An audiologist occupation is focused on diagnosing and treating people with auditory or hearing and ear-related problems. People of all ages who have auditory, balance, and neural or related sensory issues rely on an audiologist to assess and help them with a specific treatment. More often though, audiologist work means dealing with elderly people who commonly suffer this problem with their advanced age; young children who may have been born with a hearing impairment; people currently on hearing impairment aids; and a few involved in accidents that affected their otherwise normal hearing.
Other possible causes of hearing problems that will need the special attention of audiologists are viral infections, exposure to loud noise, genetic disorders, and adverse reaction to certain medications. Depending on the exam result, treatments may vary from cleaning of the ear canal, dispensing of hearing aids, or fitting and programming the patient with cochlear implants.
After interpreting the results of an examination, an audiologist may coordinate with medical, psychological, and educational information to complete the necessary treatment. Audiologist jobs sometimes extend to measuring noise levels and facilitating hearing protection programs for employees in large workplaces such as industrial or machine factories which have high noise levels.
Data from the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics reveals audiologist employment was around 12,800 in 2008. Most working full time spent around forty hours at work including home or office visits on weekends and night time. Because of the growing elderly population, audiologist work will increase with visits to this section of population commonly suffering from hearing loss due to their advanced age. BLS projects the overall employment growth for this job as "much faster than average" at 25 percent from the period 2008 to 2018.
While this type of health-related service only covers a small size of the overall healthcare industry, audiologist careers are favorable in the next few years. An audiologist occupation will need license from the State they are located. Around 64 percent are found working in healthcare facilities while many found employment at educational services. Having a master's degree in audiology is common before anyone can practice his expertise while those who wish to pursue audiologist careers will need to earn a doctoral degree. Some States are more stringent with eighteen of them in 2009 requiring individuals to earn their 4-year Au.D. before they are allowed to practice audiology.
Audiologist jobs can be found with the proper educational background, training, and State licensure. One however must choose the correct school where programs in audiology are accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA). Seventy audiology doctoral programs were accredited by CAA in 2009, and State licensing and credentialing can only be obtained after one graduates from an accredited program. CAA is an entity of the prestigious American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
Audiologist careers start with getting the proper academic credentials from such accredited schools like Washington University in St. Louis, San Diego State/University of California in San Diego, Northeast Ohio Au.D. Consortium, James Madison University in Virginia, the University of North Carolina, University of Florida, Nova Southeastern University in Florida, and A.T. Still University in Arizona.
An audiologist employment will need admission to audiology programs with required courses in English, psychology, communication, mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry. The graduate coursework includes anatomy, physiology, genetics, physics, normal and abnormal communication development, balance, auditory, neural systems assessment and treatment, pharmacology, ethics, and diagnosis and treatment. Externships and supervised clinical practicum are needed in graduate curriculums.
Audiologist jobs also have better than average financial rewards in annual wages. In a BLS data in May 2008, the median annual wages for these specialists was at $62,030. Those in the middle 50 percent enjoyed wages from $50,470 to $78,380, while the lowest 10 percent had wages lower than $40,360. Those from the highest 10 percent bracket enjoyed $98,880. Other perks for audiologists include employers paying tuition for their continuing education especially those who are seriously considering audiologist careers. After years of practice, some audiologist can prefer to hold supervisory or management posts in hospitals or clinics. While some who may wish to pursue an independent practice can do so and concentrate on locations where many retirees live as they can be a potential cluster of clients.
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