Clinical Audiology (CAUD)

Graduate Degree Program
College: Behavioral and Social Sciences

Abstract

Advanced graduate study in clinical audiology, available through the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences within the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, consists of the Doctor of Audiology program (CAUD) in which students earn the Au.D. degree. This doctoral program is available to post-baccalaureate students who have completed undergraduate pre-requisites in hearing and speech sciences/communication sciences and disorders. The CAUD program is an academically based, clinically oriented program designed primarily to prepare professional Audiologists. While information pertaining to hearing disorders comprises the central focus of the degree, education about the normal processes of communication, as well as about research design, is considered an integral part of the program. Students completing the program are eligible to obtain the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology (CCC-A) of the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Board Certification in Audiology by the American Board of Audiology (ABA), and licensure in the State of Maryland and other states. A Ph.D. in Audiology is also available to those students who have already completed a graduate degree in Audiology (i.e., Au.D. degree or M.A. degree). A dual-degree program is available to CAUD students, in which they earn the Au.D. degree and continue their study immediately for the Ph.D. degree. Those students in the program who wish to pursue the dual-degree program will earn the Au.D. at the point in doctoral training when they have completed all of the academic, clinical, and research requirements for this first professional degree.

(Note: Applicants for the M.A. program in Speech-Language Pathology, please see SPLA; Applications for the Hearing and Speech Sciences Ph.D., please see HESP).

Additional information about the program's highlights can be found at the link below.
https://hesp.umd.edu/content/program-highlights-doctoral-program-clinical-audiology

Financial Assistance

A limited number of graduate assistantships are available through the Department. Assistantships that carry teaching, research or clinical responsibilities are awarded on a competitive basis. Students may also seek assistantships from other units on campus or scholarships sponsored by Federal agencies (e.g., NIDCD) or private foundations (e.g., American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation; American Academy of Audiology Foundation).

Additional resources for funding opportunities can be found at the link below:
http://hesp.umd.edu/undergraduate/apply-funding

Contact

Dr. Nicole Nguyen, AuD., CCC-A CISC, Ph.D.
Director of Doctoral Program in Clinical Audiology
Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences
0100 Lefrak Hall
7251 Preinkert Drive
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Telephone: 301.405.4225
Fax: 301.314.2023
Email: nknguyen@umd.edu

Website: http://www.hesp.umd.edu
 
Courses: EDMS HESP

Relationships: Neurosciences and Cognitive Science (NACS)

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

• Statement of Purpose
• Transcript(s)
• TOEFL/IELTS/PTE (international graduate students)

PROGRAM-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

• Letters of Recommendation (3)
• CV/Resume
• Supplemental Application  
• Prerequisites: Completion of at least 60% of undergraduate prerequisite courses prior to application. For a list of pre-requisite courses, please go here.

Admissions to the graduate program in Clinical Audiology is on a very competitive basis. Students admitted to the Au.D. program in Audiology generally have a minimum grade point average of 3.4 from a baccalaureate program in hearing and speech sciences, or related discipline. All applicants to the CAUD graduate program are required to furnish GRE scores taken within the last five years, three letters of recommendation, official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate studies, and a statement of purpose. Admission to the program is confined to fall matriculation, Prospective applicants should note that decisions on admissions are made in early March. Students must submit application materials for the fall semester by January 5. Applicants with a background in the hearing and speech sciences or a related field are considered for admission to the Au.D., which requires four years of full-time graduate study. We no longer accept students who have not fulfilled their undergraduate requirements. Students interested in the dual degree track (Au.D./Ph.D.) are admitted into the CAUD program and may request to switch to the dual degree program after completion of the 3rd year of study. The time required for completion of the dual-degree track is 6-7 years of full-time graduate study. For more information on the prerequisite course requirements, please see our website: hesp.umd.edu.

APPLICATION DEADLINES

RESOURCES AND LINKS:

Other Deadlines: hesp.umd.edu
Program Website: hesp.umd.edu/landing/Graduate 
Application Process: gradschool.umd.edu/admissions/application-process/step-step-guide-applying

The Department’s facilities include numerous modern research laboratories equipped to support research in the areas of: acoustic phonetics, psychoacoustics, cochlear implants, hearing aids, infant and adult speech perception, neuropsychology, language, voice, fluency and electrophysiology. There are multiple sound-attenuating chambers and one electrically-shielded chamber devoted to research with humans, which are all integrated with computers and peripheral equipment for acoustic signal development, signal analysis, presentation and on-line data collection.

The Department also houses the Hearing and Speech Clinic at UMCP: this clinic serves as the initial practicum site for all students pursuing clinical training. The Clinic includes multiple audiological test suites equipped for diagnostic testing, a complete hearing aid dispensary, a group rehabilitation room, and state-of-the-art equipment for behavioral and electrophysiological diagnostic testing, as well as hearing aid selection and fitting and cochlear implant programming. Ten speech and language diagnostic and therapy rooms are integrated with observation areas; and an on-site language pre-school (LEAP, the Language-Learning Early Advantage Program), also equipped for observation. Students pursuing clinical training in Audiology will also have access to the Audiology Service, Division of Audiology-Head and Neck Surgery, of the University of Maryland and University Hospital in Baltimore (UMB), for part-time clinical rotations or full-time clinical externships. This Service provides a full range of auditory and vestibular diagnostic and rehabilitative services in a large metropolitan hospital setting. Students also engage in clinical activities in the Audiology Section of the Clinical Center as well as intramural research programs of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health.

All of the clinical and research facilities are potentially available for the conduct of student-directed research projects, or for student participation in faculty-initiated research projects. Additional research and clinical opportunities are available at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and at other facilities in the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan areas. The Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine and the libraries of various medical schools in the Washington-Baltimore area supplement the University’s extensive libraries at College Park. The Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences participates in the Center for the Comparative and Evolutionary Biology of Hearing Training Program (C-CEBH), the Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences graduate program (see NACS), the Maryland Language Science Center, and the Cochlear Implant Center on Excellence (MCICE); these connections afford students the opportunity to work with faculty in other departments at the University of Maryland, College Park, or at UMB.