Overview
Audiologists, identify hearing and balance disorders, provide rehabilitative services, assess amplification devices and instruct patients in their care, prepare future professionals in colleges and universities, and serve as consultants to government and industry on issues concerning environmental, and noise-induced hearing loss.
A Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) is an independent professional who specializes in diagnosing, managing, and treating hearing- and balance-related disorders. Audiologists treat patients from birth through adulthood.
In providing hearing care, audiologists:
- Diagnose and treat hearing problems, including balance function and disorders.
- Treat most hearing impairments through modern earware, including programmable and digital hearing aids.
- Develop and implement prevention, screening and early detection programs.
- Recommend hearing protection in industrial, military, travel, music, and other settings.
- Provide training in lip reading and understanding sounds.
Audiology is closely connected to the field of speech-language pathology (SLP). Some audiologists also become certified speech-language pathologists, but each profession is a distinct career in its own right.
For more information on these both audiology and speech-language pathology, see the "Students" section of the ASHA Website.
You can download, save and print a PDF of this career profile:
Audiologist 18 May 2008 [pdf, 162 KB]
To meet an audiologist and find out what it's like to work in this field, see the NIH "Lifeworks" Website.
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Salary:
$52,000
-
$90,000
[*]
Years in school:
8
-
0
after high school graduation
Job outlook:
Excellent
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