The path Michael Davenport, AuD ‘09, took to becoming an audiologist actually started with music. While a student at the Philadelphia College of Art — now called University of the Arts — in the early 1980s majoring in graphic design and illustration, Dr. Davenport took an elective class focused on recording sound for films and really loved it.
But the pull of music was stronger than audiology at that point in his life, so he decided to leave school and start recording his own music. He collaborated with other musicians, recorded a handful of CDs worth of material and did some performing. But, the downside was he wasn’t making any money.
Dr. Davenport would eventually land a job working for a National Public Radio (NPR) program called “Cross Roads” — a multicultural show focused on sports, health and politics — that was being produced locally in Philadelphia. But, in short order, the program was moved to Florida and Dr. Davenport didn’t want to relocate.
So, he started to rethink about what he wanted to do next and found audiology while researching. That appealed to the science part of his brain and before he knew it, he was enrolled in the Speech, Language and Hearing Science program at Temple University. He received his Master of Arts in Audiology degree from Temple in 1984 and became a practicing audiologist, where he would become a preceptor for audiology students at the then named Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) School of Audiology, first in private practice for a few years and then through the Veterans Administration (VA), where he continued to precept students. It wasn’t until 2007 that he returned to school at PCO – which would be changed to Salus University’s Osborne College of Audiology (OCA) before he graduated in 2009 - and enrolled in the audiology distance learning program.
“Salus appealed to me on many different levels. How the classes were structured enabled me to keep working,” said Dr. Davenport. “No matter what profession you’re in, you’re always trying to keep up with advancements, the knowledge base, and the technology. Getting the doctorate was a great way to just dive in and be updated in a lot of different areas of clinical work and patient care. That was an exciting part.”
All of which afforded Dr. Davenport the opportunity to remain as a staff audiologist at the VA then and for the past 26 years. Most VA medical centers have satellite clinics in the community and for the past seven years, he has been based at the clinic in Horsham, Pennsylvania.
“Being here is very rewarding. Most healthcare providers would probably tell you the same thing,” he said. “Our patients are very appreciative and I go home happy every day. We have a great team of clinic personnel and that makes coming to work pleasurable.”
Dr. Davenport has no immediate plans to retire anytime soon, but when he does, he said he’d like to get back to some of the things he did when he was in his 20s.
“I’ve played guitar my whole life, so on the weekends I’m in my sun room playing,” he said. “I would like to get back into maybe recording and visual arts, whether it’s drawing or painting or photography."
He also loves gardening and volunteering his time at his church. While he has volunteered in the past with the group Friends of the Wissahickon, a nonprofit group that helps conserve the beauty and wildness of the Wissahickon Valley Park in Philadelphia, retirement would give him more time to spend with that group or even possibly working with some local animal shelters as well as spending more time with his wife Margaret and their cats.
