Audiology Study in Guatemala

udiology is a clinical health care field focused on diagnosing and treating hearing and balance disorders to restore health and communication barriers in those impacted. At the heart of our profession is a deep care and concern for the needs and rights of the patients we get to serve. Communication is a universal right, and hearing serves as the gateway to connect us to each other. People with hearing loss, if untreated, can face significant communicative, emotional, physical and social barriers.

Children with untreated hearing loss are particularly at risk for delayed development because hearing plays a vital role in a child’s language development and academic success. Untreated childhood hearing loss may only be exacerbated by lack of proper early intervention and health care access often seen in underserved countries. Children are our most impressionable population and equal access to communication is a universal right; therefore, early detection and proper management of hearing loss can be crucial in setting a child up for success, particularly in an underserved population like Guatemala where there are no practicing audiologists.

Since 2009, the Auburn University Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences has taken a team of doctoral students and clinical supervising audiologists to Guatemala City, Guatemala, to provide audiology services to the underserved deaf and hard of hearing children in Guatemala. This year, our team consisted of five doctoral students.

One of my favorite parts of the trip, besides working with the children, was working with the hospital personnel. Though Guatemala does not have a practicing audiologist, the children we served have been loved and cared for by incredible faculty and staff at the School for the Deaf and Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos–individuals who have poured into, served and cared for these families and children and their equal access to communication. It was an honor to learn from them and share parts of our clinical knowledge with them as well.

Having the opportunity to travel abroad and steward our clinical knowledge for the well-being of others was an irreplicable experience afforded to us by our incredible Auburn Audiology faculty. It is easy to feel like our field is small when our clinical experience as students is limited to local facilities. For this reason, it was a blessing to gain the valuable experience early in our audiology careers of serving a diverse population with the same clinical compassion and diligence we are learning at Auburn. I am grateful for the dedication of the Auburn faculty in providing this opportunity to broaden our knowledge in a way that encompasses our passion for serving the needs of others. We are better individuals and clinicians for having had this opportunity!