President-Elect Nominee
Dr. Samuel Bittel is co-owner and the vestibular program director for Hearing and Balance Specialists of Kansas City. He is an assistant professor and lecturer in the neurology and audiology departments at the University of Kansas Medical Center, where he taught the doctoral audiology vestibular course for 13 years.
In addition to his roles as a practice owner and practitioner, Dr. Bittel supervises doctoral students from a wide range of programs and helps guide doctoral research. He is actively involved in research and lectures nationally on a wide range of topics, including vestibular diagnostics/management, cerumen removal, and business.
Dr. Bittel’s private practice is unique and an organic start-up. His multi-specialty practice incorporates specialists in tinnitus and misophonia, auditory processing disorders, dizziness and imbalance, hearing loss, dyslexia, and concussion. He also directly employs specialists from outside of audiology, including physical therapy, speech-language pathology, and neuropsychology. His dynamic private practice is the hallmark of an audiology-directed, diversified, and diagnostics-driven clinic.
Dr. Bittel has been extensivity involved in state and national audiology organizations. At the state level, he fought for Kansas audiology licensure changes and functioned in several key roles, including audiology vice president, vice president of state legislative issues, and the work group chair for state hearing aid coverage. At the national level, he served on the Academy’s Board of Directors from 2018-2021, where he was also on the Professional Development Committee, Professional Quality Assurance Committee, Audit Committee, and Membership Dues Task Force. He has served on seven of the Academy’s Annual Conference subcommittees.
Outside of audiology, Dr. Bittel has a long-history of giving back to his community. He served two terms of service as a team leader through AmeriCorps (the domestic version of the Peace Corps). Prior to becoming an audiologist, Dr. Bittel was a case manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters. He studied and has degrees in both psychology and sociology, earned his doctoral degree from Nova Southeastern University, and completed his externship with The American Institute of Balance.