By: Michelle Hsieh Pho, AuD, PhD, CCC-A, Vice President of Audiology
Hear, hear, fellow Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) members! Summer is heating up, and so are our people dedicated to all things hearing and balance! I would first like to extend my thanks and gratitude for being able to serve a second term as your Vice President of Audiology. Thanks to your support, I can continue to do what I love and bring expanded education and advocacy to our members as well as to our community and state.
We finished off 2022 with two well-attended audiology webinars for TSHA Tuesday. Renowned audiologist Dr. Jill Davis presented on hearing loss and cognition last July, and later in the year, Dr. Corrie Roehm, cochlear implant surgeon and director of The Hearing Center at Dell Children’s Hospital, presented on congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) and its effects on pediatric hearing.
At the start of 2023, we saw the addition of several fantastic committee chairs. Dr. Kelsey Hatton joined our team (along with Dr. Lara Dilollo) to co-chair our Audiology Education Committee, and former Graduate Student Representative Matthew Randal joined as our newest Audiology Issues Committee co-chair to work alongside Dr. Brandi Murphy.
Our Audiology Education Committee really outdid itself at the TSHA 2023 Convention. This year’s theme was Amplify, and they really rose to the challenge and did just that! This year, there were two featured audiology speakers. Dr. Ryan McCreery from Boystown National Research Hospital presented on his research regarding pediatric amplification, and Dr. Devin McCaslin from the University of Michigan (previously at Mayo Clinic and Vanderbilt University) presented on the advances of artificial intelligence in caring for patients with dizziness. Additionally, we recruited many other fantastic speakers who presented on balance, cochlear implants, hearing aids, insurance, and more! We implemented our third Audiology Student Research Symposium with three fantastic student presentations (and three cash prizes). We also raised $700 at our Audiology Networking Happy Hour for our Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (TSHF) audiology scholarships—the Frank Brister and the Larry Higdon awards, both of which were given out at this year’s TSHF Breakfast.
The TSHA Convention marked the start of a very special first half of the year for our Audiology Issues Committee because the Convention was held in Austin during the legislative session. I will humbly admit to our readers here that I was personally quite new to (and fairly intimidated by) the process of legislative advocacy, and I am here to tell you that not only is it easy to do but it works! Several of our Audiology Issues Committee members and leaders participated in the capitol visit hosted by the Vice President of Advocacy and had the chance to speak directly with legislators regarding the bills affecting our professions. Furthermore, I had the opportunity to testify at the capitol three times. House Bill 109/Senate Bill 51 involved giving patients the right to purchase hearing aids beyond what their insurance would cover. Senate Bill 1285 involved implementing targeted screening for cCMV, the most common acquired cause of congenital hearing loss. I am delighted to inform you that these bills have now passed. I was blown away by the support provided by our amazing members under our Vice President of Advocacy, both during the capitol visit and throughout the entire legislative session. Our membership dues provide more than just the means to earn continuing education hours and networking opportunities (though certainly the importance of those things cannot be understated). Through TSHA, we have the ability to impact not only our patients and our students but also our entire professions through the actions we take as individuals. I am humbled by this experience, and you can bet that the Vice President of Audiology will continue to take an active role in advocacy in the years to come!
I am of the firm belief that involvement in our professions starts at the beginning with our students and newly minted professionals. Thus, our Audiology Issues Committee connected with the new audiology graduates from every university program in our state for May Is Better Hearing and Speech Month (MBHSM) by sending a pamphlet congratulating them and informing them about TSHA and what our association has to offer.
As Vice President of Audiology, I am proud to be a part of such a welcoming and impactful organization. We will continue to grow our audiology division from the ground up to connect with and serve our great state. Stay tuned for more exciting updates this year, and always remember that we are Texas, and we are TSHA!