 Preparation
All states require audiologists to be licensed or registered.
Licensure or registration requires at least a master's degree in
audiology; however, a first professional, or doctoral, degree is
becoming increasingly necessary.
Individuals must have at
least a master's degree in audiology to qualify for a job. However, a
first professional or doctoral degree is becoming more common. Several states required a doctoral degree or its equivalent.
The professional doctorate in audiology (Au.D.) requires approximately 8
years of university training and supervised professional experience.
 Accredited
Programs
The Accreditation Commission of
Audiology Education currently accredits more than
50 Au.D. programs
and the
Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language
Pathology (CAA) accredited over
70 graduate programs in audiology. Graduation from an accredited
program may be required to obtain a license in some States. Requirements
for admission to programs in audiology include courses in English,
mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, and communication.
Graduate coursework in audiology includes anatomy; physiology; physics;
genetics; normal and abnormal communication development; auditory,
balance, and neural systems assessment and treatment; diagnosis and
treatment; pharmacology; and ethics.
 Audiologists are regulated by licensure or registration
in all 50 States. Forty-one States have continuing education
requirements for licensure renewal, the number of hours required varies
by State. Twenty States and the District of Columbia also require
audiologists to have a Hearing Aid Dispenser license to dispense hearing
aids; for the remaining 30 states, an audiologist license is all that is
needed to dispense hearing aids. Third-party payers generally require
practitioners to be licensed to qualify for reimbursement. States set
requirements for education, mandating a master's or doctoral degree, as
well as other requirements. For information on the specific requirements
of your state, contact that state's licensing board.
In some states,
specific certifications from professional associations satisfy some or
all of the requirements for state licensure. Certification can be
obtained from two certifying bodies.
Audiologists can earn the
Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology (CCC-A) offered by the
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; they may also be certified
through the American Board of Audiology.
 Audiologists should be able to effectively communicate diagnostic test
results, diagnoses, and proposed treatments in a manner easily
understood by their patients. They must be able to approach problems
objectively and provide support to patients and their families. Because
a patient's progress may be slow, patience, compassion, and good
listening skills are necessary.
It is important for
audiologists to be aware of new diagnostic and treatment technologies.
Most audiologists participate in continuing education courses to learn
new methods and technologies.
With experience,
audiologists can advance to open their own private practice. Audiologist
working in hospitals and clinics can advance to management or
supervisory positions.
Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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