Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.)
The Au.D. program at Wayne State University provides students with the greatest clinical education opportunities available. The clinical and academic curricula are designed to help students meet the credentials of licensure and to be consistent with the standards of the Council on Academic Accreditation. Students have the option of following a clinical curriculum that will lead to certification by ASHA.
The Doctor of Audiology degree is the entry-level degree that is required to practice as an audiologist. The Au.D. degree program at Wayne State University is designed to prepare students to meet Michigan state licensure requirements for entering clinical practice as an audiologist.
Audiology program requirements and curriculum
The Au.D. is a four-year (11 consecutive semesters, 122 credits) full-time academic and clinical program designed for individuals who've completed an undergraduate degree from an accredited university and have met the prerequisite requirements for admission. Most applicants will have also completed introductory coursework in speech-language pathology and audiology; however, this is not required.
The audiology degree requires students to satisfy the graduate program requirements and overall audiology program requirements.
If you're interested in our Au.D. program and do not currently hold an undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders, please see our post-bachelor program for information on the prerequisites required for application to the Au.D. program. Information on careers in audiology is available from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Learn more about:
- AAA Code of Ethics
- ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology
- State of Michigan audiology license instruction
Courses
The integrated four-year curriculum includes coursework in all aspects of audiology. Full-time on-campus faculty lead the program. In addition, because of its unique location in Metropolitan Detroit, the department can draw on the rich experience of several local experts in audiology, speech-language pathology, deaf education and related disciplines. The first two years of the Au.D. curriculum include basic coursework in acoustics, hearing science, hearing disorders, instrumentation and basic clinical audiology. The third and fourth years include coursework in advanced topics such as cochlear implants, intra-operative monitoring, vestibular electrodiagnosis and central auditory processing.
Clinical practicum
Since 2011, Henry Ford Health and Wayne State University have collaborated to strengthen clinical training for audiology students. The Division of Audiology within Henry Ford’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery oversees clinical training for students in Wayne State’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The program ensures comprehensive clinical rotations during the first three years and supports students in securing fourth-year externships. Henry Ford audiologists, in coordination with WSU clinical faculty, manage administrative aspects of the program, providing students with a robust, hands-on clinical education. Clinical educators at Henry Ford are licensed doctors of audiology actively serving patients, ensuring students receive real-world training in a leading health care setting.
- First year
Wayne State University Audiology Clinic
During the first year of study, students are introduced to clinical practice for eight hours per week at the Wayne State University Audiology Clinic. Here, students learn clinical skills in a sheltered environment. During non-clinic hours, students utilize the clinical space for laboratory exercises designed to strengthen their knowledge base. Clinical competency examinations are used to determine student preparedness to progress toward more advanced clinical training. The audiology clinic is open 20 hours per week and offers free diagnostic audiological services to patients of all ages in the Detroit area.
Objectives
Students will demonstrate the ability to:
- Perform biologic checks of all equipment and troubleshoot as needed.
- Obtain a complete case history.
- Perform an otoscopic examination.
- Perform tympanometry.
- Perform acoustic reflex testing.
- Obtain unmasked air-conduction thresholds.
- Obtain unmasked bone-conduction thresholds.
- Obtain speech recognition thresholds.
- Perform recorded word recognition testing.
- Second year
Henry Ford Health System Division of Audiology
During the second year, students rotate through the five HFHS audiology clinics serving an economically and culturally diverse population: Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit, MI), West Bloomfield Henry Ford Hospital (West Bloomfield, MI), Fairlane Medical Group (Dearborn, MI), Lakeside Medical Center (Sterling Heights, MI) and Pierson Medical Center (Grosse Pointe, MI).
HFHS is a nationally-ranked, not-for-profit, integrated medical system located in the Metro Detroit area serving a culturally and economically diverse population. In addition to the clinical training provided to Wayne State students, HFHS also serves as a fourth-year externship site for four students annually; the applicant pool for this position includes students from around the nation.
Clinical education is provided by doctoral-level audiologists who are members of the Henry Ford Medical Group. Many clinical educators from HFHS also serve as adjunct faculty teaching clinical and didactic courses.
