What does a audiologist do?
You measure exactly what somebody can and cannot hear, and then you give them as much of it back as the ear will allow.
Also called: hearing therapist, hearing aid audiologist, audiology scientist.
A day looks like
- 1You test a newborn before they leave hospital, because hearing loss found in the first weeks changes a whole childhood.
- 2You sit in a soundproof booth with an eighty-year-old who has been insisting for three years that everyone mumbles.
- 3You fit a hearing aid, and then you spend longer teaching them to put it in than you spent programming it.
- 4You see someone whose hearing dropped suddenly in one ear last week and you stop the appointment.
Hardest part
Hearing loss is invisible and slow, so people arrive three years late, having already been told by their family that they do not listen. You are usually dealing with a relationship before you deal with an ear.
Best part
A toddler turning round to their own name for the first time, in the room, while their parents watch.
How you actually become a audiologist
- At schoolPhysics and biology — sound is a physics problem before it is a medical one.
- TrainingA healthcare science degree in audiology, or a postgraduate route, then registration.
- How longThree to four years to qualify; paediatric and implant work take several years more.
- Your first jobTrainee or band 5 audiologist doing adult assessment and hearing aid fitting.
Frequently asked questions
- Do audiologists only fit hearing aids?
- No. They diagnose, test newborns, investigate balance and dizziness, work with cochlear implants, and provide tinnitus management. Fitting aids is the visible part of a much wider diagnostic job.
- Why do they test babies' hearing so early?
- Because language develops fastest in the first two years. Hearing loss identified in the first weeks and supported early gives a child a very different outcome from the same loss found at three.
- Is an audiologist a doctor?
- Usually not. Audiologists are healthcare scientists with their own degree and registration. Ear surgery and medical treatment are done by ENT doctors, and the two work closely together.
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