Audiology Externship Experience

Overview

The Head & Neck Institute Section of Audiology offers an annual Audiology Externship at Cleveland Clinic campuses in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio, area. The program hosts an externship opportunity for multiple fourth year externs each year over several campuses. Additionally, the audiology section is proud to employ many audiologists who completed their externships at Cleveland Clinic; these providers serve as part of the clinical and preceptor team.

The educational mission of the Cleveland Clinic audiology team is three-fold:

To immerse audiology externs in the breadth and depth of contemporary diagnostic and rehabilitative audiology.
To build upon and expand the academic and clinical knowledge base provided by each extern’s academic institution.
To facilitate audiology externs in demonstrating competence and independence in skills expected of a new audiology practitioner.

Clinical Experience

Cleveland Clinic Audiology offers a 52-week externship experience that begins mid-May, commencing with a half-week orientation and onboarding process. Pending funding, a small stipend is awarded and disbursed to the extern by their academic institution.

The externship experience includes approximately five clinical rotations, including rotations at the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus as well as at a number of the seven Family Health Centers (satellite clinics) in the Cleveland area. Externs gain experience with a variety of clinical services at both our Main Campus and Family Health Center locations. This multi-site externship program offers not only a wealth of clinical experiences: it also provides exposure to diverse patient populations, opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary clinics, and collaboration with multiple preceptors over the course of the year.

Clinical practicum experiences will include:

Adult and pediatric audiologic behavioral assessment.
Adult and pediatric audiologic management, including hearing aid services and assistive listening/FM technologies.
Adult and pediatric hearing implant services, including cochlear implants and osseointegrated implants.
Electrophysiology across the lifespan in clinic and the OR, including newborn diagnostics (ABR, ASSR, DPOAEs), electrocochleography, VEMPs, NRT/I, and potentially exposure to intraoperative monitoring.
Vestibular assessment (videonystagmography, rotational chair, head impulse testing, functional measures) and vestibular therapy.
Auditory based therapy.
Tinnitus management.
Ototoxicity monitoring.
Clinical and surgical observations with neurotology.
Participation in multidisciplinary clinics and shared medical appointments.

Externs may be required to prepare and present several presentations throughout the year in the form of journal clubs, lectures, grand rounds, and/or evidence-based projects. The specific projects vary from year to year and will be outlined at the beginning of the externship year.

Constructive feedback will be provided to the extern during each rotation on a frequent basis determined by the preceptor and extern. An informal evaluation occurs mid-rotation with a written formative evaluation conducted at the end of each clinical rotation. Additional summative evaluations are completed to provide grades to the academic institution at the end of each semester.

Externs are provided with personal time off (number of days to be determined) in addition to six national holidays. If absence extends beyond the allotted number of days (sick days, personal time), the program reserves the right to extend the externship year to make up for the extended absence or provide an incomplete grade for the semester. If the academic institution requires the extern to be on their respective campus for any event during the externship year, those dates must be provided at the beginning of the externship year and will count as personal days.

Learn more about the Section of Audiology in Cleveland Clinic’s Head & Neck Institute

Learn more about the Section of Vestibular Disorders in Cleveland Clinic’s Head & Neck Institute

Meet the Audiology Team

How To Apply

Cleveland Clinic invites those enrolled in an accredited Audiology program and in good academic standing to apply for this opportunity.

Prior to the student submitting their application, the academic institution must make the initial contact. All correspondence will be between Julie Honaker, PhD, CCC-A and the clinical placement coordinator at the academic institution. This step is critical to review important terms for audiology externs:

Cleveland Clinic may provide a stipend/scholarship for the AuD Extern Year if funds are available. The stipend, however, must be paid to the academic institution, not directly to the student. The academic institution will be responsible for paying the student directly.
Cleveland Clinic reserves the right to utilize our own evaluation form for summative and formative review of extern performance.
There may be a fee for establishing the Clinical Affiliation Agreement; the fee will be the responsibility of the academic institution. Currently, the fee is $500; the amount is subject to change without notice. This fee may sometimes be negotiated.
A fee of $50 will be assessed for each student to cover the cost of onboarding. This must be paid by the academic institution by the end of the first semester in the externship. Students will not be invoiced by Cleveland Clinic for this fee as the fee is the responsibility of the academic institution. This is non-negotiable.
The student must maintain general liability and professional liability insurance in the amounts of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 in annual aggregate.

Application process:

Once the academic program has agreed to the externship terms listed above, students should submit a cover letter, resume, and three letters of recommendation. Email honakej@ccf.org or send to:

Julie Honaker, PhD, CCC-A
Head and Neck Institute
Cleveland Clinic A-71
9500 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44195

In accordance with the Audiology Clinical Education Network, we will adhere to the following timeline for the Fall of 2022:

September 23, 2022: Deadline for submitting application materials. All materials will be reviewed and students will be notified as to whether an invitation to interview is extended or not.
October 21, 2022: Interviews will be completed on or before this date. Note, final selection is based on a formal interview.
October 24, 2022: Offers of externship begin at 11 a.m. Eastern.
October 25, 2022: Deadline for students to accept offers of externship at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Ongoing: Supplemental offers may be extended to students if positions are not filled.

Inquiries regarding the application process may be directed to honakej@ccf.org.