Doctor of Audiology
Units required for Doctorate of Audiology (Au.D.): 118
Program Description
The Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) program at Sacramento State is a four-year clinical doctorate that is designed to prepare students for professional practice of audiology. The Au.D. program provides coursework in the theoretical foundations of audiology practice and evidence-based practice, as well as varied clinical training experiences in the Sacramento community and surrounding areas. The Maryjane Rees Language, Speech, and Hearing Center, which is located on campus, provides the community with speech, language, and hearing services for children and adults with communication disorders. In addition, the department is located in Folsom Hall, home of the The Center for Health Practice, Policy & Research (CHPPR), giving students opportunities to work alongside and learn from and with other health professions students.
Admission Requirements
- Students must have an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution.
- Students must have completed a course in each of the following:
- Human Development
- Introduction to Statistics
- College Algebra
- Introduction to Physics
- Students must have completed the equivalent of the following Sacramento State Communication Sciences and Disorders courses:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| CSAD 110 | Physics of Sound and Phonetics | 4 |
| CSAD 130 | Introduction to Audiology | 3 |
| CSAD 133 | Introduction to Aural Rehabilitation | 3 |
- Students must have a GPA of 3.00 overall and a GPA of 3.00 for the above pre-requisite courses.
- Domestic applicants with foreign documents and international students (F-1 or J-1 visa applicants) must consult the Office of Graduate Studies and the International Programs and Global Engagement Office for specific application instructions. These students must also submit TOEFL scores. Consult the Department website for department-specific TOEFL scores.
- GRE scores obtained in the last 5 years.
- Three letters of recommendation, two of which must come from university faculty who can speak to the student's academic potential and one must come from a professional reference in the field of audiology.
- Written essay.
- Personal interview.
- Resume of education, related work, volunteer and multicultural experience, and any scholarships, awards or other commendations.
- Documentation of 25 completed documented observation hours in audiology.
- Students must consult the Department website for additional current admission requirements and procedures.
Doctor of Audiology Graduate Program Policies and Procedures
- A student must have, at minimum, a 3.0 GPA in the graduate coursework in order to graduate with a Doctor of Audiology degree. Students may not earn a grade of less than a B in any major didactic course or clinical practicum. The Au.D. Program Director will review each student's grade reports at the end of each semester to identify students who receive less than a B in any graduate level course or clinical practicum or students who have less than a 3.0 GPA for the semester. The course instructor (for didactic courses) or clinical supervisor (for practicum sites) will meet with the Au.D. Program Director and student to discuss steps for the student to remediate the coursework, address areas of weakness in clinical performance, etc. Students falling to maintain a GPA of 3.00 are automatically placed on academic probation. Students on academic probation must independently remediate the coursework or address the deficiencies identified by the course instructor and Au.D. Program Director or s/he will not be allowed to continue the graduate program and will be dismissed. Any student who has less than B in any two didactic or B in any clinical practicum courses will not be allowed to continue in the graduate program and will be dismissed.
- Prior to enrolling in any clinical practica, students must fulfill the following criteria.
a. Proof of required immunizations consistent with Department Policy. See Department webpage for details.
b. Completion of background check consistent with Department Policy. See Department webpage for details.
c. Students must complete all clinical practica in the prescribed sequence. Students who have not completed a given semester's clinical practica will not be allowed to progress into subsequent clinical practica, including internships and the externship.
d. Current certification in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for Health Care Providers.
3. There are specific clock-hour requirements for the California License in Audiology, as well as requirements for the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education (ACAE) and Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA). Students who wish to pursue the Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) prior to graduation must meet those requirements in consultation with the Clinic Coordinator.
4. Internship requirements: Documentation of the following is required by the end of the second clinical semester:
a. Current certification in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for Health Care Providers.
b. Complete Certificate of Clearance.
