Where can you find a profession that has consistently ranked as one of the top five professions over the past almost 10 years? Where can you find a profession that is rewarding and truly helps people on a daily basis? Where can you find a profession that can be truly life changing for all people involved? Look no further than AUDIOLOGY!
Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, MSN, and US News and World Report have consistently ranked audiology as one of the top careers since 2006. Why do you ask? What are the reasons behind this high ranking? Audiology is a small profession so the demand is high but the competition for these jobs is low. Audiology allows professionals, like myself, to have a large scope of practice and work in a variety of settings. My colleagues and I always used to joke that no day is ever the same and you would be shocked to see what we encounter. Audiology is rewarding and allows for a one-to-one relationship with the patient and their families. Audiology is also ranked least stressful due to the work-life balance and stability of jobs.
Even though I love my profession and I tell everyone what an audiologist is, I find this top ranking surprising. I find it surprising because not many people know what an audiologist even is. Yes that helps with the field not being over saturated but since it is such a rewarding career and the stress is low, we as a profession should have students knocking on the graduate school doors begging to enter.
Many of my colleagues also balk at the idea of the least stressful job. There are gives a takes of any profession. What the articles were judging it on is totally true–we do not deal with life and death issues, long hours are not required (unless you are a business owner), and competition in the workplace is at a minimum. It is stressful however, when diagnosing a baby with hearing loss. The parents have just had their life turned upside down in a matter of minutes. Their goals and dreams for their child might be temporarily altered. During this stressful time, audiologists remain as a firm support base, helping and allowing those parents to grieve properly. Children with hearing loss can achieve all their parents dreams and our role as audiologists is to help that dream stay alive!
Audiology can be stressful when a spouse is in denial about their hearing loss. Audiology can be stressful when a patient has severe tinnitus or hyperacusis and cannot function in daily society. Audiologists are empathetic and listeners all while providing information and tools to alleviate patients issues and improving their quality of life!
Audiology is a wonderful profession filled with excitement, stress but an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. Audiology allows us as professionals to improve patient’s lives. There are days I may grumble about my job or the day to day tasks but a successful counseling session, a child’s smile, a parent excited about their child’s language progress, a patient reporting they can hear the birds again, cause me to jump for joy!
