Au.D. Externship

Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) Externship Information

Au.D. Externship

Texas Hearing Institute’s Doctor of Audiology Externship Program provides a 4th Year extern with a wide variety of clinical experiences and mentoring from preceptors who have all been certified by the American Board of Audiology (CH-AP).   Our pediatric audiology preceptors provide critically important opportunities for students to apply classroom learning in authentic clinical settings, and facilitate the student’s transition from novice clinician to competent, independent professional.

The Audiology Department at Texas Hearing Institute is seeking a Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) student to complete a challenging and exciting pediatric externship. The ideal candidate is highly motivated, a team player, and has a strong desire to pursue a career as a pediatric audiologist. Applicants must have completed their pediatrics-related university coursework and clinical placements that provided them with pediatric testing and habilitation experience, as well as be competent in performing diagnostic audiologic procedures on adults.

Texas Hearing Institute is located in the world-renowned Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Externs will have the pleasure of working alongside and learning from the top pediatric audiologists in the area.  Texas Hearing Institute recently built a state-of-the art building that incorporated input from our audiologists into the design of the Audiology Department wing to complement and optimally support the day-to-day practice with an excellent layout and innovative audiology equipment and sound booths.

audiologist giving thumps up to patient

Clinical Experience

PEDIATRIC HEARING ASSESSMENT

At Texas Hearing Institute, we specialize in identifying and treating children with hearing loss. As a Doctor of Audiology extern, you can expect to apply your previous pediatric clinic experiences and classroom knowledge to assess a diverse population, including children with multiple disabilities. You will perfect your testing skills on difficult-to-test children with hearing loss using Conventional Audiometry, Visual Reinforcement Audiometry, Conditioned Play Audiometry, as well as natural-sleep Auditory Brainstem Response evaluations.

PEDIATRIC HEARING TREATMENT AND INTERVENTION

At Texas Hearing Institute, externs will have the opportunity to follow children from birth to 21 years of age through the evaluation process to the treatment process, and beyond. Patients at Texas Hearing Institute are fit with traditional hearing aids, bone conduction hearing aids, osseointegrated devices, and cochlear implants. You will have the opportunity to fit, troubleshoot, program, and verify the settings of these devices to ensure your patients are hearing speech information optimally. You will also have the opportunity to work closely with families as they adjust to a diagnosis of hearing loss and face the day-to-day challenges of consistent device use.

MELINDA WEBB SCHOOL AND FM SYSTEMS

Texas Hearing Institute offers a unique experience not only for our broad range of patients you will encounter daily but also for students enrolled at the Melinda Webb School, the auditory-oral approach school that is housed within Texas Hearing Institute. The extern will assist teachers at the Melinda Webb School with daily listening checks and ensure connectivity of HAT systems with the students' devices. The extern will also  perform troubleshooting of HAT and devices as necessary.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM

The Audiology Department works closely with the Melinda Webb School, Speech Therapy Services, ENTs, and other hearing loss providers. This provides externs with the opportunity to participate in multidiscipline meetings where providers work together to ensure Texas Hearing Institute’s patients achieve optimal listening and speaking outcomes.

Our Goal

The goal of this educational externship is to provide a variety of clinical experiences to develop skills that are necessary for a career as a pediatric audiologist. Externs can expect to receive intensive training and mentoring from a highly skilled team of eight audiologists, several of whom hold audiology preceptor certificates (CH-AP). Externs will also be able to apply academic principles within a clinical practice and learn to work as part of a multidisciplinary team. At Texas Hearing Institute, externs experience a positive year full of challenging cases with consistent support and feedback from their supervisors.

Benefits

During the extern year, Texas Hearing Institute will provide a stipend, 12 paid holidays, 10 PTO days (use is contingent upon the extern’s current hours toward graduation), and will pay for the Texas audiology intern license and fingerprinting.

Requirements

  1. Complete the Au.D. externship application.
  2. Applicants are required to pass the national Praxis exam prior to their projected externship start date.
  3. Applicants must obtain a provisionary Texas state intern license.
    • Externs are responsible for obtaining the license and all paperwork must be completed with the State of Texas prior to beginning an externship.
  4. An affiliation agreement between Texas Hearing Institute and an extern’s university must be signed prior to the projected externship start date.
  5. Externs must have liability insurance through their university.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about the application process, please contact Dr. Jennifer Wickesberg at jwickesberg@texashearing.org.