Second-year students are taught to become clinically proficient in areas of audiologic evaluation, hearing aid evaluation and treatment, diagnostic electrophysiology and infant and pediatric hearing screening and assessment during this rotation. Students are also exposed to cochlear implants and vestibular and balance assessments. Additionally, WSU's Au.D. program is one of the few in the nation that provides students with a course on intraoperative monitoring (IOM) and the opportunity to observe IOM. In addition to audiology clinical practice, students observe otolaryngology physicians in clinic and surgical settings, participate in ongoing research projects, participate in case reviews during Grand Rounds meetings and participate in supplemental didactic experiences designed to enhance the students' preparation for participation as full members of the healthcare profession.
Spring/summer semester between the first and second year: Students spend eight hours per week in the university clinic and 12 hours per week in an orientation rotation through the five HFHS audiology clinics.
Fall and winter semesters of the second year: Students spend 20 hours per week rotating through each of the clinics.
Clinical competency examinations are used to determine student preparedness to progress toward more advanced clinical training.
Objectives
Students will demonstrate the ability to:
- Obtain a complete case history from a patient in five minutes or fewer.
- Perform an otoscopic examination in one minute or less.
- Perform tympanometry and acoustic reflex testing in eight minutes or fewer.
- Obtain unmasked air-conduction thresholds at 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 kHz in 10 minutes or fewer.
- Obtain unmasked bone-conduction thresholds at 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz in eight minutes or fewer.
- Perform speech audiometric testing in five minutes or fewer.
- Obtain masked bone-conduction thresholds.
- Obtain masked air-conduction thresholds.
- Provide an interpretation of hearing function based on results.
- Provide a written description of hearing test results.
- Formulate recommendations based on test results.
- Third year
Specialty rotations
In the third year, students rotate through each of three specialty rotations, including pediatrics, adult/geriatric and private practice settings while participating in advanced audiology coursework. Students spend 20 hours per week at each site per semester. Students also have a brief rotation in the Wayne State University Audiology Clinic during the third year to provide them with opportunities to learn clinical education skills by assisting in the instruction of first-year students.
Pediatric specialty: Children's Hospital of Michigan and University of Michigan CS Mott Children's Hospital.
Adult/geriatric: University of Michigan, John D. Dingell Veterans Administration Medical Center, Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Medical Center, Michigan Ear Institute and ENT Consultants.
Private practice: Numerous practices in the Detroit Metropolitan area.
Objectives
Students will demonstrate the ability to:
- Counsel the patient regarding results and recommendations.
- Perform a complete hearing test (case history, otoscopic examination, immittance, air- and bone-conduction thresholds and counseling) on an average adult patient in less than 35 minutes.
- Perform otoacoustic emissions testing: DPOAEs and TEOAEs.
- Perform a Weber tests using audiometric equipment and interpret results.
- Perform a Stenger test and interpret results.
- Check a new or repaired hearing aid: verify order, perform a listening check on a hearing aid and perform and interpret electroacoustic analysis.
- Fourth year
Externship: Henry Ford
The fourth year consists of an immersive, 12-month, full-time clinical experience in which the student progresses gradually toward independence under the supervision of a clinical educator. Experiences are generally broad in the scope of practice; however, depending on the interests of the student, placements may be more specialized.
Many WSU Au.D. students have been selected for highly desirable placements both in the state of Michigan and in other parts of the country. These placements include the Henry Ford Health System (MI), the University of Michigan (MI), the Cleveland Clinic (OH), Kaiser Permanente (CA), the University of Rochester (NY), Charlotte Ear, Nose, and Throat (NC), Veterans' Administrative Medical Centers in various states, Michigan Ear Institute (MI) and many others.
Objectives
Students will demonstrate the ability to:
- Prepare an adult patient for ABR testing.
- Perform a diagnostic ABR on an adult patient.
- Perform electrocochleography on an adult patient.
- Prepare an infant patient for ABR testing.
- Screen hearing on an infant patient using ABR.
- Determine the hearing threshold on an infant patient using ABR.
- Perform cleaning of a hearing aid and basic troubleshooting.
- Obtain ear impressions.
- Order correct hearing aids.
- Provide written reports on observed hearing aid sessions.
- Perform hearing aid programming.
- Perform real-ear measures:
- Speech mapping
- REAR, REUR, RESR
- RECD
- Occlusion test
- Perform hearing aid outcome measures on a patient (APHAB).
- Recommendation for candidacy and plan of work
Four-year Au.D. students are eligible to change status from "applicant" to "candidate" after their fourth semester of full-time enrollment in the department (approximately 45 credits earned). Candidate status is determined by a committee made up of members from the Audiology faculty. To pass to a candidate, two pieces of documentation must be submitted and approved: a plan of work and student portfolio.
