An audiologist is a university graduated healthcare professional with postgraduate qualifications specialising in identifying, diagnosing, treating and monitoring problems with the auditory and vestibular system parts of the ear. Audiology is both a challenging and extremely rewarding career, which can provide flexibility with respect to time and days worked. From testing hearing and dispensing hearing aids to mapping cochlear implants counseling families and designing and implementing hearing programs at schools or in the workplace, Audiologists require not only technical and anatomical knowledge but also people skills to provide a key element of healthcare to the Australian public.

What Audiologists Do

Audiologists are trained to diagnose, manage and/or treat hearing and/or balance problems. In addition Audiologists also provide counseling skills, especially to assist families through hearing loss in newborn babies as well as in certain cases helping teach coping and compensation skills to deaf adults, who have become deaf later in life.

Audiologists also help design and implement hearing safety programs, newborn hearing screening programs, school hearing screening programs, and deliver products such as specially fitted ear plugs for swimmers and a range of other hearing protection devices to help prevent hearing loss.
Audiologists’ training includes anatomy, physiology, hearing aids, electrophysiology, acoustics, neurology, counseling and sign language.

Working as an Audiologist

Audiologists in Australia would generally get involved in the following areas of patient treatment:

• Assessing and diagnosing complex hearing problems related to infants, children and adults
• Helping patients assess and choose the hearing treatment or solution which is right for them, their environment and their circumstances
• Prescribing and fitting hearing aids
• Teaching patients how to use their hearing aids, as well as checking, programming and adjusting hearing aids to best fit the patients needs
• Mapping cochlear implants
• Designing tailored hearing improvement programs for a variety of needs
• Prevention of hearing loss and hearing conservation programs
• Audiologists may also specialise in certain areas for example; cochlear implants, education, industrial, vestibular and balance issues etc.

Audiological Society Australia

The Audiological Society of Australia (ASA) is the professional body for audiologists. The ASA has a clinical certification program and audiologists may participate in ongoing professional development plans to retain their Certificate of Clinical Practice.

You can also read more on audiology and audiologists in the Wikipedia, a free global resource.