July 2024 Advisors Corner

Happy Summer!

Hopefully your summer has started well, with plenty of time for rest, looking at a few ears, and getting ready for the fall. Whether you have started your new clinical rotations, your externship, or are taking your first classes, summer is a great time to look at things anew and see what we can learn.

When looking at diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), there is a lot we can learn to help our patients, our peers, our preceptors, and ourselves. At its core, DEIB aims to recognize each individual as a person, ensuring all are seen, heard, valued, and represented.

Especially in clinics and classes, you should be able to have an open conversation about DEIB with your professors and preceptors. Personally, when I precept students, we start off the semester discussing DEIB and things I need to be aware of as their new preceptor. We always discuss the importance of letting me know if they are ever uncomfortable, and we check in after appointments or at the end of each day to make sure everything went well. If you have a preceptor that has not discussed this with you, consider starting the conversation yourself. If you’re worried about it, try role-playing with a trusted professor or peer so it is more comfortable to have that conversation. As always, if you don’t feel you can address something with a patient or preceptor directly, reach out to someone from your program for help.

The American Academy of Audiology DEIB Committee and the national SAA Social Responsibility Subcommittee have been working since their inception to provide DEIB resources to members. As students, you have an outstanding opportunity to share these resources with your peers, professors, and preceptors who may not have seen them before.

•   Consider evaluating your implicit biases in a number of different areas. It’s easy to think that we are unbiased, but you may be surprised by some of the biases you hold. Being aware of them can help you be more intentional when interacting with patients.

•   When seeing diverse patient populations, we often need to step back and recognize what is most important to our patients. Consider some Academy resources to help with those decisions.

•   Keep an ear out for webinars (from the Academy and others) on working with diverse patient populations. I attended one through a peer-led pediatric group a few years ago that was phenomenal!

•   Consider getting involved with DEIB initiatives in the Academy or in the SAA by volunteering! Applications are available on the SAA website. Applications are still being accepted, it’s not too late to volunteer to make a difference in your professional home.

There are thousands of DEIB resources available to you from many different groups and organizations. If you have seen or used one that was impactful to you, consider sending it to myself or the national SAA and we will considering sharing it in a future blog post or resource.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and we’ll see you in the fall!

ChEARS!

Kaitlyn M Kennedy, AuD, PASC
Academy Board Member-at-Large
Board Liaison to the national SAA