5. Students must furnish their own transportation to off-campus practicum sites.
6. Students must explore and complete additional internship requirements as delineated by each site.
7. Clock hours from the following may be counted for the California License in Audiology only if the on-site supervisors have their CCCs and California License in Audiology:
Course Course title Units
CSAD 620C Audiology clinic II 1
CSAD 630C Audiology clinic Ill 2
CSAD 640C Audiology clinic IV 1
CSAD 650C Audiology clinic V 1
CSAD 660C Audiology clinic VI 2
CSAD 670C Audiology clinic VII 2
CSAD 680C Audiology clinic VIII 2
CSAD 710E Audiology externship I 7
CSAD 720E Audiology externship II 7
CSAD 730E Audiology externship III 7
- Students must meet the clinical practicum requirements, including approved hours, for the California License in Audiology at the time of graduation in order to receive the Au.D. degree.
- Students must submit a signed record of all observation hours and supervised clinical clock hours to the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department. Students should retain multiple copies for their personal records.
- Students earning less than a B in clinical practicum must repeat the clinical experience during the following semester. Hours earned for the semester in which the student earned less than a B will not be counted.
Audiology Doctoral Project
- Students must complete a doctoral project in order to graduate.
- To enroll in CSAD 501, students must have passed the first-year progress exam, CSAD 510.
- Students must enroll in CSAD 501, 502, 503, 504, and 505 for five consecutive semesters after passing CSAD 510.
- A student may not register for CSAD 501 unless the following conditions have been met:
- The readers judge that the proposal, which includes a comprehensive review of the literature and proposed methodology, is sufficiently well-developed.
- Her/his proposal has been approved by the Doctoral Project Committee no later than the 6th week of the third semester. The proposal must include the introduction (including literature review) and methodology.
- Written approval of the first reader has been accepted by the Department Chair.
- No subjects may be recruited until the study has received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. IRB approval should be obtained by the eighth week of the fall semester (year 2). It is possible for this process to take up to a full academic year.
Definition: The Au.D. doctoral project is an independent research study conducted by the student under the supervision of members of the faculty. The project must include a testable research question and hypothesis, review of pertinent literature, and the collection and analysis of data. It is the student's responsibility to locate and recruit subjects and to collect the data, as well as to write the paper. Papers that are based on original data are preferred; however, those based on secondary data sources will also be considered.
Supervision: The doctoral project is supervised by a committee of three faculty members in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The "first reader" is the chair of the committee and the student's primary advisor and editor. The "second reader" and "third reader" evaluate the proposal at the beginning, consult on the development of the paper as necessary, and must approve the final paper.
Credit: A student enrolls in one unit of Audiology Doctoral Project each semester he/she works on the project for a total of five units. Students must complete the project before the end of the third year in order to complete degree requirements.
Audiology Progress Exam (CSAD 510)
Consists of written and clinical portions. Both portions must be passed according to the criteria below:
Formative written exam: Based on coursework taken in the first year of the Au.D. program (anatomy and physiology, acoustics and psychoacoustics, instrumentation, audiologic evaluation, amplification, disorders of the auditory system, genetics, research methods, and pediatric and educational audiology). The exam is administered during the summer of the first year. The exam period is over two days, and students will write for up to four hours each day.
- Faculty will develop questions and scoring rubrics for each of the nine subject areas assessed based on expertise and subject areas taught.
- Each response will be scored by two faculty members. If two faculty members award different scores (e.g. pass and no-pass), a third faculty member will serve as a tie breaker. Faculty scores are confidential.
- Upon completion and review by the examiners, each question is given a grade of "Pass," "Conditional Pass, or "No-Pass"
- "Pass" indicates a satisfactory completion of the question.
- "Conditional Pass" indicates a pass, but the examiners require additional work or remediation. Examiners are required to provide written feedback of the student's responses. Deficiencies can be addressed through an oral exam tor further clarification or coursework remediation (reading, independent study, etc.), which is determined by the faculty examiner and Au.D. Program Director. A timeline for this remediation plan and a method for verifying completion of the work must be determined by the faculty examiners, Au.D. Program Director, and the student.
- "No-Pass" indicates an unsatisfactory answer. Students are required to meet with the examiners and Au.D. Program Director to review their performance. Students who receive "No-Pass" results on less than or equal to 25% of the questions will meet with the examiners to address deficiencies.
- Students must receive a "Pass" on all areas of the exam to proceed to the second year.
- Students receiving conditional "Pass" results on more than 50% of the questions may be placed on academic probation and given the opportunity to retake the exam by the end of the summer semester after completing remediation work. Failure to receive a "Pass" on the second administration of the exam will result in dismissal from the program.
