Foundation Degree in Hearing Aid Audiology (Sector Endorsed)

Why choose Mary Hare for this course?

Mary Hare School is a well established member of the hearing aid audiology professions.  We are actively involved in the professional association of our industry: the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists and are regular contributors to their professional days and annual conferences.

There are Mary Hare Hearing Centres in the south of England (in Newbury, Salisbury and Cheltenham) and London (in association with Harrods, Knightsbridge).  Mary Hare also works in partnership with Ascent Hearing Care, which has more than 100 hearing aid dispensaries throughout Europe (17 in the UK) and Starkey Laboratories.

 The Sector Endorsed Foundation Degree in Hearing Aid Audiology is designed for practitioners working in NHS hospital audiology departments, private hearing aid dispensaries, or other settings where audiological skills are a key requisite of their employment. It is intended to be completed whilst trainees continue to work in their current workplace.

On successful completion of the course, trainees will be entitled to practise as a Hearing Aid Audiologist. It is essential, therefore, that on entry to the course all trainees are employed as a Trainee Practice Assistant or Trainee Associate Audiologist within either a private hearing aid audiology centre, or within the National Health Service, and continue to be so throughout the duration of the Foundation Degree.     

Duration: The course runs for two years, each year comprising 4 study blocks of two weeks each.

Fees: For further information contact Andria Thomas on 01635 244224.

Entry requirements: All Foundation Degrees are designed to be studied whilst you are in employment. To be eligible for this degree you must be employed as a trainee hearing aid audiologist.

Programme Structure

The programme is holistic, designed intentionally so that eight key elements (represented by eight individual modules) combine to achieve an integrated whole, which represents all the required elements of the role of a Hearing Aid Audiologist.  These modules cannot be individually separated out into different semesters because each module interacts to satisfy all the essential elements required by the Hearing Aid Council (HAC).

This Foundation Degree Programme follows the framework laid down by the HAC, in order to achieve registration in all the required professional competences.  All the modules are, therefore, linear, extending without interruption throughout the two year programme.

The first represents Stage 1, in which the eight modules are studied at Level 4 (the equivalent of first year undergraduate study).  The second year represents Stage 2, in which the same eight modules are studied at level 5 (the equivalent of second year undergraduate study).  The programme, therefore, consists of eight double modules, each equivalent to 30 CAT points, making a total of 240 CAT points (120 CAT points at Level 4 and 120 CAT points at Level 5).

If any trainee chooses to leave the programme at the end of the first year (Stage 1), and has successfully achieved 120 CAT points at Level 4, they will be eligible for a Certificate in Higher Education.  Registration as a Hearing Aid Audiologist, however, is not possible until the two year Foundation Degree has been successfully completed.

This course will be taught at the Mary Hare site, which has lecture/seminar facilities and a dedicated hearing science laboratory.  Practical skills will be taught and assessed exclusively at Mary Hare, in our specialist training facility.  OSPE tests (required by the HAC) will be conducted during each study block.  Once trainees have successfully passed their OSPE test for a specific skill, they will be entitled to practice and consolidate this competency in their own workplace.  Each study block (of two weeks duration) is followed by a practice placement (of up to four weeks) to enable trainees to consolidate the skills they have learnt and to observe professional competencies, which will be taught, practiced and assessed in a subsequent study block.

Further opportunity for trainees to practice certificated skills, and observe others, will occur in a sustained period of work experience of seventeen weeks (in their own workplace) during both Stage 1 (Year 1) and Stage 2 (year 2) of their programme.

The Foundation Degree is delivered in mixed mode (also known as blended learning). This means that there is a taught component, but also a requirement for distance learning.  The study blocks will provide core lectures, seminar and tutorial support and develop and assess the trainees' practical skills.  However, during the work experience placement (in their own workplace) trainees will also be required to access and study our e-learning materials.  Required reading and e-learning packages (such as CourseLab) for each module will be accessible via the knowledge and understanding trainees will have already gained during the study blocks, enabling them to fully comprehend the requirements of the assignments that they will be set during each work placement period.

Trainees will also be required to use the Mary Hare Portal site in order to access and complete their practice logbooks, documenting their management of patients/clients.

Modules

STAGE ONE: YEAR 1: LEVEL 4

MODULE 1
Anatomy and Physiology
  • Introduction to the hearing mechanism; nature and processing of sound
  • Altered function of ear due to injury, infection and disease

MODULE 2
Specialised Science in Hearing Aid Technology (1)
  • Physical properties of sound
  • Objective and subjective measures of sound
  • Effects of sound on patients
MODULE 3
Hearing Aid Systems, Selection and Fitting (1)
  • Science underpinning modern electronic amplification systems
  • Applications in determining appropriate sound pressure levels and frequency range

 

MODULE 4
Disease Processes (1)
  • Normal and abnormal features of the ear
  • Causes and effects of excessive wax
  • Causes of hearing impairment in childhood and adult life
MODULE 5
Equipment and Technology (2)
  • Acoustic environment
  • Hearing Aid format and maintenance issues
  • Hearing aid system evaluation
MODULE 6
Specialised Professional Practice (1)
  • Medical conditions requiring intervention
  • Otoscopy and audiometry
  • Tests of middle ear function
MODULE 7
Specialised Personal Development (1)
  • Consumer rights and consumer protection
  • Codes of conduct
  • Regulatory bodies and committees
MODULE 8
Patients and Carers (1)
  • Clinical observation
  • General client care
  • Assessment procedures

STAGE TWO: YEAR 2: LEVEL 5

MODULE 9
Anatomy and Physiology (2)
  • Key physiological processes that enable normal hearing
  • Central and key processes and neural transmission
  • Binaural hearing

MODULE 10
Specialised Science in Hearing Aid Technology (2)
  • Key measures of sound pressure level
  • Applicability in management of patients with hearing disability
  • Binaural hearing: speech perception and localisation
MODULE 11
Hearing Aid Systems, Selection and Fitting (2)
  • Multi programme and multi memory systems, noise reduction and acoustic feedback suppression
  • Analogue to digital conversion and multi-channel processing 

MODULE 12
Disease Processes (2)
  • Implications and management of non-organic hearing loss
  • Care plan management and onward referral
  • Medical and therapeutic interventions for balance disorders
MODULE 13
Equipment and Technology (2)
  • Electro-acoustic testing
  • Earmould manufacturing techniques
  • Assessment of auditory benefit
MODULE 14
Specialised Professional Practice (2)
  • Prescribing, programming and fitting suitable hearing aids
  • Aural impressions
  • Patient management skills
MODULE 15
Specialised Personal Development (2)
  • Standards of competence
  • Commercial consideration of marketing
  • Ethical business practice
MODULE 16
Patients and Carers (2)
  • Establish an authoritative case history
  • Record keeping, record writing and data storage
  • Confidentiality

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