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- Feb 4, 2014
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I'm a third year, and I'm currently completing one of my third year externships at an ENT practice. There are four audiologists on staff, and the clinic stays very busy. That being said, we're typically so busy that I have been thrown into seeing patients by myself from day one. Now, I consider myself to have good clinical skills and patient interaction, and for the most part, I've felt competent enough to see patients on my own. However, there have been many instances where I did not feel comfortable seeing a particular patient by myself (difficult to test child, persistent malingerer, etc.). My supervisors always say, "We're always here to help" and "Don't hesitate to ask us for anything", but nine times out of ten, they're all busy in other rooms seeing other patients. And if they're not busy, they really are always happy to jump in and help out, although I do often get the feeling they think I should be able to do these things on my own by now. (I've actually been reprimanded by one of the physicians before for making a mistake on something, and while I know that the mistake was 100% my fault, there was no supervisor available to help at the time.) My question is, having looked over ASHA and AAA statements regarding supervision, is this appropriate? I like having the opportunity to work independently sometimes, but I still feel that I should be supervised much more than I actually am. Any thoughts? I'd love to know how other third years are supervised... Thanks in advance for any replies!