Action | Amendments to Board for Hearing Aid Specialists Regulations 2012 |
Stage | NOIRA |
Comment Period | Ended on 3/14/2012 |
Licensed audiologists should no longer need to take a hearing aid evaluation before they are able to dispense hearing aids. As a 1st year AuD student at James Madison University, my classmates and I are currently enrolled in the first course in a set of two that covers hearing instruments. The coursework provides in depth information on the benefit of hearing aids, types of hearing aids, and hearing aid compenents, among other topics. In addition, weekly clinic hours expose students to the process of a hearing aid consulation, selection, and fitting. I am only in my first year of the program yet I have already worked with multiple hearing aid patients using two different types of hearing aid software. After my four years of graduate school are complete, I am confident I will have gained many hours of experience fitting hearing aids. A required hearing aid examination after several years of education seems extremely redundant.