An open house for prospective audiology students is being held today to provide information sessions, tours of clinical and research facilities as well as question and answer sessions with faculty and current Au.D (doctor of audiology) students for those interested in USF’s Au.D program.

The audiology program is a professional discipline that is involved with the diagnosis and treatment of hearing disorders. The program at USF began four years ago and along with the University of Florida is the only public, state supported doctoral program in Florida, said Arthur Guilford, the chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

“Some universities have decided that they can’t offer a doctoral of audiology because it requires too large a population base. For example, it wouldn’t work in Tallahassee because the population is too small,” Guilford said.

The Au.D program also replaces the Master of Science in Audiology, said Richard Roberts, an assistant professor and the audiology admissions director.

Roberts said the Au.D program expands the scope of career opportunities as well as the setting in which students will get experience when compared to the master’s program.

“There is no way with a master’s program that you could fit in everything that a student needs to know. So now instead of a two-year program, it’s a four-year program,” Roberts said.

Guilford said the Au.D program provides an additional year of educational experience for students.

“It is far more in-depth and it contains a residency year, which would be equivalent to a physician doing a residency program,” Guilford said.

The Au.D program is also aiming to cut across disciplinary lines. The program attempts to bring a different research basis into the field, particularly those students with applied science backgrounds such as physics and biology, Guilford said.

“It enhances it by adding new dimensions and more research into the physics of sound in a more in-depth way. It enhances the scientific base more then the treatment base,” Guilford said.

To find out more information about the Au.D program, visit the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Web site at http://www.cas.usf.edu/csd/index.htm . The open house is being held at the USF Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (PCD) in room 4004. The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. and will last until noon.