- Students receiving "No-Pass" results on more than 25% of the questions will be dismissed from the program.
Clinical exam: Includes a practical portion and a case study. Students will perform clinical procedures related to the topics presented in CSAD 614: Audiologic evaluation, CSAD 622: Amplification I, CSAD 622L: Amplification I lab, CSAD 631: Amplification II, and CSAD 632: Pediatric and Educational Audiology. Students will perform the evaluation in the presence of an Au.D. faculty member. The second part of the clinical exam will involve the presentation of a case study in which students will discuss their preparation for the appointment, possible diagnostic results, clinical interpretation of findings, and recommendations.
- Grading
- Students must pass the clinical portion of the exam at 80% or higher in order to enroll in CSAD 504.
- Students receiving less than 80% will have one opportunity to re-take the clinical portion of the exam and receive a "Pass" result
- Students who fail to receive a "Pass" result on the second attempt will be removed from the program
Audiology Comprehensive Exam (CSAD 520)
Definition: Summative written and oral exam that assesses knowledge and skills gained through coursework and/or clinical practica, and evaluates problem-solving and critical thinking skills for clinical cases. The written exam will be completed within the first week of the testing period during the spring semester, and the oral exam will be scheduled during the second week of testing.
- The written portion consists of 200 questions that evaluate students' knowledge of the first two years of didactic and clinical coursework. Students must score 80% or better on this section to pass. The exam period is up to four hours on one day.
- Students who receive less than 80% on the exam must develop a plan for remediation with the Au.D. program faculty. Students may retake the written portion of the exam once. Failure to achieve a passing score on the second attempt will result in dismissal from the program.
- The oral exam includes three cases (e.g. pediatric, adult, vestibular, etc.). The student will discuss the case history information, diagnostic results, and management plan with the examining committee. Questions pertaining to interpretation of the test results, site-of-lesion determination, recommendations or referrals, and rehabilitation of cases will be asked. Students will be expected to reference research and/or evidence-based practice guidelines in their responses. Students will also be asked additional questions to respond to during this examination period.
- Each response to the oral exam will be evaluated by three Au.D. faculty members. Faculty will evaluate responses using a rubric for thorough discussion, appropriate assessments and recommendation, and correct responses to questions.
- Upon completion and review by the examiners, each question is given a grade of "Pass" or "No-Pass."
- "Pass" indicates a satisfactory completion of the question.
- "No-Pass" indicates an unsatisfactory answer to any of the discussion questions of the oral exam. Students who receive a "No-Pass" result are not permitted to begin the third-year externship. Students will be given the opportunity to develop a remediation plan with Au.D. program faculty before retaking the exam at the end of the summer semester. Failure to receive a "Pass" result on the second attempt will result in dismissal from the program.
Additional Information
Licensure, Certification, and Fellowship
Students completing the program will be eligible to apply for California licensure in audiology and fellowship from the American Academy of Audiology. Students seeking the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) must notify the clinical coordinator to find ASHA-certified supervisors for the placements.
Licensure
Admission into programs leading to licensure does not guarantee that students will obtain a license. Licensure requirements are set by agencies that are not controlled by or affiliated with the CSU and requirements can change at any time. For example, licensure requirements can include evidence of the right to work in the United States (e.g., social security number or tax payer identification number) or successfully passing a criminal background check. Students are responsible for determining whether they can meet licensure. The CSU will not refund tuition, fees, or any associated costs, to students who determine subsequent to admission that they cannot meet licensure requirements.
Minimum Units and Grade Requirement for the Degree
Units Required for the AuD: 118 units
Minimum Cumulative GPA: 3.0; students must earn a grade of "B" in all courses taken in the Doctor of Audiology Program.
Advancement to Candidacy
Each student must file an application for Advancement to Candidacy indicating a proposed program of graduate study. This procedure may begin as soon as the classified graduate student has:
- removed any deficiencies in admission requirements and achieved classified status;
- successfully complete all courses with a grade of "B" or higher with a minimum of 3.0 cumulative GPA in all AuD graduate level coursework;
- passed (with a grade of "B" or higher) a Graduate Writing Intensive (GWI) course in the discipline; and
- passed the qualifying exam
Program Requirements
Coursework in the Doctor of Audiology program are lockstep and begin in the fall semester.
