The significant changes in the American Board of Audiology (ABA) certification process are generating a number of questions from current and prospective certificants. The ABA board felt that it might be beneficial to Academy members, who may have similar questions, to offer more information on the topic. 

This article is the second of a two-part series on evidence-based audiology and the education of audiologists. In the first article (Hall, 2018), the concept of evidence-based audiology was reviewed. Also, challenges in the incorporation of evidence-based audiology into doctor of audiology (AuD) programs were identified. This article offers general and specific steps and strategies for more effectively instilling in doctor of audiology students the principles of evidence-based audiology, and their application in clinical practice.

Twenty years ago, a group of Academy members came together to develop a certification that would serve audiologists by verifying credentials in an independent process that offers an alternative to the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association Certificate of Clinical Competence–Audiology. They developed a program of rigorous education and experience verification with strong continuing education requirements and called it Board Certified in Audiology, in recognition of the substantial requisites.

The doctor of audiology (AuD) degree was developed to support a profession with a scope of practice that had outgrown its existing educational standards. Multiple professional associations, including the American Academy of Audiology, the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association, and the Academy of Dispensing Audiologists (later renamed the Academy of Doctors of Audiology) worked to define the expanding knowledge and skills expected of competent audiologists.