Annual mean wage in New York for audiologists is $94,160
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
The ability to help other people is what drew Doug Brown to his profession of audiology. He is a doctor of audiology and owner of dB Audiology Associates in Syracuse.
“Audiology matches my personality,” Brown said. “I like being around people and helping them. It’s a profession that’s very interesting but more importantly, it helps other people.”
He said that decades ago in the field, students were required to major in college in speech language pathology and audiology to gain exposure to both professions. Once the bachelor’s degree was completed, the student could decide to progress in the master’s degree related to either profession or take a dual major before moving on towards a doctorate.
Currently, students choose between speech language pathology and audiology even at the bachelor’s level and then complete another four-year program to prepare for and qualify to take exams to become an audiologist. On top of that, audiologists must become certified to dispense hearing instruments.
In addition to helping others, Brown likes the science and innovation inherent to the industry.
“The field is continually changing,” he said. “We can test a child who’s an hour old. There is instrumentation to measure what the brain is receiving from the ear. They can be sleeping and we can test them to see if the auditory system is working the way it should. You can test without cooperation from patients.”
His patients range from newborns to people older than 100. The instruments also help when treating people whose disabilities hamper their communication to express what they can hear.
Audiologists can do much more than test hearing and fit hearing aids. Their essential function is to diagnose auditory processing disorders. Some specialize in conditions such as tinnitus (ringing in the ears), disorders relating to balance and other problems. They can work in a variety of settings, including pediatric offices, geriatric offices, military bases, hearing conservation practices, industry and interoperative monitoring in a surgery to ensure the surgery does not impair a patient’s hearing.
“It’s rewarding because I’m helping someone solve a problem,” Brown said of his career.
He mentioned a recent patient who called about his hearing aids, excited as he anticipated hearing others better.
“That’s why we do it: so people can relax and enjoy conversations,” Brown said. “Seeing that every day reinforces I made the right choice. You get a variety of people with all kinds of problems. It’s rewarding when things fall in line the way you want them to.”
Kris Rookey, hearing instrument specialist and owner of Port City Hearing in Oswego, is not an audiologist and explained that his career focuses on “hearing aid exams, fitting and selection. The audiologist focuses more on the why and hearing instrument specialist focus more on the treatment with use of amplification, in most cases hearing aids and less on diagnostics.”
In New York, a hearing aid specialist requires a two-year degree that requires an apprenticeship and shadowing before passing a written state test and a practical state test.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual mean wage in New York for audiologists is $94,160. Annual mean wage information for the CNY area was not available.