By Kensi Cobb, BA, second-year AuD/PhD student, and Gregg Givens, PhD, Chair, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
At East Carolina University, our audiology students receive a unique graduate education. Our program blends clinical and research coursework. In this way, the efficiency of the curriculum allows students to receive two doctoral degrees – an AuD and a PhD. This program gives us a different perspective on clinical work because we gain an understanding of the research that clinical techniques are based in. We learn to question why audiologists use certain procedures, and we’re curious to find explanations for why particular auditory pathologies present the way they do.
We decided to create a chapter of SAA to help us spread two messages: One, to our eastern North Carolina community about the importance of audiology, and another to our professional community about the importance of research. We hope to serve our community by performing hearing screenings and educational sessions in rural areas of eastern North Carolina. Our chapter also aims to be involved with Special Olympics Health Hearing Program. We hope to serve our profession by conducting roundtable gatherings in which we discuss our research projects with students and professors. Our chapter will also be open to undergraduates who want to learn more about audiology and maybe gain some research experience. At AudiologyNOW! 2012, we are looking forward to gathering new service ideas for our chapter, interacting with other SAA members, and learning about interesting areas of research.