Several people will take care of your hearing needs. One of those is an audiologist. You might have noticed that there are several abbreviations used for audiologists:

  • AuD this is a Doctor of Audiology, CCC-A, which is a certificate of clinical competence in audiology 
  • M.S.P.A this is a master’s of speech pathology and audiology

Is an audiologist a medical doctor?

Audiologists don’t have to earn a doctoral degree in order to practice audiology. While all audiologists and a master's degree in the field, the short answer is no, an audiologist is not a physician. There are many audiologists who go on to earn a doctor of audiology degree, which is the equivalent of a Ph.D. However, it is not classed as a medical degree. 

An audiologist is a doctor in the sense that they do have a doctorate, but they have not undergone full medical training.

An audiologist can decide to specialize in specific areas; this is in addition to that degree. When an audiologist has a master’s degree, for example, they can go on and earn their doctorate and specialize in pediatric audiology. 

What can you experience most audiologists have?

American academy of audiology oversees all the requirements of the A.U.D. degree. This includes accepting AUD programs based on academic and clinical experience standards. Every student pursuing a degree in audiology must complete a full rotation of clinical experience, which includes working with experienced audiology professionals, in a wide variety of clinical settings and with a wide variety of patients.

An audiologist will need to have clinical experience in all, almost all of these areas:

  • Hospitals
  • Community clinics
  • Industrial hearing services
  • Universities and or college clinics
  • Educational agencies
  • School for the hearing impaired
  • Private practices
  • Audiology/medical practices

This clinical experience will give future audiologists exposure to all of the different environments possible. It also covers people across a range of different demographics. Clinical experience is designed to challenge a student to grow and learn about real-life situations. Learning how to problem solve and make decisions based on their knowledge they will benefit their patient.

Essentially all this clinical experience is what gives an audiologist the tools to be on their own as a doctor of audiology.

What can an audiologist do?

Audiologist training prepares them to do their job very well. This will include identifying hearing and balance disorders, providing the right rehabilitation services for the hearing impaired, assessing hearing devices and helping their patients understand and use those devices. 

They will also educate their patients concerning hearing loss and hearing protection issues.

Doctors of audiology can also become a professor at college or university. This means that they will teach the young audiologist about the future of hearing health care.

Audiologists consult with patients who have issues that are related to noise-induced and provide options for occupational hearing loss.

An audiologist can provide professional and personal service. They can help improve our entire life. And with the right hearing aid, treatment, it can improve the quality of life.

An audiologist provides some of the following services that can help with hearing and balance issues

This includes:

  • Noise on hearing loss prevention, they will explain how to protect hearing from the effects of noise
  • Hearing screening and testing, these screens are for individuals to identify possible here and disorders. A test will confirm if the hearing loss is present, and will help it determines the kind of degree of loss
  • Hearing loss, evaluating and testing hearing, tinnitus disorders and balance
  • Assistive technology, setting custom-fit hearing aids and assistive technology, ensuring that they are completely unique and comfortable.
  • Balance and dizziness can be a problem for people with hearing loss, retreat balance problems
  • Tinnitus – an audiologist can advise people about how to treat and help with ringing within the ears

An audiologist can help people with any number of hearing disorders. The main role is to help them communicate and connect with the world around them better. They can educate their patients on noise-induced hearing loss, tinnitus and how to properly care for their hearing aid or assist technology audiologists in providing regular maintenance of hearing aids and regular cleaning. 

Audiologists are capable of repairing smaller issues with your hearing aid as well.

It is vital that if you have had any kind of hearing loss or found issues, it is in your hearing that you get in touch with the hearing professional like an audiologist as soon as possible.

Learn more about Hearing Aid Consultants of North Mississippi by calling today at (662) 234-1337