oregon7 at aol.com (Oregon7) wrote:
>Hi all.
>> I can now write my name with those little letters after it for the first
>time and it is truly exciting!
Congratulations!
>> My question is regarding a position I have been offered working for a
>hearing aid dispenser. He offers commission only and after reading over
>his price list, it seems rather elevated compared to the offices I had
>practicums in during my CFY training.
>> Also, he manufactures ost of his own hearing aids, doesn't use Real Ear,
>and apparently seems to fit most everyone with an ITC or ITE at
>most.....he doesn't have a sound booth but he says he may get one if I
>sell enough hearing aids..
This is a classic dilemma.
I worked for 3 years in audiology, and was in such bad employment
situations,(3 different ones) , that I ended up returning to the
public schools as a TSHH.
Now I do some part time for a local dispenser, but I don't really need
the money in the same way.
This kind of a situation could work to your advantage, I suppose, but
not likely. Do you have anything to fall back on as you develop your
skills? In other words, do you feel comfortable enough with your
dispensing and rehab skills to agree to the dispenser's offer?
>> I had not heard of all these ideas during my graduate training and was a
>little surprised to see fitting completed without any verification
>procedures. I have observed and assisted in follow up appts. where
>patients have been quite unhappy with the aids.
Its a jungle out there: (the oft quoted line from an unknown speaker).
Grad school is the ideal, of course.
Private practices don't have the large university budgets that we tend
to take for granted.
If you know how to use the equipment that this office lacks, and if
you are able to continue to practice using it, your skills won't
suffer horribly. On the other hand, there's much to be said for not
going backwards on purpose! The lack of real verification procedures,
will certainly make your job more difficult.
>> Perhaps a short course regarding the way hearing aids are peddled in
>'real=life' would have been useful.
>> Has any other audiologist encountered this situation and successfully
>negotiated a position in these circumstances? What are the chances that
>an audiologist can integrate into this situation?
It also depends on your currnet financial situation. I have always
lived hand to mouth, and didn't have anyone to support me, so I saw
this kind of a situation as potentially disastrous.
(For example, what if you have a two week weather catastrophe, and
nobody comes in?) Sometimes it works when you can cob together part
time work...
Good luck,
Kate
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Dave and Kate
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