Audiology program surges to No. 2 ranking

A faculty member gives a thumbs up while supervising an AuD student performing a vestibular assessment on a patient lying on a table, with a close-up eye-tracking display projected on the wall behind them. — AuD students perform a vestibular assessment - learning to identify and treat balance disorders. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Earning a No. 2 national ranking means doing many things well.

That’s the case with the UNC School of Medicine’s doctoral program in audiology, ranked No. 2 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The four-year program is housed in the health sciences department of the school’s speech and hearing sciences division.

The division also includes the nation’s No. 5 master of science in speech-language pathology program, a doctoral program in speech and hearing sciences and an undergraduate minor. The combination results in a comprehensive training pathway that spans undergraduate, clinical and research education.

An AuD student helps a classmate fit vestibular goggles during a hands on training exercise.

Students from all kinds of academic backgrounds find their footing through hands-on training in Carolina’s top-ranked audiology program. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Hannah Siburt, division director and associate professor, attributes the AuD program’s national reputation to its expert faculty, strong clinical partnerships and advantages of being embedded in the UNC School of Medicine. Students train alongside a wide range of healthcare professionals, applying classroom knowledge to patient care early and often.

“Our faculty are expert clinicians and researchers,” Siburt said. “We teach in the classroom, the lab and the clinic, so there’s a natural crossover in learning. When students see in clinic what they’ve just studied and they are in a supportive learning environment, the best outcomes happen.”

Students gain progressive autonomy during clinical rotations, beginning with observation and moving quickly to leading appointments with faculty support. They train at the UNC Hearing and Communication Center, UNC Hospitals’ multisite audiology clinics and with many other clinical partners in the community.  Madison Broome ’24, a second-year student and UNC speech and hearing minor alumna, said, “You are gradually given more autonomy in the clinic. Faculty let you lead appointments and are always available to answer questions and offer guidance.”

Students develop depth and breadth in core areas:

Diagnostics, including electrophysiology
Hearing aids and assistive technology
Cochlear implants
Balance assessment and vestibular disorders
Genetics and pharmacology.

Audiologists prevent, identify, diagnose and treat hearing, balance and related disorders across the lifespan. Carolina’s future-focused curriculum helps students discover their professional strengths and thrive in varied settings, including hospitals, ENT clinics, Veterans Affairs, private practices, schools and the hearing technology industry.

Carolina AuD students build real clinical experience before they graduate. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

The program typically enrolls about 40 students across four cohorts. “Some people have taken the more traditional route of communication sciences and disorders, then some like me, have studied linguistics or psychology, neuroscience. We come together to create this bigger clinical picture, which is a really rich educational environment to be in,” said Alexandria Swaine, a third-year AuD student.

Being housed within the School of Medicine creates meaningful advantages: specialized training opportunities, interprofessional education and exposure to team-based care for patients of all ages. AuD students and faculty also contribute to the program’s national presence through leadership and research, including regular presentations at regional and national conferences and service to professional organizations.

A student sits facing a monitor displaying a magnified black-and-white image of both eyes during a vestibular assessment.

Students acquire real clinical experience in the classroom – prepping them for what they will do in their future careers. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Research permeates the curriculum, and many students work in research labs. Swaine conducts research in the ALLears laboratory with assistant professor Julia Drouin, focusing on speech perception in cochlear implant users. The UNC program is also one of only 12 pediatric audiology Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities programs in the U.S. It receives federal support to provide specialized interdisciplinary training to four students per cohort.  Accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education and the Council on Academic Accreditation, the AuD program was designed to train exceptional evidence-based clinicians ready to serve North Carolina and beyond.

Siburt emphasizes that Carolina students learn directly from nationally recognized faculty and clinical preceptors. With access to emerging technologies, protocols and approaches — often as they are being developed — students graduate ready to lead in a rapidly advancing profession.