Students are admitted to the program on a yearly basis. There are eleven semesters in the program.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Semester 1: Fall (13 Units) | ||
| CSAD 610 Introduction to clinic | 1 | |
| CSAD 611 Anatomy and physiology of the auditory and vestibular systems | 3 | |
| CSAD 612 Acoustics and psychoacoustics | 3 | |
| CSAD 613 Instrumentation | 3 | |
| CSAD 614 Audiologic evaluation | 3 | |
| Semester 2: Spring (13 Units) | ||
| CSAD 620 Clinical methods: Communicating with patients | 1 | |
| CSAD 620C Audiology clinic II | 1 | |
| CSAD 621 Research methods in audiology | 3 | |
| CSAD 622 Amplification I | 3 | |
| CSAD 622L Amplification I lab | 1 | |
| CSAD 623 Disorders of the auditory system | 3 | |
| CSAD 624 Genetics for audiology | 1 | |
| Semester 3: Summer (10 Units) | ||
| CSAD 510 Audiology progress exam | 1 | |
| CSAD 630 Clinical methods: Report writing | 1 | |
| CSAD 630C Audiology clinic III | 2 | |
| CSAD 631 Amplification II | 3 | |
| CSAD 632 Pediatric and educational audiology | 3 | |
| Semester 4: Fall (13 Units) | ||
| CSAD 640 Clinical methods: Current topics in audiology | 1 | |
| CSAD 641 Auditory evoked potentials | 3 | |
| CSAD 641L Auditory evoked potentials lab | 1 | |
| CSAD 642 Industrial audiology and hearing conservation | 3 | |
| CSAD 643 Tinnitus | 3 | |
| CSAD 640C Audiology clinic IV | 1 | |
| CSAD 501 Audiology doctoral project I | 1 | |
| Semester 5: Spring (12 Units) | ||
| CSAD 502 Audiology doctoral project II | 1 | |
| CSAD 650 Clinical methods: Billing and coding | 1 | |
| CSAD 650C Audiology clinic V | 1 | |
| CSAD 651 Objective measures | 3 | |
| CSAD 652 Pediatric habilitation | 3 | |
| CSAD 653 Diagnosis and management of vestibular disorders | 3 | |
| Semester 6: Summer (9 Units) | ||
| CSAD 503 Audiology doctoral project III | 1 | |
| CSAD 660 Clinical methods: Legal/ethical issues | 1 | |
| CSAD 660C Audiology clinic VI | 2 | |
| CSAD 661 Aural rehabilitation | 3 | |
| CSAD 662 Implantable devices and technology | 2 | |
| Semester 7: Fall (11 Units) | ||
| CSAD 504 Audiology doctoral project IV | 1 | |
| CSAD 670 Clinical methods: Professional issues | 1 | |
| CSAD 670C Audiology clinic VII | 2 | |
| CSAD 671 Counseling in audiology | 3 | |
| CSAD 672 Central auditory processing disorders | 3 | |
| CSAD 673 Pharmacology and ototoxicity | 1 | |
| Semester 8: Spring (10 Units) | ||
| CSAD 681 Practice management | 2 | |
| CSAD 682 Aging and the auditory system | 2 | |
| CSAD 683 Speech-language pathology for audiologists | 1 | |
| CSAD 680C Audiology clinic VIII | 2 | |
| CSAD 680 Clinical methods: Differential diagnosis | 1 | |
| CSAD 505 Audiology doctoral project V | 1 | |
| CSAD 520 Audiology comprehensive exam | 1 | |
| Semester 9: Summer (9 Units) | ||
| CSAD 710 Clinical methods: Externship I | 2 | |
| CSAD 710E Audiology Externship I | 7 | |
| Semester 10: Fall (9 Units) | ||
| CSAD 720 Clinical methods: Externship II | 2 | |
| CSAD 720E Audiology Externship II | 7 | |
| Semester 11: Spring (9 Units) | ||
| CSAD 730 Clinical methods: Externship III | 2 | |
| CSAD 730E Audiology Externship III | 7 | |
| Total Units | 118 | |