Clinic on 2/19

The only client I observed was a student receiving musicians earplugs. The clincian showed her how to insert them and clean them.

Clinic 2/12

There was no client between 10:30 and 11:00, and the client scheduled for 11:30 was late. So, I was only able to observe for a few minutes. However, the client was a college student who reported that his hearing aids were not working.
During the case history, I noticed that the client had a cul de sac resonance; however, he was able to communicate with the clinician by using lip-reading cues. He had two BTE Unitron hearing aids, but he was not wearing either at the time of his visit. In fact, one of his earmolds was completely broken. He reported that he had purchased his hearing aids at a clinic in Lavalle, MD and that he had worn hearing aids since he was a child.
The clinician ran both hearing aids through the test box, and only one was working. Then, I had to leave to go back to work. : - (

Clinic on 2/5

Both clients during my time-slot cancelled.

Clinic on 1/29

I observed a hearing aid evaluation with an extremely active 48 year-old female client. She had visited the hearing clinic two years earlier, and at both visits, she presented with a moderate sloping hearing loss in the high frequencies. She came to the clinic this time because she reported that her hearing had worsened, particularly in noise. She worked in a recreational office and was in noisy environments most of the day. She reported having increased difficulty hearing at work and at home.

The supervisor advised the client that she was a "borderline" candidate for amplification. Significantly, the supervisor explained that no hearing aid would afford much help in noise and was very cautious about reminded the client that she may still have difficulty at work and in restaurants. Still, the client expressed a strong interest in amplification. She hoped to wear hearing aids on a part-time basis, and she wanted to know what hearing aids would help her. The supervisor presented her with a pamphlet from Widex, and the client expressed that she wanted something inconspicuous. The supervisor recommended an ITE and a CIC only. The client was extremely open to suggestion, and she accepted either option without explanation. The only information that was exchanged concerned price and customer satisfaction. The supervisor noted that many of her other patients were happy with ITEs and CICs from Widex.

The client seemed ready to proceed, but she was still concerned about the level of benefit and the level of satisfaction that she would have from any hearing aid. At that point, the clinicians offered more information about open fit earmolds used with new BTEs from Oticon. The client seemed extremely interested in the Delta. The session ended shortly thereafter because the supervisor was not familiar with Oticon hearing aids, and the clinicians did not feel comfortable advising the client without guidance from the supervisor. The client scheduled an appointment for the following week, and the supervisor and clinicians promised to have additional information at the next session.