Horizons Fall 2014

10 HORIZONS Cordova’s undergraduate work was in speech therapy, which led naturally into audiology. She chose NSU for postgraduate study because of the array of nationally known experts on the faculty in the department, and also because of the new audiology clinic and student lab. “It’s just amazing,” said Cordova, who is at the end of her second year. “There is so much variety in the technology they have available to teach us.” The next sound you hear will be the emphatic agree- ment on the value of that new clinic by Erica Friedland, Au.D. She is chair of audiology in the College of Health Care Sciences, overseeing 7 faculty members and 68 graduate students. NSU’s respected program has been made even more attractive since the inauguration of the clinic just a year and a half ago. With various learning tools and newer utilities—one shining example being the rotary chair used to help treat patients suffering from dizziness and balance problems— the school can boast enhancements in both educational opportunities and service to the community, which are both among NSU’s Core Values. Friedland came to NSU in 1998 as a professor while simultaneously pursuing her doctorate. She became chair of the department in 2008 after following a career path that included receiving a B.A. in Communications Sciences and Disorders from the University of Florida, a master’s degree from Vanderbilt University, and a five-year stint at the University of Miami working in pediatrics. Like many professionals at this level, she took a key turn along the way. As an under- graduate student uncertain of a career direction, she took a test from a counseling service. It pointed her to courses in speech pathology, which she came to intensely dislike. Yet it wasn’t a waste: she loved a related class, Fundamentals in Hearing. That was the signpost to her future. Friedland explained that the “young” profession of audiology came about in the 1930s and 1940s, when war veterans came back with hearing loss. NSU’s program, a four-year postgraduate course culminating in a Doctor of Audiology, consists of three years of classroom study, with simultaneous clinical experience, followed by one year of full-time externship clinical experience. “Hearing loss can come at any age, from newborns to baby boomers, with symptoms mild to severe,” she said. “Tinnitus and vertigo are also growing concerns. Your ears and balance system get old like the rest of your body, even in your early 40s.” The significance for baby boomers, who increasingly want to stay active, is that the science of audiology has exploded with the kinds of new diagnostic and treatment gadgets that baby boomers love. Hearing aids tuned by mobile phone apps, anyone? Rotary Chair Checks for Balance Speaking of the new technologies, what exactly is that rotary chair? Resident expert Patricia Gaffney, Au.D., explained that it’s much more than that prosaic- sounding name. “It looks like a dental chair,” said Gaffney, an associ- ate professor who came to NSU nearly seven years ago, after studying at George Washington University and the University of Pittsburgh. Like a dental chair maybe, but one you’re strapped into. Your head is secured, and you wear a seat belt and goggles. The chair rotates and spins, with sessions taking from 20 seconds to 3 minutes. During this time, you will be in the dark, your eye movements tracked, and the audiologist will be observing with infrared goggles. The goal is to pin down the cause of dizziness and balance problems. Gaffney explained that our vision, inner ear, and muscles all work together, and the chair is a big advancement in how these reactions are detected. The rotary chair at NSU is the only one in Broward County. “The fact that we have the chair here,” said Gaffney, “means we’ve been able to bring in referrals from physicians on patients who we weren’t able to see before.” Gaffney added that it is also a significant attraction for audiology students because most universities don’t have one. As hearing ailments go, another growing scourge is tinnitus, that annoying sound in your head that, for some, can become debilitating. “In the past,” Friedland said, “it was just expected that you live with it.” The latest science has found every person has such sounds in their head. For most, they are either subdued or play below the level of all the other sounds pouring in. Erica Friedland, Au.D., standing, chair of the Department of Audiology, shown with student Melissa Gonzalez, over- sees 7 faculty positions and 68 graduate students.