Coursework for the AuD Joint Doctoral Program is taken at both campuses. Years 1 and 3 at SDSU, Year 2 at UCSD, Year 4 is a full time externship at an approved clinical facility. Check the current schedules maintained by each school’s registrars to help plan your curriculum.
The most current program requirements are available below:
- AuD – Program Requirements (pdf, 10/1/2012)
- AuD – List of Courses in Program (pdf, 10/1/2012)
- AuD – Sequence of Courses and Summative Exams (pdf, 6/18/2012)
Clinical Experiences
During the four-year AuD Program, students receive intensive and broad based clinical training in a variety of clinical settings. Students are exposed to a diverse group of clients across the life span with diverse ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and multiple disabilities. Major emphasis is on learning state of the art techniques, grounded in evidence-based practice, to meet the current challenges and standards in diagnostic, treatment, and rehabilitative care of patients with auditory and vestibular disorders. Through the clinical practicum experience and externship, students learn to apply much of what they have learned in classes, as well as develop additional skills and levels of clinical independence.
Students learn to:
- Identify, assess, diagnose, interpret, and manage test results related to disorders of hearing, balance, and other neural systems;
- Conduct and interpret behavioral, electro-acoustic, and electrophysiological tests used to assess hearing, balance, and neural system function;
- Perform otoscopic examinations for cerumen in order to evaluate its effects on hearing test results, hearing aid use, and/or making ear impressions, and to make appropriate referrals if needed;
- Perform tinnitus evaluations and make appropriate recommendations regarding its treatment;
- Select, evaluate, fit, and facilitate adjustments to hearing aids and other assistive hearing devices;
- Evaluate and manage children and adults with auditory processing disorders;
- Be knowledgeable of newborn hearing screenings techniques and its implementation;
- Observe/participate in electrodiagnostic tests for the purposes of neurophysiologic intraoperative monitoring and cranial nerve assessment;
- Assess candidacy of clients with hearing loss for cochlear implants, perform CI programming and audiologic rehabilitation to optimize device use;
- Counsel clients for psychosocial adjustment to hearing loss for persons with hearing loss and their families/caregivers;
- Identify practice patterns in educational audiology, classroom acoustics, and use of FM systems and other assistive devices with school age populations.
Each clinical practicum experience is designed to be commensurate with the level of training. Students are only allowed to perform specific clinical tasks after the relevant course preparation and/or a period of observation and demonstration by their preceptor. As the student progresses from one semester to another, the intensity of the clinical experiences and the demands of the setting develop into more challenging experiences and a greater degree of independence. The clinical portion of the AuD Program is designed to begin with 100% supervision (for at least the first two years) and progressively builds toward more independence. However, for all clinical experiences, there is to be a supervisor on-site and readily available to provide direction and to approve clinical reports. All supervisors are aware of the need to be able to adjust the amount and quality of supervision based upon the demonstrated skills and experiences of each student. The Audiology Clinic Director monitors this process to ensure adequate supervision, based on feedback obtained from the student and the supervisor. Preceptoring is done by persons holding ASHA certification (CCC-A) for at least 1,820 hours of clinical practicum (the minimum number of hours required for CCC-A); however, some experiences, e.g., intra-operative monitoring, facial nerve monitoring, cerumen management, vestibular assessments, and some off-campus settings may be supervised by non-ASHA certified professionals and will not count towards certification.
Essentially there are four stages of clinical preparation in the program:
Stage I (September, Year 1, through August, Year 1)
Basic Level (100% direct supervision). Students spend approximately 3-4 hours per week in the SDSU Audiology Clinic, all three semesters. They gain experience in basic diagnostics and hearing aid fittings. Ample time is allowed for each patient (1-2 hours). Students learn; a) appropriate safety and infection control procedures, b) how to review patient charts/relevant information and obtain a case history, c) diagnostic equipment operation and how to perform the basic audiometric tests, d) electro-acoustic hearing aid checks, ear mold impressions, hearing aid selections and fittings, including real-ear probe measurements, e) report writing, and f) recommendations (generally made by the preceptor). Students attend a Clinical Cases Studies and Staffing Course (AUD 721) each academic session to discuss some of their cases and clinic issues. Students should increase in their level of independence and efficiency across the three semesters, so that a complete evaluation is completed in less than 1 hour (at least 80% of the time). Students obtain approximately 100 clinical hours of experience.
Stage II (September, Year 2, through June, Year 2)
Intermediate Level (100% direct supervision). Students spend approximately 4-8 hours per week in clinic at the UCSD School of Medicine’s Otology and Audiology Clinic (at the Perlman Center) during the three academic year quarters (fall, winter, spring). In addition, students spend one quarter in Otology Preceptorship, where they shadow an otologist during otology clinics and surgeries. The foci in Year 2 are to get exposure to a wide variety of interesting medical cases, review and write in medical charts, and increase speed of evaluations. More extensive hands-on exposure is provided in the following areas: tinnitus assessment/treatment, evoked potential testing, balance assessment, hearing aid fitting, medical audiological assessments. Students also spend time in the Neurophysiology Clinic participating in ABR, OAE, vestibular assessment, and facial nerve monitoring, and rotate through a Cystic Fibrosis (CF) clinic. All students attend a Clinical Case Studies and Staffing Course (AUD 291) each quarter and may attend the Chairman’s Conference and Neurotology Conference, whenever relevant cases are discussed among residents, staff, and community physicians. Students obtain approximately 250 hours of clinical experience.
Stage III (June, Year 2, through May, Year 3)
Intermediate Level (25-100% direct supervision). Beginning in the summer of Year 2 and continuing through May of the third year, qualified students are assigned to off-campus clinic sites, where they receive at least 25% supervision. Students spend about 15-24 hours per week in off-campus agencies. Students demonstrate more independence on basic and advanced audiometric assessments and hearing aid fittings, and develop more skills in areas such as cochlear implants, pediatrics, electrophysiological assessment, and/or vestibular assessments. Students obtain approximately 800 hours of clinical experience during Stage III.
In addition, during the summer of Year 2, students will take a preceptor training course and will also be assigned a preceptor-in-training experience with year-one students in the SDSU Audiology Clinic.
Stage IV (June, Year 3, through May, Year 4)
Advanced Level (5-50% direct supervision may be typical). The amount of direct supervision can be adjusted based on demonstrated competencies and progress. Students compete for a fulltime clinical placement (Clinical Externship) for 12 months (June-May) at a variety of sites associated with the program or at an approved site selected by the student with approval by the AuD Program’s Audiology Clinic Director. Students are expected to gain full independence and confidence in a wide variety of clinical skills by the end of the externship. All students will participate in an online Integrative Seminar (AUD 891) in fall and spring semesters, where interesting cases and issues are discussed. Students must obtain a minimum of 1,850 hours of clinical experience during their twelve-month externship.
