Research Training for Clinical Audiologists

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Attracting clinicians to career paths in clinical and/or translational research has been an objective of the Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) and Washington University in St. Louis (WU) since they jointly established the first graduate training program in audiology in 1947. In the ensuing decades, more than 600 individuals have earned audiology degrees from this partnership, and all of them completed a research project as part of the process. The recent acquisition of the CID research, clinical, and educational programs by Washington University School of Medicine and their placement into the Department of Otolaryngology has further strengthened our hearing research, clinical practice, and academic programs. The newly-established clinical doctoral program in audiology (Au.D.). offered through the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (PACS) creates an expanded opportunity to enhance research training for future audiologists through its close affiliation with one of the nation's largest research-based Otolaryngology departments, and its new home in a highly-ranked, strongly supported School of Medicine that places a primary emphasis on training clinician-scientists, researchers, and leaders. The specific aim of the training grant is to expand opportunities for research training of audiologists who may be interested in research career paths. Intensive, full time, three month basic, clinical or translational research experiences will be offered to selected students who demonstrate competitively their talent, interest, and capability to work and learn in specialized research environments. Trainees will complete a research project under the supervision of one of more than three dozen funded scientists in laboratories conducting research that spans the scope of practice of clinical audiology: vestibular function and balance assessment, evaluation and treatment of age-related and noise-induced hearing loss, sensory cell regeneration and development, cochlear implants in children and adults, language acquisition and speech perception in children with hearing impairment, hearing aids, tinnitus, diseases of the middle and inner ear, aural rehabilitation, and the basic sciences underlying these practice areas. The research experiences offered through this program will help secure the scientific foundation of the profession, and to help instill a research mindset into all the audiologists who study at Washington University.