thoughts

[willi113]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi, I am a current AuD student (Doctor of Audiology) and I am thinking of going to medical school afterwards to become an otologist. While I feel that that the audiological management of individuals with hearing loss and vestibular problems is an important aspect of these individuals' care, I have become more and more interested in the medical management..... which brings me to my question. How do you think an audiologist turned ENT would be perceived to people in both the medical school admissions process and when getting a job in the field ? Do you think it would be perceived as an asset or not really matter much ? Also, do you know of any individuals who have gone a similiar route? ... Or am I just crazy and I should stick with being an audiologist? Thanks for your input !

 

[yowhassupdude]

i don't think you should mention that you definitely want to do ent
the admissions people won't look kindly on someone who has a close-minded idea to do only a single specialty
i think they prefer open-minded people

after all, ent is very hard to get
if you aren't at the top of the class, you won't get it

what then?

would you be happy being an internal medicine doc?

 

[resxn]

I think if you end up getting into med school and even more difficult getting into an ENT residency, you're going to have a distinct advantage with your audiology background. I think that many junior residents struggle with understanding the nuances of audiology. It can be pretty sophisticated. I know one audiologist who went to medical school, but I never heard if she got into ENT or even decided to go that route.

The above poster also had some good comments to consider. I'd be careful about pinning yourself down to one subspecialty to the admissions committee when applying to med school. At least not in those schools where they obviously promote primary care. My med school even went so far as to demonstrate why many med schools push students to primary care. Without going into extensive detail, there is a distinct financial incentive for schools to pump out primary care docs. I can explain what they said, but it's outside the scope of this post.

When applying for residency, saying you want to be a neruotologist is a great thing to say. They like to hear that they may turn out a fellowship trained doc.

 

[Leforte]

Apply for med school and see what happens. I would not lie during the interviews - if your interested in OTO, tell them. After all, you would have much more insight than your typical 21 year old biology major applying who has spent a couple of afternoons "shadowing" some private practive physician. You can relate to enjoying the diagnostic aspects of Otology and that you're keen on providing both medical and surgical management.

One caveat, however, is that it is extremely difficult to get a Neurotology fellowship. And while having an AuD is great, I don't know if it would help in the fellowship match. You'd have to ask your faculty. A majority of applicants these days have significant research (bench) and ~1/2 have a PhD, too. My understanding is that the AuD is more class-room/hands on experience and is now the entry level requirement for new audiologists (as opposed to a masters in the past). As far as audiology training - you'll learn what you need to know in residency (often with a little bit of self-directed learning) and if one ends up in a Neurotology fellowship, then clearly the audiology/vestibular training is much more in depth.

As a side note there are only somewhere around 15-18 neurotology fellowships per year, and all are now 2 years so you'd be looking at a minimum of 4 + 5 + 2 = 11 years once you start medical school, if you don't take time out to do the research required of a neurotology fellowship. A very long road ahead.

That being said, if you like otology, you can do a significan portion of your ENT practice in ears if you go to a residency program that is strong in that area - obviously this would proclude CPA tumors and advanced otology - but you'd be fine with tympanoplasty/mastoidectomy/MEE/possible OCR/possible stapes/etc....

My advice, take the initial steps (MCAT/prereqs/etc) and see what happens.

Leforte