Clinical Vestibular Audiology Training of AuD Students: One Clinic’s Perspective

By Daniel S. Talian

This article is a part of the November/December 2019, Volume 31, Number 6, Audiology Today issue.

During doctor of audiology graduate programs, students are expected to complete coursework and clinical training experiences across the breadth of the profession. Depending on the curriculum of the school and the clinical experiences available, the quality of their clinical training may vary, particularly in some of the specialty areas within audiology. With this in mind, the team of audiologists at the Intermountain Healthcare Hearing and Balance Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, has worked to create resources and use teaching methods to enhance the learning of our students during their semester-long internship. The goal is to provide a more structured, enriching clinical experience and expand upon what they have learned in the classroom.

Although this article is written from the perspective of a clinic specializing in vestibular assessment and management, readers will find that the ideas presented are easily transferable to various areas of clinical audiology education. This article describes the methods and resources regularly used in the training of graduate students at this clinic including: orientation, exams, grand rounds, reflection, and feedback. We discuss the rationale behind their implementation, as well as ideas for future direction.

Getting Started

On the first day of their internship, students are provided with a tour of the clinic, a folder containing orientation paperwork, and a discussion of expectations and goals. Establishing expectations is an important part of ensuring positive clinical education outcomes (Mormer et al, 2013). This is accomplished through the review of worksheets and checklists that describe expectations and assignments to be completed during the internship. For a list of the documents provided in the orientation packet, see FIGURE 1.

An entrance assessment, a 50-question exam, is administered during orientation. This will be addressed in the following section. Additionally, a list of references for texts and articles that our audiologists regularly use is provided to students. Many of these texts are owned by the audiologists and are available in our shared office space for students to review as needed. This provides students with information to reference, should a need for further clarification arise. Having a clearly organized orientation with accompanying paperwork provides time for the clarification of requirements and allows the program to move forward efficiently.