

Hi! You have some great questions there 🙂

1. It's never too late to start school again BUT keep in mind the AuD is a four year program and depending on where you go, you will be some sort of debt.

2. Masters programs in Audiology exist in Canada (different certification) but an AuD is required for an audiology career in the United States. If you are interested in Speech-Language pathology, you can get a MA or MS and it will only be two years (sometimes three).

3. I'm not on an admissions committee but having a PhD in neuroscience will probably help you immensely. One of my professors got a PhD in neuroscience and got her degree in audiology afterwards. She does research with CIs. There are several professors in my department that have backgrounds in neuroscience. Be prepared for some interest as to why you want to switch from neuroscience to audiology especially with already having a PhD.

4. You may have to move if you want to pursue an AuD. There aren't that many AuD programs in this country and some states don't have any. Job outlook for Audiology is good (coming from a variety of people I know personally in the field) but like any job search in this climate, you need to be flexible. Some places are very highly saturated with audiologists, especially in the city I live in now and there isn't as much of a need. Job openings are there but they are competitive.

Hope this helps!

 

[cidanu]

have you considered applying for faculty positions in audiology departments? you don't have to have an AuD or be a clinical audiologist to be hired as faculty or a researcher in an audiology department. our department has at least 2 faculty with backgrounds in other areas but who do research in auditory science or related fields, and i don't think that's unusual.

 

[Kitska]

I used to have a completely different career in science and am now an AuD student. Having a science background is definitely useful and will give you a really different perspective on things. You will probably have no trouble with the AuD coursework. The thing that will be different is the day-to-day work. You will train to be a clinician. To be a good clinician, you have to have to relate well to patients (good "bedside manner"), and to think clearly on the spot. It's not like science research where you focus on a problem for years and years, read all the scientific literature about it, and plan your experiments at your leisure. As a clinician doing diagnostics, anyway, you need to see the facts at hand before you and decide what to do on the spot. It's not like taking days to plan an experiment. You have 5 minutes to decide what additional tests to run that could be helpful in making a diagnosis.

As an audiologist, when you finish school, while you might not end up doing diagnostics on a day-to-day basis, it will still be a big part of your training, and how well you do at it could influence your marketability as an employee.

If you are going to go into the dispensing business, at many places, your success will depend a lot on how well you are able to sell hearing aids. Of course a good dispensing audiologist knows his/her stuff with respect to acoustics, hearing aid technology, etc. and comes from the perspective of offering solutions to a patient to make their lives better. But at the end of the day, you do have to make the sale in order to support the business. You might already have some sales experience as a scientist in that you have probably had to "sell" your ideas in order to get grant awards or to get journal editors and reviewers interested in your research articles.

And, yes, you will go into debt. Prepare to pay at least $100,000 for your AuD at a private university.