Audiology is a growing field of healthcare and has developed its own set of education, practice, testing, and licensing requirements. The state licensing requirements vary from one state to another but typically require at least a master's level degree in audiology or a related field. Some states also require audiology license applicants to be certified by the American Board of Audiology or the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. In addition, applicants usually must pass some form of nationally-recognized audiology examination (typically the Praxis exam), and they must also meet a practice requirement, which in audiology is in the form of an externship.
With all of the effort that goes into earning a license to practice audiology, it's important to understand the types of disciplinary issues that can arise during the course of an externship and even more important to know what to do if you've been accused of misconduct during your audiology externship. If you fail to take misconduct allegations seriously during your externship, you may find yourself unable to earn your audiology license after many years of hard work.
This guide will help explain some of the disciplinary issues you may encounter during your externship and what to do if you've been accused of misconduct. If you have questions after reading this, contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team for more information. They have years of experience helping students all over the US understand and resolve misconduct allegations, and they can help you too.
The Audiologist Externship Requirement
The path to becoming a licensed audiologist in most states includes a one-year externship practice requirement. The American Board of Audiology has a directory of some of these programs across the United States and provides a number of other resources for audiology students looking to apply to externship programs. Externships are supervised practice experiences where student audiologists can learn to apply their learning in a clinical setting with the guidance of licensed audiology professionals.
Because of the wide range of externship opportunities in differing practice settings, audiology externs can find themselves subject to discipline in more than one way.
What Kinds of Discipline Can Audiology Externs Encounter?
- Employer Discipline As an audiology extern, you may be working at a public or private hospital, a university-affiliated medical center, or as part of a private medical practice. Audiology externships are, in most cases, paid positions, often in the form of stipends, and because of the level of supervision required, externs are, in almost every case going to be treated as regular employees for disciplinary purposes. This means that as an audiology extern, you need to pay attention to whatever employee or extern handbook you received when you began your externship. In many cases, these will provide you with helpful information about the kinds of behavior that your organization expects of you, as well as the kinds of behavior that can result in discipline or dismissal. Losing your externship before it is completed can add at least another year to your path toward a career in audiology if it doesn't derail your progress entirely. Having the help of an experienced attorney from the Lento Law Firm can make all the difference in helping you keep your externship and meet your audiology licensing requirements.
- State Licensing Discipline As an extern practicing audiology in a particular state, you may also be required to have some form of state license, even if it is a provisional one. In cases where this requirement applies, you also need to pay attention to your state's requirements for audiologists. Most states have audiology licensing requirements that include a set of procedures for handling complaints from patients, co-workers, employers, and anyone else. If you receive a notice that a complaint has been filed against you, it's something that you need to take very seriously because it can affect your ability to earn a full license once your externship is completed. Getting help from an attorney-advisor who has experience helping healthcare workers with state license disciplinary proceedings is a much better strategy for dealing with this kind of serious situation than trying to manage it on your own.
- Certification Organization Discipline The American Board of Audiology's American Academy of Audiology (AAA) and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) are organizations that issue certificates in audiology to qualified applicants. Some states may require a certificate from the AAA or ASHA as part of their licensing program; others may not. Externs who are members of the ASHA must follow the organization's Code of Ethics and may be disciplined if they fail to do so. Losing the ability to secure an ASHA certificate as a result of an ethical lapse as an extern can be devastating to your career as an audiologist. If you are notified by ASHA that a complaint has been filed against you, don't try to manage the situation on your own – contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team for help.
What Kinds of Misconduct Can Result in Discipline?
There is a wide range of misconduct that can result in an audiology extern being disciplined, whether by their employer, the state in which they practice, or ASHA. Typical examples include:
- Substance abuse misconduct. An allegation that you are suspected of working as an audiology extern while under the influence of legal or illegal drugs or alcohol can put a quick end to your goal of becoming a fully-licensed audiologist.