Plan of work
The plan of work must be approved by the committee and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to meet the requirements for candidacy. The portfolio is reviewed by the committee to determine that a student is making adequate academic and clinical progress in the program. The following content areas in the portfolio are given significant consideration:
Academic progress: Adequate performance in this area is assessed by reviewing student transcripts contained in the portfolio. Students are required to have a "B" average. No more than one "B–" (for courses taken for graduate credit in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders) is permitted.
Clinical progress: Adequate performance in this area is assessed by reviewing the formative assessment documentation in a student's portfolio. All items contained in the evaluation as well as those in the evaluation tools (pertaining to air/bone/speech audiometry and tympanometry and acoustic reflexes) sections of the formative assessment document must be marked as "Present" or "Consistent" for a student to move to candidate status.
Download plan of work template
Student portfolio
The Au.D. student portfolio provides complete documentation regarding a student's academic and clinical progress in the department. The portfolio should be updated after each semester. The portfolio consists of the following items:
- Academic transcripts
- Copy of the approved plan of work
- Completed formative assessment forms from each clinical/academic placement
- "Master" Formative Assessment document containing overall performance from the past academic year (updated each fall)
- Highlights of student performance (e.g., de-identified examples of reports; written reviews/recommendations from clinical supervisors/academics; etc.)
It is the student's responsibility to update the portfolio at regular intervals.
Download Au.D. Recommendation for Candidacy Form
Outcome of reviews
- Pass: The student is recommended for "candidate" status and may continue in the department.
- Marginal Pass: The student is recommended for "candidate" status following the completion of remedial coursework/clinical work that is outlined by the committee. In this instance, the committee will meet with the student and provide them with a written plan for remediation as well as a timeline for completing the required coursework/clinical training. Failure to complete the work within the timeline allotted by the committee will result in a "fail."
- Fail: The committee will meet with students who fail the review process. The committee will determine whether student performance warrants removal from the program by using the guidelines in the audiology handbook.
- Fifth year
Externship: Henry Ford
Objectives
Students will demonstrate the ability to perform:
- Hearing aid delivery and orientation in 60 minutes or fewer.
- Real-ear measurements.
- Patient education and counseling.
- Adjustments and programming as needed.
- Written reporting.
- Hearing aid selection in 60 minutes or fewer.
- Determine patient needs.
- Baseline hearing handicap or other measures (ANL, COSI, HHIE, etc).
- Formulation of recommendations.
- Patient education and counseling.
- Ordering appropriate aid(s) and ear impressions as needed.
- Written reporting.
- Hearing aid check-in 30 minutes or fewer.
- Determination of sources of patient complaints.
- Formulation of recommendations and solutions.
- Objective and subjective measures as appropriate.
- Patient education and counseling.
- Written reporting.
- VNG testing.
- ENG testing.
- Rotational chair testing.
- Posturography testing.
- Hearing aid delivery and orientation in 60 minutes or fewer.
Externships
Wayne State's audiology program offers a unique and clinical experience in multiple settings! Audiology students are placed in several part-time clinical externships in their second and third years, as well as a full-time 12-month externship in the fourth year.
- Henry Ford Health Division of Audiology: Henry Ford Medical Center (Fairlane, Dearborn), Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit), Henry Ford Medical Center (Pierson, Grosse Pointe), Henry Ford Medical Center (Lakeside, Sterling Heights), Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital (West Bloomfield), Henry Ford Medical Center (Templin, Wyandotte)
- Michigan Medicine
- C.S. Mott's Children's Hospital
- John D. Dingell Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
- Ann Arbor V.A. Medical Center
- Michigan Ear Institute
- Children's Hospital of Michigan
- Ear, Nose, and Throat Consultants
- Beaumont Hospital
- Numerous other diverse medical and private practice clinical rotations
Additional clinical experiences in the M.A.-SLP program
- Semesters two to four supplemental clinical experiences (examples)
Wayne State's speech-language pathology graduate students participate in a variety of supplemental clinical practicum placements beginning in the second semester of the M.A. program. These placements are generally in addition to a primary placement on campus in the Speech and Language Center. Supplemental placements include healthcare, private practice, public school and non-profit agencies. These placements may be short-term or for a full semester and may be within the Speech and Language Center or off campus.
