Need to Know
Welcome back to the Pulse Tone! This is the second installment of the New Professional’s e-newsletter. You can find the first installment here. We know you are busy and receive many emails so we promise to keep this short but informative.
Wait a second—who is “we”?
“We” is the New Professionals Committee. We’ve been around for a few years now, and are tasked with identifying and promoting the needs of new professionals (NPs) within the Academy. Communication is a two-way street, and we want to improve our connections with all of our fellow NPs.
TAX REFORM IN CONGRESS
- The House of Representatives proposed changes to the tax code which would have negatively impacted graduate students (including those in the audiology field) by making tuition waivers taxable. The Academy opposed this tax proposal due to the impact on higher education students.
- Fortunately, when the Senate and the House reconciled their differing tax reform bills the tax waiver on tuition was kept. This means that graduate students will not have to pay taxes on their tuition Many members of congress came out in opposition of this change after graduate students across the nation protested. Involvement and advocacy can make a difference!
Have You Heard?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a feature that would allow for remote programming of Cochlear Americas Nucleus CIs in patients who have had more than 6 months of cochlear implant experience and are comfortable with the programming process. Data evaluated by the FDA showed no significant difference in performance between in-person and remote programming. The FDA additionally evaluated cybersecurity measures for the remote connection and patient perception of their experience with remote programming prior to granting the approval.
New Professionals Spotlight
This is our continuing segment on highlighting new professionals and their career paths! For our second spotlight, we’d like to introduce you to Kaitlyn Kennedy, AuD. Kaitlyn is currently a pediatric audiologist at Cook Children’s in Fort Worth, Texas. She received her AuD from Missouri State University in 2016 and is the current committee chair for the New Professionals Committee.
Do you have a new professional friend you would like to see us put in the spotlight next time? Shoot us an email with your suggestion!
Other News Bytes
- Don’t forget to register for AAA 2018, April 18-21, in Nashville. The conference has a lot to offer for new professionals.
- The New Professionals in Audiology Conference will provide an engaging opportunity for new professionals to develop leadership skill. No additional registration cost for this event!
- Speak Up, Speak Out is an event, which will be held during AAA 2018, and is designed to allow new professionals to discuss topics related to their demographic.
That’s it! You made it to the end of this newsletter and hopefully you learned something useful! We would love to hear from you, please consider the following:
- Contact us
- Answer two questions for us, ask a question of us
- Visit the NP portion of the Academy website
We welcome your feedback! Please feel free to reach out.