- Practice-related misconduct. If you fail to follow standard procedures or the directions of your supervising audiologist and, as a result, do not provide your patients with the appropriate minimum standard of care, you may be accused of practice-related misconduct. While, of course, you are an extern and aren't expected to know everything about audiology, you will be expected to follow your supervising audiologist's directions and implement the standard practices you've learned in school.
- Sexual misconduct. If you fail to follow your employer's guidelines concerning sexual relationships in the workplace, or if you become sexually involved with a patient, you may find yourself being disciplined for sexual misconduct.
- Fraud. If you tell your employer that you performed treatment or procedures that you did not, you can be accused of misconduct. This can have serious implications both with patient welfare and with billing and insurance reimbursement.
How are Misconduct Allegations Resolved?
Because misconduct allegations can come from your employer, the state licensing board, or ASHA, the procedures for investigating and resolving them will vary. That said, there are typical steps that occur whenever any kind of misconduct allegation is made, no matter what kind of organization it's made to.
The first step will usually be to take a close look at the allegation and make sure that it describes conduct that could result in some kind of disciplinary action. Not every complaint from a disgruntled patient or co-worker is about the kind of behavior that can result in discipline. For example, a patient may complain because they had to wait a long time before they were seen by an extern. Assuming it was not an emergency situation, that's typically not a complaint that will be investigated or result in a disciplinary proceeding.
Where the complaint does cover behavior that could be misconduct, the next step is typically some form of investigation to find out whether the complaint is accurate and to learn more about whether there are other details that provide more context to the allegation.
If the complaint can be sufficiently verified, it may move to a more formal stage. The extern will usually be notified that a complaint has been filed against them, and they will be given information about the misconduct allegations. Then they will have an opportunity to respond.
That response is usually in written form and represents the extern's chance to make their best case. Often it can be important to conduct a separate investigation of the allegations, especially where there may be witnesses or other information that can help provide a defense to the allegations. This is where having the help of an experienced attorney can make all the difference. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team understand how to conduct thorough investigations and draft compelling responses to misconduct claims.
Sometimes the organization involved (employer, licensing body, or certification organization) may make an offer to the extern to try to resolve the matter. This will typically include having the extern agree to certain facts and accept a consequence. That consequence could be as mild as a verbal or written reprimand, or it could be something more serious like a written censure, a requirement that the extern takes certain courses, or even that the extern be prohibited from practicing for a period of time. Whether to accept this kind of offer depends heavily on the situation and is something that an experienced attorney can help evaluate.
If the matter doesn't resolve itself, then there may be a formal hearing, though this is less likely in the employment discipline situation. If there is a hearing, this is where it's important to have the help of counsel who has represented professionals in this kind of situation before. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team have years of experience helping make sure that student and other types of disciplinary hearings are conducted in a way that is fair to the person charged with misconduct. They also know how to test the allegations brought by complainants and to make sure that any witnesses who testify are questioned thoroughly about their recollection of the events that make up the misconduct claim.
Even if the result of a hearing is not in the extern's favor, there may be an opportunity to appeal. If this is the case, the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team understand how appeals work. They will work with the extern to identify serious appeal issues and to draft and file the most compelling appeal documents possible for that particular case.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team Can Help
If you are an audiology extern and someone has filed a complaint against you – whether with your employer, your state licensing agency, or with the ASHA – contact and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team at once to find out how they can help. These allegations may be serious and could postpone your ability to start your audiology career for years or possibly forever.
You've worked too hard to allow misconduct allegations to derail your career plans. Our attorneys have been helping students and healthcare workers fight misconduct allegations all over the country for years, and we know how to analyze the complaint, investigate the claims, prepare and file a compelling response, and where necessary represent you in any hearing or appeal that may be necessary.
A misconduct allegation is too important to try to resolve on your own – call us today at 888.535.3686, or use this link to set up a confidential consultation with the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team. We know how important your career is to you, and we are here to listen and help!