Some current supplemental clinical practicum placements for semesters two to four of the M.A.-SLP program include the following programs and sites:
- Agility Health Care Evangelical Home of Sterling Heights
- Allen Park Public Schools
- Athletes with Autism WSU Speech and Language Center
- Berkley Public Schools Response to Intervention
- Bloomfield Hills Public Schools Hearing impaired programs
- Children's Hospital of Michigan
- Concept Rehabilitation
- Detroit Institute for Children
- Detroit Medical Center (DMC) Preceptorship
- Detroit Public Schools Multiple programs (Head Start, hearing impaired programs, general education programs)
- Diagnostic Clinic WSU Speech and Language Center
- Glovinsky Center for the Family
- Grosse Pointe Public Schools Barnes Elementary Preschool programs
- John McGivney Centre (Windsor, Canada)
- Life Care Centers of America Rivergate Terrace
- Mary's Children Family Center WSU Speech and Language Center
- Michigan School for the Deaf
- Oakwood Center for Exceptional Families
- Redford Union hearing impaired programs
- Roseville Public Schools Hearing impaired programs
- Intensive Stuttering Clinic WSU Speech and Language Center
- Semester five internship placements (examples)
Students complete one full-time internship in the final semester of the M.A. program. Some recent fifth-semester internship sites include the following agencies:
School and community agency sites
- Chippewa Valley Public Schools
- Detroit Public Schools
- Windsor (CA) Catholic School Board
- St. Mary's Children's Center (CA)
- Children's Hospital of Michigan
- Port Huron Area School District
- Oakwood Hospital Center for Exceptional Families
- Grosse Pointe Public Schools
- Warren Woods Public Schools
- Troy Public Schools
- Anchor Bay Public Schools
- Westwood Public Schools
- Gibralter Public Schools
- Waterford Public Schools
- Berkley Public Schools
- Bloomfield Hills Public Schools
- Saline Public Schools
- Children First
- Dearborn Public Schools
- Farmington Public Schools
- Crestwood Public Schools
- Lake Orion Public Schools
- New Haven Public Schools
- Van Dyke Public Schools
- Rochester Community Schools
- Northville Public Schools
Health care sites
- Crittenton Hospital
- William Beaumont Hospital
- St. John Hospital-Oakland/Lakeshore Center for Communication Disorders
- Agility Healthcare-Fraser Villa, Mercy Bellbrook, Marywood Nursing Center and Evangelical Home of Sterling Heights
- Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan
- Sinai Grace Hospital
- St. Joseph Mercy Hospital-Ann Arbor
- Hope Network (Grand Rapids)
- John Dingell VA Medical Center
- Botsford Hospital
- UM Center for Language and Literacy
- Munson Medical Center (Traverse City)
- Henry Ford Hospital Main campus, Macomb and West Bloomfield
- Providence Park Hospital
- Providence Hospital
- Willowbrook Rehabilitation Services
- McLaren Macomb Hospital
- Munson Healthcare System (Traverse City)
Career insights
A degree in audiology can lead to a variety of career paths. Here are just a few of the many opportunities available in this field.
| Career | Median salary |
|---|---|
| Audiologist | $87,000 |
| Educational audiologist | $87,000 |
| Public health specialist | $49,000 |
This data provides a broad overview of how major selection can lead to careers and is provided without any implied promise of employment. Some careers will require further education, skills or competencies. Actual salaries may vary significantly between similar employers and could change by graduation, as could employment opportunities and job titles.
Contact
For more information, please contact the department's admissions officer at csdgradapplications@wayne.edu.
Accreditation
The Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) education program in audiology (residential) at Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard, #310, Rockville, MD 20850, 800-498-2071 or 301-296-5700.
Complaints related to standards for accreditation
A complaint related to accreditation standards for the M.A. and Au.D. programs may be submitted to the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) by any student, instructional staff member, speech-language pathologist, audiologist and/or member of the public.
For complete information on how to submit a standards-related complaint to the CAA, see Section XIII of the CAA Accreditation Manual .
Non-discrimination policy
Wayne State University (WSU) is committed to a policy of non-discrimination and equal opportunity in all of its operations, employment status, educational programs and related activities. As part of WSU, the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders adheres to this same policy for faculty and students as well as for clients of the department's clinics. Students, faculty, staff and persons served in the department's clinics are treated in a nondiscriminatory manner that is, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national or ethnic origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, genetic information, citizenship or status as a covered veteran.