Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) Externship Information
Au.D. Externship
The audiology department at The Center for Hearing and Speech (CHS) is seeking a Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) student to complete a challenging and exciting 48 week (11 month) pediatric externship. The ideal candidate will be highly motivated, a strong team player and have a strong desire for a career as a pediatric audiologist. Applicants will have completed their university coursework related to pediatrics, be competent in performing diagnostic audiologic procedures on adults, and have completed clinical placements that offered experience with pediatric testing and habilitation.
Clinical Experience
PEDIATRIC HEARING ASSESSMENT
At CHS, we specialize in identifying and treating children with hearing loss. As a Doctor of Audiology extern, you can expect to apply your previous pediatric clinic experiences and classroom knowledge to assess a diverse pediatric population, including children with multiple disabilities. You will perfect your skills identifying difficult to test children with hearing loss using Behavioral Observation Audiometry, Visual Reinforcement Audiometry, Conditioned Play Audiometry, as well as electrophysiologic measures.
PEDIATRIC HEARING TREATMENT AND INTERVENTION
At CHS, you will have the opportunity to follow children from birth to eighteen years of age through the evaluation process to the treatment process, and beyond. Patients at CHS are fit with traditional hearing aids, bone conduction hearing aids, osseointegrated devices, and cochlear implants. You will have the opportunity to fit, troubleshoot, and adjust these devices to help ensure your patients are hearing adequately. You will also have the opportunity to work closely with families as they adjust to a diagnosis of hearing loss and face the day to day challenges of consistent hearing aid use.
MELINDA WEBB SCHOOL AND FM SYSTEMS
During your time at CHS, you will also work closely with the Melinda Webb School, the auditory-oral approach school housed within CHS. You will program, verify, and troubleshoot FM systems and ensure that children in the Melinda Webb School are hearing appropriately.
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM
The CHS audiology department works closely with our teachers of the deaf and speech pathologists who work only with children with hearing loss. You will have opportunities to participate in multi-discipline meetings where we work together to ensure our patients achieve their listening and speaking goals.
Our Goal
The goal of this educational externship is to provide a variety of clinical experiences to develop the skills necessary for a career as a pediatric audiologist. As an extern, you can expect to receive intensive training and mentoring from an experienced staff of clinical audiologists. During the placement the extern will have the opportunity to apply academic principles within a clinical practice and learn to work as part of a multidisciplinary team.
Benefits
A stipend may be available for the 2020-2021 externship year; however, is contingent upon board approval of the budget. The Center for Hearing and Speech will also cover the cost of your Texas audiology intern license and fingerprinting.
Requirements
- Complete The Center for Hearing and Speech Au.D. externship application located at: https://www.centerhearingandspeech.org/audiology-externship/ submit no later than September 27, 2019.
- The applicant/chosen extern must have passed the national Praxis exam prior to their projected June 1, 2020 start date of the externship.
- Obtain a provisionary Texas state intern license.
- All paperwork must be completed through the State of Texas prior to beginning your externship. The responsibility of obtaining an externship license will be that of the extern.
- Prior to the projected June 1, 2020 start date, an affiliation agreement between The Center for Hearing and Speech and the university must be signed.
- Extern must have liability insurance through their university.
1. Complete The Center for Hearing and Speech Au.D. Externship application and submit no later than September 27, 2019.
https://www.centerhearingandspeech.org/audiology-externship/
2. Pass the national Praxis exam and submit your score to CHS prior to projected start date of June 1. 2020.
3. Obtain a provisionary Texas state intern license.
a) The responsibility of obtaining an externship license will be yours. All paperwork must be completed through the State of Texas prior to beginning your externship.
4. Prior to the projected June 1, 2020 start date, an affiliation agreement between The Center for Hearing and Speech and your university must be signed.
5. You must have liability insurance through their university and private health insurance.
| Primary Practice Setting: | Community speech and hearing center
Educational audiology/school setting
Other
Non-profit multi-disciplinary clinic | Number of Audiologists at the site:
| 0 FTE Masters Degree
8 FTE Au.D.
0 FTE Ph.D.
0 FTE Other Doctorate (ScD)
0 FTE professional support staff (technicians/audiometric assistants)
4 FTE Clerical Support Staff
| Number of Audiology Students each year:
| 0 1st year AuD Clinical Rotations
0 2nd year
2 3rd year
2 4th year Externships | | Financial arrangements: | Stipend
Other – Please Describe
The extern will be reimbursed for their Texas licensure and fingerprints.
The board members vote on the upcoming fiscal year (September-August) budget in the spring prior to the fiscal year. If an externship stipend is approved by the board for the fiscal year, the amount approved will be dispersed in three installments.
