This is a short article attempting to explain who you might meet if you are dealing with an 'Audiologist' - it is not the definitive article & largely refers to Ireland!

Audiology is a small profession falling between medical, scientific and educational areas. Thus all sorts of people reach it, sometimes by other career routes. There is a relative shortage of trained people in Ireland - although there aren't that many job opportunities here either.

Audiology is essentially concerned with hearing and balance, both in diagnostic assessment, and rehabilitation roles. As there is a lot of technical equipment involved, some people who do research, or develop equipment and hearing aids are from Physics and Electronic Engineering backgrounds. This would be more common in mainland Europe than elsewhere. Others derive from nursing and medical backgrounds - generally with a Public Health, or a Health and Safety perspective to their thinking, - or 'sidestep' from Ear, Nose and Throat Departments to obtain further training specifically in Audiology. A considerable number of Community Doctors in the U.K. are trained in Audiology, and there are also Consultant Audiological Physicians there too; these are less common in Ireland. However, all countries have decent numbers of E.N.T. Consultant Surgeons, some of whom are particularly keen on ears! Some European E.N.T. training programmes have specific Audiology content.
Young people may no longer do a 2-year technical training equivalent to M.T.O. training as this training is being phased out in the UK in favour of degree programmes. Now there are at least six B.Sc. in Audiology programmes running over 4 years throughout the UK, bringing the basic training more into line with most of Europe and America.
Still others derive from Educational or Speech and Language Therapy backgrounds - particularly amongst those who work primarily with young children. Such people generally have a postgraduate training in Audiology as well - mostly an M.Sc. and increasingly, Aud. D. as per the American way.
Last but not least, there are Hearing Aid Audiologists, who are specifically qualified to dispense hearing aids and deal with the typical problems of adults acquiring new hearing aids. A course in UCD - a Diploma in Hearing Aid Audiology, is the new standard for the profession and the main training route for future entrants. 8 people are training at present with courses every 2 years. These people should possess either a 'M.(I.)S.H.A.A. or F.(I.)S.H.A.A.' if they are going to have recognised professional standards of care - in Ireland, only these people are likely to be on the P.R.S.I. Scheme for partial refunds. By the way, statutory registration is being sought, along with many other Allied Health professions.
Because so much of audiology assessment work involves interpersonal skills these are extremely important to people at the clinical workface. After all, hearing loss is a social and communication disability rather than a medical one for most of us.

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