Audiologists are the primary health-care professionals who evaluate, diagnose, treat, and manage hearing loss and balance disorders in individuals of all ages from infants and children to adults and the elderly.
The Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) degree program at the University of Kentucky is a three-year advanced practice doctoral degree providing the necessary academic and clinical experiences for students to enter audiologic practice upon graduation. The program is administered by the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders of the College of Health Sciences. Clinical collaborative partners include the Department of Otolaryngology of the College of Medicine UK Healthcare Audiology.
The single-track academic degree program curriculum will consist of 104 credits with 55 credits of didactic course work and 49 credits for clinical experience course work. (Students without an undergraduate degree in communication science and disorders will also be required to take CSD 510 (3 credits).
During the first two years of the program, students will be located on campus for the didactic course work and will gain clinical experience in local audiology clinics, particularly those associated with the UK Department of Otolaryngology.
In the third year, students will be placed at designated externship sites. The externship courses will include a seminar. The format of the degree, including the externship, is consistent with the structure of existing Au.D. degree programs in the country, and will meet audiology state licensure and national certification requirements, as well as programmatic accreditation standards.
Admission Requirements
Being an audiologist requires a clinical doctoral degree (AuD) for entry level practice.To become an audiologist, a student must receive a bachelor’s degree first before pursuing an AuD. This degree is a professional practice doctoral degree that requires the completion of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution. It does not require the completion of a master’s degree,
Applicants are required to have completed, have in progress or have planned prerequisite courses: Biological Science (3 credits), Physical Science (3 credits), Statistics (3 credits), Social Sciences (3 credits), with these prerequisite course credits having been earned within ten years prior to entry into the Au.D. program. Students receive guidance as to what types of courses in each of these categories would be most helpful for them to have completed to support their readiness for and success in the program, further explained below.
Applicants are not required to have a degree in communicative sciences; however, having course work in the following areas is strongly recommended: anatomy and physiology of speech and hearing; phonetics; speech and language development.
The following course work is also required for admission:
- General anatomy and physiology (human)
- Physics (that includes physics of sound)
- General human psychology
- Math (beyond introductory levels)
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