Sarah Shirk – Audiology Internship

My internship at Resonance Audiology has been the opportunity of a lifetime. Right off of Main Street in New Holland, I come to Dr. Zoe Horan’s practice three times a week. Time flies whenever I am in the office! Dr. Horan is so intelligent and kind, I could not have asked for a better mentor. This internship has exceeded my expectations, and it has helped me confirm my aspirations to continue on to study audiology in my future.

Every day at Resonance Audiology brings in a new patient and a new learning opportunity. For the most part, I only observe Dr. Horan, since I do not have the clearances or experience to practice on patients. I witness hearing evaluations and screenings, hearing aid checks and fittings, and cerumen (wax) removals. My responsibilities here include keeping the office clean and well stocked. I replace the displays with the correct batteries, put hearing aid wires into Dr. Horan’s workbox, fill any other material we may need throughout the week, and sanitize the equipment. In addition, I write patient reports as well. Writing the reports helps me learn more about audiology and the different results from the evaluations. Recently, Dr. Horan taught me how to perform a hearing aid evaluation and screening. Using the computer software and sound booth technology, I administered the test to her and the Clients Manager, Jodi. Recently I performed my first hearing screening for a patient! Furthermore, Dr. Horan has put me in charge of the clEAR Project. This project is a computer system that helps train people to hear better with their hearing aids in different noise situations. I can register patients and assign them a task, which they can complete through the games available. The project is fairly new, but I am excited to further working on this throughout the semester.

While interning under Dr. Horan, I have grown so much in so many ways. Before this opportunity, I was uncomfortable with meeting new people and had no idea how I was going to perform in an environment where I had to talk to others constantly. Now, I interact with others every day. I may still be shy sometimes, but I feel more professional in how I help them. Another reservation I had before starting here was my lack of knowledge about audiology. I could tell someone about the parts of the ear, but I was lost

after that. Nevertheless, Dr. Horan was very patient with me and explained every term we came across, and even printed out diagrams, charts, and articles for me to read that would help me better understand. She also allowed me to access her Audiology Online account, a website that is filled with seminars and lectures I could watch to further my knowledge on a subject. This has assisted my comprehension of most of the tasks Dr. Horan performs for her patients. Overall, this internship has helped me greatly improve my professional skills and knowledge of this career.

Without this internship, I was unsure of what the next steps of my future looked like. Initially, I wanted to study Speech-Language Pathology, a career that focused more on treating speech impediments. I always knew that Audiology was the doctoral program that branched from the same undergraduate degree as Speech-Language Pathology, but I never looked into what it entailed. Resonance Audiology was a blessing to come across in my search for an internship. I have learned so much about the field that I changed my goal. I now want to become an audiologist and help people in the way Dr. Horan does every day. I have so much gratitude for Dr. Horan and cannot thank her enough for giving me this amazing learning opportunity.