The Audiology Clinical Education Network (ACEN): Creating Positive Change in the Final-Year Externship

Presenters:
Erin L. Miller, AuD
Ian Windmill, PhD

CEUs: 0.1 AAA CEUs

Duration: 60 minutes

Instructional Level: Beginner

Program Focus: Knowledge

Description:

The purpose of the doctor of audiology final-year externship is to provide an opportunity for doctoral students to gain hands-on skills through guided practice, experience, and mentorship. This final clinical experience provides students with an opportunity to encounter the demands that exist in a full-time clinical position where the primary focus is the patient. The desired outcome of the final- year externship is for the doctoral student to achieve the necessary skills to be an independent practitioner. As such, the facility and preceptors in these facilities are an integral part of the clinical education provided by academic programs.

The Audiology Clinical Education Network (ACEN) grew organically because of a desire to improve student outcomes and has resulted in a collaborative effort to standardize elements of the audiology externship process across institutions. While prior attempts have been made to standardize the final-year externship process, none of these efforts resulted in a consistent approach, leaving both facilities and academic programs to manage the process in their own way.

The ACEN, led by audiology preceptors at facilities who offer final year externships, recognized the need for a consistent approach to externship applications, interviews, offers, and acceptances. This resulted in the networks first outcome, a standardized timeline. While a standardized timeline was the ACEN’s initial effort, their purpose extends beyond this with members sharing best practices across institutions to further improve student outcomes. This session will explore the history of the final-year AuD externship, rationale for creation of the ACEN, and the networks current and ongoing efforts to share best practices in clinical education to create a positive change in the final-year externship.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Participants will be able to discuss the history of the final-year externship process.
2. Participants will be able to identify the benefits of standardizing the final-year externship application, interviews, offers, and acceptance timeline.
3. Participants will be able to analyze the value of a more consistent institution approach to the final-year externship.

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