What is Audiology?
Whether you need a basic hearing test or you’re worried that you may have a serious hearing problem, your first step is to make an appointment to see an audiologist. An audiologist is a licensed professional specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss and balance disorders. All audiologists at Ontario Hearing Center have completed their Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) degree.
Audiology is a diverse scientific and medical field where audiologists can be found working in schools, hospitals, clinics, and private practices. It has seen a rapid growth in the past several years due to increasing technological changes.
What Is An Audiologist?
Audiologist
In the simplest possible terms, an audiologist is a hearing doctor who provides hearing services to both adults and children. Their job is to help patients with anything related to their hearing, including, but not limited to, evaluating, diagnosing, treating, and educating their patients on hearing loss. If you think your hearing may be problematic on any level, an audiologist can help you.
Administering Hearing Tests
Administering hearing tests is one of the most common services an audiologist provides. This practice allows them to get precise data on the status of your hearing, and if you require any special treatment. They provide a variety of services, such as hearing aid fittings, customizing sound protection, providing aural rehabilitation, and counseling.
Practice Areas
Audiologists often work in hospitals and through private practices, but they also can be found working in K-12 schools, universities, and even military hospitals. Since they are educated to treat nearly all types of hearing loss, they will know how to best advise you based on the specific nature of your hearing.
Requirements to Become an Audiologist
Audiologists have a rigorous educational path. Following a bachelors degree, often times in communication disorders, audiologists are required to pursue a Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) degree. Typically this is a four year post graduate degree program.
In addition to obtaining an Au.D., Audiologists also need to be licensed by their individual states. States often require Audiologists to pass written and/or participating exams, as well as obtain annual continuing education hours.
What an audiologist does, and how that differs from a hearing aid dispenser
An audiologist is a doctoral-level clinician licensed to diagnose and manage hearing loss, tinnitus and balance problems. A hearing aid dispenser, also called a hearing instrument specialist, is licensed in New York to test hearing for the purpose of selecting hearing aids, then to fit and service them. Both fit hearing aids well. The difference shows up before the fitting, in how far the workup goes and what gets ruled out first.
| Audiologist | Hearing aid dispenser | |
|---|---|---|
| Education | Doctorate in audiology (Au.D. or Ph.D.) | State training programme and licensing exam; no doctorate required |
| Scope | Diagnoses hearing, tinnitus and balance disorders | Tests hearing to select and fit hearing aids |
| Testing | Full diagnostic battery: air and bone conduction, speech testing, middle-ear measures | Air-conduction hearing test for fitting purposes |
| Hearing aids | Selects, fits and verifies with real ear measurement | Selects, fits and services |
Every audiologist at Ontario Hearing Center holds the Doctor of Audiology degree.
Your audiologists in Rochester, NY
Three audiologists see patients here, and you can read about each of them before you book.
What to expect at each type of appointment
A hearing test is the starting point. You listen to tones and repeat words, we look in your ears, and you leave with an audiogram and a plain-English explanation of what it shows.
A hearing aid fitting is a separate visit. Your audiologist programs the devices to your own results, then verifies what they deliver in your ears using real ear measurement rather than manufacturer defaults.
A tinnitus appointment starts with a hearing evaluation, because hearing loss sits behind a large share of tinnitus cases, then moves to the management options that suit what the testing shows.
Follow-up visits are where the fine-tuning happens, once you have worn the devices in your own kitchen, your own car and your own restaurants.
Expert Audiologists in Rochester, NY
The audiologists at Ontario Hearing Center are dedicated to providing quality hearing services in Rochester, NY. We provide advanced hearing technologies, personalized audiological care, and world-class solutions for your hearing needs.