The Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences offers the professional clinical degree: the Doctor of Audiology (AuD). As opposed to the PhD research degree, the AuD is a clinical practice degree. The AuD degree program spans four years (11 semesters including summers), each cohort group begins fall semester. Details are provided at the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences website: http://www.cla.auburn.edu/communicationdisorders/.
Most graduates of the AuD program work in clinical settings, such as major hospitals, ear, nose and throat clinics, and private practice facilities. A few graduates teach in clinical programs in academic institutions.
To complete the program, students must have transportation for courses and clinics in both Auburn and Montgomery as well as for additional clinical experiences and internships located in other cities within the surrounding region.
Admission Requirements
A bachelor's degree from an accredited university is necessary, however highly qualified students from any discipline are considered. Foundation courses in language development, phonetics, and speech anatomy will be added to the curriculum for students without a bachelor's degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Science. At least one undergraduate course each of math, life sciences, statistics, physical sciences (chemistry or physics required), and behavioral sciences is an accreditation expectation, and applicants lacking any of these must comply before conferral of the AuD degree.
Potential students must apply both to the Auburn University Graduate School and to Communication Sciences and Disorders Centralized Application System (CSDCAS). Letters of recommendation must be uploaded to CSDCAS. Applicants must submit one set of official transcripts (for GPA) and GRE scores to CSDCAS, and official GRE scores to the Auburn University Graduate school.
The Graduate School web application requires the following:
- Application fee
- Official General Test GRE scores sent directly from ETS (Code:1005)
The application sent to CSDCAS:
- The department's application form available on the website
- Three letters of recommendation
- A letter of interest, which will serve as a writing sample
- Transcripts
Official General Test GRE scores sent directly from ETS (Code: 7807)
For international students whose native language is not English, the TOEFL must be taken and submitted to both CSDCAS and AU Graduate School. In keeping with the requirements of the Auburn University Graduate School, successful international applicants must score at least 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) paper version (pBT), 213 on the computer version (cBT), and 79 on the internet version (iBT). Additionally, successful applicants must score minimums of 16 on the listening, reading, speaking, and writing components of the iBT.
Those applicants clearing the initial screening will be invited to campus for an interview.
The application deadline is January 15 of each year.
Graduation Requirements
The curricular plan of study is a static sequence of academic and clinical coursework. The academic and clinical components of the AuD program interact in a logical progression over a four-year period. A total of 124 semester hours are required for the degree.
The early portion of training is largely academic, and the later portions involve mostly applied clinical work. As the program progresses, the balance of academic and clinical work changes substantially. During the first two years of the program, the emphasis is on academic preparation for clinical work. Students must pass comprehensive exams to enter the fourth year of the program. In the third year of the program, academic courses are combined with advanced seminars on current issues in clinical practice and the completion of an applied clinical research project referred to as a capstone experience. During this third year of the program, students are engaged in a series of intensive clinical internships at off-campus clinical settings. Students must successfully complete internships at three different clinical settings during the third year and return to campus to participate in seminar course work. In the final year of the program, students participate in a clinical residency during which they work full time for a period of nine months. Clinical residencies may be done at any facility in the United States where a certified audiologist agrees to supervise the student within ASHA guidelines.
Plan of Study
The four-year sequence of academic and clinical course work, including the semester hours, is as follows:
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer | Hours |
| SLHS 8100 Hearing Science | 3 | SLHS 8200 Diagnostic Audiology | 3 | SLHS 8300 Central Auditiory Processing | 3 |
| SLHS 8110 Auditory Physiology | 3 | SLHS 8210 Medical Aspects of Hearing Disorders | 3 | SLHS 8310 Aural Rehabilitation | 3 |
| SLHS 8120 Audiology Clinical Methods | 3 | SLHS 8220 Amplification I | 3 | SLHS 8570 Evaluation of Research in Audiology | 3 |
| SLHS 8800 The Neurological Bases of Communication Disorders | 3 | SLHS 8320 Clinical Applications of Amplification | 2 | SLHS 8910 Clinical Practice in Audiology | 2 |
| SLHS 8910 Clinical Practice in Audiology | 2 | SLHS 8910 Clinical Practice in Audiology | 2 | SLHS 8980 Capstone Project | 1 |
| Second Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer | Hours |
| SLHS 8400 Pediatric Audiology | 3 | SLHS 8410 Aural Habilitation | 3 | SLHS 8520 Hearing Conservation | 3 |
| SLHS 8420 Amplification II | 3 | SLHS 8500 Electrophysiological Procedures in Audiology | 3 | SLHS 8610 Implant Technology | 3 |
| SLHS 8430 Clinical Application of Diagnostic Audiology | 2 | SLHS 8510 Clinical Application of Balance Assessment | 2 | SLHS 8650 Advanced Audiometry | 2 |
| SLHS 8600 Balance Disorders | 3 | SLHS 8810 Private Practice | 3 | SLHS 8700 Professional Issues | 3 |
| SLHS 8910 Clinical Practice in Audiology | 2 | SLHS 8910 Clinical Practice in Audiology | 2 | SLHS 8910 Clinical Practice in Audiology | 2 |
| SLHS 8980 Capstone Project | 1 | SLHS 8980 Capstone Project | 1 | SLHS 8980 Capstone Project | 1 |
| Third Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer | Hours |
| SLHS 8620 Outcome Measures In Audiology | 3 | SLHS 8630 Counseling In Audiology | 3 | SLHS 8920 Clinical Internship | 5 |
| SLHS 8920 Clinical Internship | 5 | SLHS 8920 Clinical Internship | 5 | SLHS 8950 Audiology Grand Rounds | 3 |
| SLHS 8950 Audiology Grand Rounds | 3 | SLHS 8950 Audiology Grand Rounds | 3 | ||
| SLHS 8980 Capstone Project | 1 | ||||
| Fourth Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| SLHS 8940 Clinical Residency | 6 | SLHS 8940 Clinical Residency | 6 |
Internships and Clinical Residency
During third year, students complete internships in three different locations, and in the final year, they work full-time under the supervision of a certified audiologist. Off campus clinical experiences for the third year are typically located within a two hour drive time radius to allow the student a quality experience and the ability to return to campus for class and capstone research work. The fourth year clinical residency experience can be anywhere in the United States with appropriate supervision and a broad scope of practice.
Other Requirements for the AuD
Along with their course work and internships, students are required to pass comprehensive written exams in order to advance to candidacy. Oral examinations will be conducted if written responses lack detail or clarity. To graduate, students must also successfully complete a capstone project, which can be a planned audiology-related research or clinical project designed to explore a research hypothesis or meet a clinical outcome.
Financial Aid
A limited number of graduate assistantships are available for meritorious students to assist in teaching, research, or clinical roles.
