OCA in China

The University’s Osborne College of Audiology (OCA) introduced its Advanced Studies certificate programs several years ago. Taught by experienced faculty renowned in their areas of expertise, the Advanced Studies certificate programs offer practitioners the latest available information on the programs’ topics (Cochlear Implants; Tinnitus and hyperacusis; Vestibular Sciences and Disorders), and bring them up-to-date on the state of the science in the diagnosis and treatment of specific auditory disorders. The courses are usually taught online and include two, four-day, hands-on workshops held in Elkins Park.

In March, Dr. Giri Sundar, OCA director of distance education programs, took the workshops to China as part of an agreement signed in November with AIER Education and Consulting, LTD., of Beijing, a leader of online audiology education in that country. The CEO of AIER is Qi Liang, AuD, a 2008 Salus OCA alumna.

Dr. Sundar and faculty members Dr. Robert Harrison and Dr. Jace Wolfe brought a customized version of Advanced Studies in Cochlear Implants to Beijing. They trained 20 practicing audiologists/audiology-related healthcare professionals in Cochlear Implants and added two hands-on workshops to the program.

Dr. Harrison, who is also a professor and vice chair of Research at the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, taught a course on the Neuroscience of Cochlear Implantation. Dr. Jace Wolfe, director of Audiology and Research at Hearts for Hearing Oklahoma and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, taught a Diagnostic Techniques for Cochlear Implants workshop. Dr. Sundar says the next two courses in this program will be offered online and the final two courses will be hybrid, with online teaching as well as face-face instruction on programming techniques for cochlear implants.

Advanced Studies Programs