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Optometry
Yasmin Battat, AuD ‘09, remembers seeing a child’s hearing aid being activated for the first time and the impression it left on her.
“It was like a light switch, like the child was off and the next moment the child was on,” said Dr. Battat. “Her eyes lit up and she started smiling, but was unsure what was going on. There was fear and hope and all those emotions mixed together. That’s when I decided this is what I want to do.”
Originally from Long Island, New York, Dr. Battat received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. At the tail end of her master’s program, she took her first class in audiology and enjoyed it.
“I could diagnose and treat and see results immediately,” said Dr. Battat. “I realized that as a person who values relationships and communication, I’m someone who wants to build on that and audiology is a starting point for that.”
After getting her master’s in 2003, she was talking with a colleague and they decided their current level of training wasn’t enough. Dr. Battat wanted a higher level of training where she could attain more in-depth knowledge about her profession. So, she enrolled in the distance learning program in audiology at what was then the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) School of Audiology.
“It was so innovative at the time. Now, distance learning is everywhere, but then there weren’t enough programs locally for audiologists to access and this program was a godsend,” said Dr. Battat. “And, we were taught by the best of the best. They recruited all the greats of audiology to teach those classes.”
During her time as a student, the PCO School of Audiology was renamed the George S. Osborne College of Audiology (OCA), after its founder, when PCO established Salus University and was no longer a single purpose institution.
Dr. Battat recalls feeling a good bit of anxiety toward the end of her doctoral program as she was caring for her oldest child and within days of delivering her second child.
“I remember thinking I’m at the finish line, I need to take this final exam and finish the program before I have this second kid. Otherwise, it’s all over,” she said. “Thankfully, he came two weeks early and I was able to take my exam and get it done.”
OCA, she said, gave her the additional knowledge she craved and prepared her to be able to practice her profession fully.
“I could expand to different parts of it professionally, because I now had the foundation, the in-depth knowledge and so I’m able to provide that level of expertise to my patients because of that training,” she said. “I’m a true believer in that. I utilize best practices in my everyday private practice. So, having that foundation is everything.”
Since graduating from Salus OCA, she has worked in a number of different settings, including ear, nose and throat, educational and private practices. She opened her own private practice in November 2019 called Oracle Hearing Center in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
Inspired by her first humanitarian trip last year, she is also part of a group called Entheos Audiology Cooperative, Inc. — a collective of hearing professionals committed to reconnecting with the larger purpose of their private practices — and has also opened a branch of a nonprofit called Hearing the Call, which provides audiology services to people who are in need.
Dr. Battat is also studying the testing and treatment of a part of the audiology professions focused on auditory processing disorders, for which she believes there will a higher demand down the line.
When she’s not practicing audiology, she plays volleyball, hikes and take her three children exploring throughout Central Jersey. She’s also an avid reader who admits she’s usually reading three to four books at a time.
“I feel blessed to be in audiology,” she said. “Every day it’s pure magic and every day I get to experience that, whether it’s with an older person or a younger person. To be able to live and be fulfilled that way to me is a gift.”
