Audiology Technician Job Description and Training Canada
Audiology Technician Job Description and Training Canada: Audiologist technician helps audiologist in doing their day-to-day activities such as helping with the patient’s care. They are also referred to as audiology assistants and hearing aid technicians.
Audiology technicians work under the supervision of the Audiologists and their duties mainly include helping with diagnostic work such as taking hearing tests and examining the ear of the patient, assisting the audiologist with complex tests and amplification tasks. Here we will discuss Audiology Technician salary, job description, and training programs in Canada and UK.
Audiology technicians work at private audiology clinics, hospitals, hearing aid centers, clinics of specialists, etc. They clean the patient’s ear as it is a prerequisite for conducting any ear test as well as for fitting a hearing aid. Another duty of an audiologist technician is amplification tasks which include helping patients with hearing aids.
They discuss with the patients the types of hearing devices available and guide them on how to use them. Their duties even include checking hearing aids, cleaning, and repairing them if needed.
Pros and Cons of an Audiology Technician Career
The career of an Audiology technician is interesting as you are helping people in need by helping them with hearing. There is a good demand for audiology assistants, but there are pros and cons of the job as an audiology technician. There is no standard training available for it. Earning of an audiology technician are low in comparison to other professions.
The job is stressful sometimes, as you have to deal with people of different ages, mainly aging people and different people react differently when it comes to suffering and pain. Job duties are limited. You also run a risk of catching infectious diseases.
Audiology Technician Requirements
There are no specific educational requirements to work as an audiology technician. They are trained on the job. But it is recommended by the American academy of audiology that an audiology assistant has at least a high school diploma and you are trained by an audiologist.
Some of the requirements such as certification, license, etc. vary by the state you want to work with. In some states, if you want to work in a federal government, it requires an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree.
There are some schools that offer programs designed for audiology assistants. If you want to work as an audiology technician, you need to develop certain skills and qualities in yourself. You must have very good communication skills both verbal and written as you have to deal with people.
Working with people, especially aged and with weakening health conditions, you need to have a lot of patience, good manual dexterity, etc.
You also should possess social relationship skill. You also need to develop time management skills and basic computer knowledge. You should be detail oriented as you have to take a patient history and with all this, you must be able to handle the multi-task.
What the duties you will be performing depends on the size of the office or clinic. You might have to perform the specific tasks only or you might have to handle different tasks.
Job Prospects and Salary
Audiology technicians are in demand. Their median income is $42,000. According to the reports of the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS), it is projected that the growth in the number of audiology technician jobs is likely to increase by 28% by 2020.
The higher demand is due to the increased number of aging baby boomers and they need more hearing aids. With some work experience, your job prospects are more and you are likely to earn more.
How Can I Stand Out?
Your knowledge of audiology can be helpful to you to stand out among your competitors. You can keep yourself updated on the latest developments, tools, and techniques needed for the audiology technician.
For this, you can refer to the articles regarding new developments in audiology and the role of audiology technicians, attend audiology conferences, seminars, workshops, etc. You can also join some professional organizations such as Speech Language Hearing Association.
Though a specific degree is not required to work as an audiology technician, it is always an added advantage if you hold an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree in audiology or a related field such as speech and hearing science. Your beginning as an audiology technician can lead to you becoming an audiologist in the future if you continue your education.
You can also consider taking the health technology-audiology training program offered by the military while you are in service. Your experience as an audiology assistant with multitasking duties always gives you an edge.
If you are caring and interested in helping people suffering from health conditions, you can consider becoming an audiology technician. It is a rewarding career and in addition, you always will be satisfied as you work for the welfare of humanity. Read more articles on rozyjos.
More Related Queries:
- audiology technician training canada
- Audiology Technician Job Description