With almost thirty AuD programs on the attendee list, and more expected over the following weeks, the Audiology Foundation of America’s (AFA) Conference on Professional Education II: Positioning Audiology for the 21st Century is shaping up to be the preeminent AuD education conference of the year.

Scheduled to take place October 4-5, 2008, in Mesa, Ariz,  the conference is intended as a 20-year review of AuD education progress and as a help in determining future goals and improving current models of AuD education delivery. The original “Conference on Professional Education” was convened by the Academy of Dispensing Audiologists (now the Academy of Doctors of Audiology) in 1988.

AuD programs will be represented by both program directors and recent graduates. Glenn Tecker, a professional facilitator, will guide the dialogue so representatives can work together to detail needed changes and positive outcomes. There will also be representatives in attendance from eight professional audiology organizations, and a keynote address by Dr. Thomas E. McWilliams, DO, FACOFP, on the change history seen in osteopathy education and its parallels to audiology. Dr. McWilliams is associate dean of bioclinical sciences and a clinical professor of emergency medicine/family practice at AT Still University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona.

Sponsors of the conference to date include ReSound, Widex, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and AT Still University’s Arizona School of Health Sciences. Additional co-sponsors to date include the Academy of Doctors of Audiology, AT Still University’s Arizona School of Health Sciences, the Educational Audiology Association, Ball State University, Central Michigan University, the Northeast Ohio AuD Consortium, and the Pennsylvania College of Optometry’s School of Audiology. The Audiology Foundation of America is the Convening Sponsor.

For more information about the conference as well as an up-to-date list of participating AuD programs and attendees, please visit the AFA Web site. at http://www.audfound.org/index.cfm?pageID=311.

The AFA is a nonprofit foundation whose mission is to empower audiologists to be independent and autonomous practitioners by supporting their educational preparation, professional practice and leadership development.


Source: Audiology Foundation of America