TO WORK abroad, one need not enter a Nursing program.
Due to the rising demand of audiologists in the country and in other parts of the world, the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery is now offering a two-year masteral (MA) degree program in Clinical Audiology.
“Many Filipinos seek jobs outside the country that many resort to enter a nursing school after graduating in a four year course,” Martinez said. “For an audiologist to work abroad, they only have to pass the interview of their employer.”
According to data gathered by the Varsitarian from the United States (US) Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2004 alone, hospitals in the US lacked at least 10,000 audiologists. Due to this large number of vacancies, the statistics indicated that there is an expected 9 to 17 per cent increase in the employment of audiologists by 2014.
Martinez said the rapid increase in the number of old people who are experiencing hearing defects resulted to the rise in demand for audiologists not only in North America but also in New Zealand and Hongkong. There is also an increased awarenes s of the importance of early identification and diagnosis of hearing disorders in infants as most US states require new born babies to be screened for hearing loss, he said.
“Audiology is related to hearing and balance science,” Martinez said. “The program aims to equip stud ents with the necessary skills in treating and diagnosing hearin g defects as well as to give them the basic hands-on training like dispensing and fitting hearing aids as part of their comprehensive rehabilitative program.”
Aside from getting a job in other countries, Martinez said graduates of the program can immediately work in the Philippines since there are not too many audiologists in the Philippines.
Clinical Audiology is a program derived after the programs offered by some of the medical schools in North America and Australia, he said.
“We patterned the course from the Macquarie University in Sydney (Australia) but we made some improvements by incorporating instruction materials from North America in to the course,” Martinez said. “In Australia, the program of Macquarie is more focused on hearing aids while in the US, their strength is on the evaluation of dizziness and balance.”
To improve the University’s audiology program, Martinez said the faculty of Macquarie University in Sydney Australia, composed of audiologists and hearing aid and cochlear specialists, would conduct special lectures in the University on a scheduled basis. Leonard James D. Postrado