The Stipend will be dispensed in September, January and 2 weeks prior to completing the externship | | Will interview travel be compensated? | No
| | Vacation Days: | 10
| | Continuing education opportunities? | Yes
| | Start Date: | June 1, 2020
| | Expected hours/days a week: | 38
| | Travel to satellite centers required? | Yes
Some travel is required to participate in school hearing screenings however mileage is eligible for reimbursement. | | Local students preferred: | No
| | Does the externship site provide orientation to relevant clinical policies and procedures? | Yes | | Does the externship site provide instructions about patient's rights and providing patient education? | Yes | | Does the externship site provide orientation to quality assessment, quality assurance and quality improvement? | Yes
| | Externship site expects the extern to have mastered these skills before they begin their clinical externship: | 1. Experience in completing diagnostic hearing evaluations , including otoscopy, tympanometry, acoustic reflexes, and otoacoustic emissions in the pediatric population.
2. Have some experience completing pediatric hearing assessments using BOA, VRA, and CPA techniques.
3. Have experience in completing diagnostic natural-sleep Auditory Brainstem Response Evaluations. Externs should have familiarity with ABR protocol to rule out Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD).
4. Independently complete listening checks on hearing aids and able to complete hearing aid troubleshooting.
5. Be familiar with how FM systems work and how they can help improve listening in noise.
6. Be familiar with how cochlear implants work and basic candidacy criteria.
7. Be comfortable making earmold impressions. | | Externship site expects the extern to learn/demonstrate these skills during their clinical externship: | The extern will be able to demonstrate the following skills by the end of his/her externship:
1. Perform diagnostic hearing evaluations including objective measures using standard and pediatric testing methods.
2. Independently perform natural-sleep Auditory Brainstem Response evaluations.
3. Conduct community/school hearing screenings.
4. Independently complete pediatric hearing aid evaluations and fittings.
5. Independently perform listening checks on hearings aids, cochlear implants and personal FM systems.
6. Develop skills and knowledge in identifying pediatric candidates for cochlear implantation.
7. Assist in the cochlear implant evaluation, mapping and rehabilitation of children who receive implants.
8. Independently program FM systems and verify their function.
9. Become competent at describing audiological test results to families, patients, and other professional team members in language that can be easily understood.
10. Understand and inform parents in an unbiased approach to their communication options.
11. Develop knowledge and skills in team management of children with hearing loss and their families enrolled in an auditory-verbal therapy model, a total communication approach or in our spoken language pre-school program.
11. Consult with school personnel and speech therapists in regards to audiologic finding and their implications in the classroom. | Clinical opportunities that will be given to the extern:
| | Regularly | Hearing Screenings | | Everyday | Pediatric evaluations: infant/toddler | | Everyday | Pediatric evaluations: school-age | | Rarely | Adult hearing evaluations | | Everyday | Tympanometry | | Everyday | Acoustic Reflexes | | Never | Auditory processing evaluations | | Regularly | Hearing Screenings | | Regularly | Evoked potential assessments | | Never | Intra-operative monitoring cases | | Everyday | Otoacoustic emissions | | Never | Industrial/hearing conservation | | Never | Vestibular assessments | | Never | Vestibular rehabilitation | | Regularly | Hearing aids dispensed | | Regularly | Hearing aid selection/fitting | | Never | Audiologic rehabilitation (group or individualized) | | Regularly | Cochlear implant evaluations | | Rarely | Cochlear implant rehabilitation | | Never | Tinnitus assessments | | Never | Tinnitus rehabilitation | | Regularly | Cerumen management | | | Research opportunities? | No
| | Consortium or collaborative arrangements with other sites? | No
| | How frequently will the externship site communicate with the university during the externship? | As Needed
| | Communication or other support do expected or required from the university during the externship: | Prior to the June 1, 2020 start date, an affiliation agreement between The Center for Hearing and Speech and the extern's university must be signed. | | Application Deadline: | September 27, 2019 | | Application Requirements: | Letters of Recommendation
Resume
Transcript
Personal Review
Phone interview
Letter of request/intent
Other
Please visit http://centerhearingandspeech.org/audiology-externship/ for a complete description of application requirements. | | Steps for the student/university to follow in the application process: | Students who are interested in applying for the fourth year externship position should visit http://centerhearingandspeech.org/audiology-externship/ for more details. Applications are due by September 27, 2019. Once your application materials have been received, you may be contacted for a phone interview. An extern or externs will be selected by October 25, 2019. | Contact Person:
(preceptor, supervisor or extern coordinator) | Julie Cordell, Au.D., CCC-A - jcordell@centerhearingandspeech.org | | Are all externs supervised? | Yes
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