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This article provides an overview of the clinical doctoral program in audiology at Seton Hall University. It is a full-time, 4-year program that includes academic course work, clinical practica, and research experience. In concert with the university mission, the program is designed to enable students to develop the skills they need to be leaders in the field of audiology, providing assessment and intervention to individuals with hearing problems and enhancing the knowledge base of the profession. As part of the School of Graduate Medical Education, students in the program have access to a wealth of resources in related health professions. The close proximity to New York City provides many opportunities for outstanding clinical education with a diverse population.

Key Words: clinical doctorate, Seton Hall University, doctoral education, audiology doctoral program

Historical Overview

When the entry-level clinical doctoral program in audiology at Seton Hall University opened in the Fall of 1999, it was the first such program in New Jersey and only the second program in the Northeast. Coincidentally, it was also the second program (Boston University was the first) to use the doctor of science degree designator.

At the time we admitted our first class to the Selon Hall University program, there was one master's degree program in audiology in the state of New Jersey. This program has since suspended admissions, leaving the clinical doctoral program at Seton Hall the only audiology training program in the entire state. Recognizing the need for this program, the School of Graduate Medical Education allocated sufficient resources to acquire the faculty and equipment required to provide the students with comprehensive clinical and academic training. In the 4 years since the program opened, enrollment has grown steadily. At the time this article was written, there were 20 full-time students enrolled in the entry-level clinical doctoral program in audiology.

Seton Hall University was founded in 1856 by Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley, the first bishop of Newark. He named the university after his aunt, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton, who was a pioneer in Catholic education and the first American-born saint. Seton Hall is located 14 miles southwest of New York City in South Orange, NJ, and is the oldest diocesan university in the United States. In keeping with the university mission, Seton Hall welcomes students of all faiths, creeds, and colors.

The School of Graduate Medical Education was established in 1987. The school's mission is to prepare health care professionals to assume leadership roles in the health care arena. In addition to audiology (doctor of science) and speech-language pathology (master of science) degrees, the school awards degrees in athletic training (master of science), health sciences (master of science and doctor of philosophy), occupational therapy (master of science), physical therapy (doctor of physical therapy), and physician assistant (master of science). The school also has a residency training program that partners with a number of leading hospitals in the area to provide residencies for physicians in a number of disciplines, including internal medicine, emergency medicine, neurology, and podiatry. It is certainly advantageous having these other programs in the same school; they provide numerous opportunities for cross-disciplinary teaching and collaboration among faculty and students.

The clinical doctoral program in audiology is housed in the School of Graduate Medical Education in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. It is a 118-credit, full-time, 4-year program that includes academic course work, clinical practica, and clinical research experience. The broad-based academic course work and clinical practica that make up the program enable the students to develop the skills they need to provide audiological assessment and intervention to individuals with hearing problems. The program culminates with a 9-month, full-time, clinical placement.

When the audiology program opened in 1999, it had provisional accreditation from the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Full accreditation was awarded in 2003 for a 5-year period.1

Program Faculty

Presently, there are four full-time audiology faculty members. When the program opened, the audiology faculty included Drs. Joan Besing and Janet Koehnke. Subsequently, two additional audiologists, Drs. Brett Martin and Kelly Shea-Miller, joined the faculty in the 2001-2002 academic year. Each of these faculty members makes a unique contribution to the academic and research aspects of the program. Table 1 indicates the areas in which each of the faculty teaches and conducts research.

Program Prerequisites

Applications for the clinical doctoral program in audiology at Seton Hall University can be obtained by calling or writing the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology or online at https://apply.embark.com/grad/setonhall/med/12/. Contact information for the program is provided at the end of this article. Each student who requests program information is subsequently contacted by telephone or e-mail by one of the program faculty. Interested students are invited to visit the campus and attend a class and/or Grand Rounds. They are also asked if they would like to "talk" via telephone or e-mail with some of the students currently enrolled in the program. This provides them with an opportunity to ask questions they might not address to the program faculty.

As part of the process, each applicant is required to write a personal essay indicating why they are interested in the profession of audiology. In addition, applicants must provide transcripts documenting completion of an undergraduate degree. An undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0 is required. Applicants must provide official scores on the Graduate Record Examination taken within 5 years of their application date. Three letters of recommendation from academic or clinical faculty from the applicant's undergraduate program or from employers must be submitted as part of the application process. Applicants should provide documentation (with appropriate signatures) for all clinical observation hours they have accrued and for all clinical practicum clock hours obtained at the undergraduate level.

To ensure that entering students have appropriate background for the graduate program in audiology, they are required to demonstrate that they have successfully completed the following prerequisite courses at the undergraduate level: one biological science, one physical science, one math or statistics, two social sciences, and one English.

We recommend that the following preparatory classes be taken by applicants without an undergraduate degree in speech-language pathology or audiology: (a) phonetics, (b) introduction to language development, (c) introduction to communication disorders, and (d) anatomy and physiology of the speech and hearing mechanism. If not completed before entering the graduate program, these courses must be taken during the course of the program.

Curriculum Development

The Audiology Program at Seton Hall University was carefully developed to provide students with the academic, clinical, and research training they need to become leaders in the profession. The initial curriculum was developed by Drs. Besing and Koehnke before the program opening in 1999. It was designed with a number of specific goals in mind: (a) to provide a strong scientific foundation for the theoretical and experimental bases of the profession of audiology, (b) to provide clinical course work encompassing diagnostic and rehabilitative procedures for pediatric through geriatric patients, (c) to provide extensive clinical experience in a wide variety of clinical sites providing audiological services to a multicultural population of all ages, (d) to provide a foundation for the understanding of and appreciation for basic and clinical research and for the pursuit of clinical research, (e) to provide experience in the development of presentations for peer and lay audiences and in the preparation of didactic materials, and (f) to provide information in areas integrally related to the practice of audiology, including biomedical ethics, professional writing, and issues in health care.