The School of Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences offers a world-class, continuous, 4-year, full-time clinical doctoral program in audiology. We are a diverse, energetic, dedicated, and productive faculty who work closely with students in a postitive and encouraging environment. We offer students access to state-of-the art facitities and equipment, a variety of clinical experiences, and possibilities for mentored research experiences. The three components of the doctorate, including coursework, clinical practicum, and research training, are integrated into a sequential program. Upon completion of the program, candidates will provide comprehensive clinical services in prevention, identification, assessment, and treatment of individuals with disorders of hearing, balance, and other neural systems. They will also be able to function as administrators and advocates for the discipline.

The clinical doctorate in audiology (Au.D.) degree study in Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences at Ohio University provides numerous distinctive opportunities, including:

• Ample and diverse clinical experiences and settings.
• A nationwide network of clinical externship sites preceeded by clinical experience, professional practicum seminar and classwork.
• Engagement with multicultural, multinational and multilingual students and faculty.
• Dedicated personalized clinical supervision from seasoned clinicians.
• Classes offered in "smart" classrooms equipped with the most advanced teaching and learning technology.
• Participation in a university and local community that offers a safe and picturesque environment.

The Au.D. has accreditation by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). The curriculum meets the standards required for certification, and the program is set up to satisfy the new standards on outcome assessments. For example, based on the recommended guidelines by the ASHA, a clinical competence tool for monitoring student performance throughout the program is in place. We believe our program rivals the best in the country and will continue our 65 year heritage of providing quality education to our students and clinical services to the community.

There are four targeted areas of study and training in the first three years. Detailed information on all required courses and policies can be obtained from the Graduate Handbook.

1. Didactic coursework provides the student with the foundational knowledge and critical thinking skills of the profession.
2. Professional clinical training provides the opportunity to use the knowledge learned in the classroom as well as to discuss clinical issues.
3. The student has direct patient contact in formal and closely supervised settings.
4. Guided clinical research experience is provided in areas such as hearing aids, cochlear implants,psychoacoustics and signal processing, diagnostic audiology, otoacoustic emissions, and physiological measures of the auditory system.

The fourth and final year of the Au.D. program consists of a full-time supervised externship. By graduation, clinical hours--in addition to the nine-month full-time externship--exceeds ASHA standards for obtaining professional certification.

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Clinical experiences evolve in quantity, scope and complexity within a variety of settings over the first three years, providing students with experiences more extensive and diverse than that offered by many urban programs.

Clinical Experiences include:

• A beautiful, well equipped on-campus multidisciplinary clinic located in the same building as a cademic classrooms, research labs, and offices
• Private practice
• Otolaryngology practices
• Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient and inpatient sites
• Area adult and pediatric hospitals
• Balance clinic
• Newborn hearing screenings at local hospitals
• Schools
• Regional clinics/health departments

Many sites are supervised by our own supervisory staff as well as Ohio University adjunct supervisors.

• In-patient service delivery
• Out-patient service delivery
• Newborn through geriatric populations
• Veterans Affairs Audiological evaluations
• Veterans Affairs hearing aid fittings and assessment
• Digital, programmable and conventional hearing aid fittings
• Hearing aid programming
• Electroacoustic analysis of hearing aids
• Real ear assessment
• Live speech mapping
• Assistive lisening device selection
• Diagnostic audiological evaluations
• Visual reinforcement audiometry
• Conditioned play audiometry
• Distortion product otoacoustic emissions
• Transient evoked otoacoustic emissions
• Visual otoscopy
• Cerumen management
• Immittance assessment
• Balance assessment
• Evoked potentials
• Auditory processing screenings and evaluations
• School hearing screenings
• Newborn infant hearing screenings
• Parent education
• Marketing
• Ethics of clinical practice
• Clinical business management
• Aural rehabilitation in hearing aid and cochlear implanted children
• Hearing aid cleaning and repair of in-the-ear and behind-the-ear hearing aids

• Involvement in research projects funded by prestigious agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
• Grant funding opportunities for student research and travel to professional conferences.
• Enriching collaborative experiences in medicine, psychology, neuroscience, cognition, psycholinguistics, linguistics, health sciences, physical therapy, education, engineering, biological sciences, statistics, and more.
• Participation in Ohio University's NanoBio Technology Initiative, Appalacian Rural Health Institue and Diabetes Research Initiative, providing rich additional interdisciplinary research and student funding possibilities.
• Participation in the Institute for the Empirical Study of Language, facilitating research collaboration across many disciplines.
• Access to clinical populations to support cutting-edge research programs.

Admissions are based on the following:

• Graduate Record Education (GRE) scores of at least 1000 (on verbal and quantitative sections)
• Minimum overall GPA of 3.0 (4.0 scale)
• A bachelor's degree or graduate degrees in communication sciences/disorders or related science degrees such as pre-medicine, psychology, linguistics, engineering, and biology
• Letter of intent
• Three letters of recommendation
• Supplemental Information Form (Click here for form)
• Personal or phone interviews
• Evidence of course work completed in the following areas:
  • anatomy and physiology of speech and hearing
  • biology
  • physics
  • psychology
  • linguistics
  • speech and hearing sciences
  • basic audiology
  • language development
  • phonetics
  • math/statistics
    

    Students who lack any of these courses will be required to complete them early in their program.

For more information and to apply to this program, go to "Application Information and Materials"

Jeffrey DiGiovanni, Ph.D.
Coordinator of Professional Programs
School of Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences
Grover Center W218
Athens, OH 45701
(740) 593-1407