Maundy Thursday

What if Christianity got it wrong. Jesus was just a guy who got into a thorny situation, got hammered, and finally woke up from a three day hangover? I mean that would explain the high alcohol content in his blood.

But in all seriousness, as we enter these solemn times, from Maundy Thursday onwards, may we be reminded that Christ dealt with the same doubts that we do. That he knew he would be betrayed and denied. That he did pray and asked once for this cup to be taken him. That his disciples were equally lost.

Yet, through it all it gave us one of the most profound line to our prayer life - not of my will, but yours. The essence of all that we pray for, our life's purpose can be distilled to this one profound notion. That Christ in human form suffer as we do, yet by yielding to a higher will, we too can become free. Free of our own desires, our ego. Free from the fetters of this transitory plane, so that we can transcend all humanity. So that we can let go of the hurt immediate to our own person and be at peace with the way of things that ultimately will be better for all.

We can ask all we want, but until we are willing to surrender for a greater will, a will that is all knowing, all loving, our own will means little. We must will ourselves to abide to G-d's will...  And truly, how many of us can say we can?

Indispensable - Excerpt an article published in August 2014

There has been a lot of controversies recently regarding hearing aid manufacturers moving their products to chain stores, and hearing aid specialists increasing their scope of practice.  While the threats are very real and the cause of no small amount of angst to our profession, I personally believe we are perhaps drawn to the wrong kind of battle. 

If indeed our livelihood can be so easily manipulated, if the future of audiology is dependent on the selling of hearing aids, then I believe we have missed the point of becoming a doctoring profession.  A doctoring profession should not be built around a commodity that can be dispensed, but rather upon a skill set, a knowledge base that makes it indispensable.  At the core of our struggle for recognition, for the push to becoming a limited license practitioner should be the quest to what makes us indispensable.  This intellectual pursuit should be our focus.  If we cannot live up to this professional quality and rigour, then we should or may face elimination. 

Audiology is the study of the vestibule-cochlear system.   When push comes to shove, we are supposedly the owners of the vestibulocochlear nerve and its related structures and functions. If I may be so bold, I would even identify myself as a vestibulocochlearologist.  I am not a dispenser; I am a specialist, I am a scientist who brings the most informed treatment to my patients. We must own that.  We must make our knowledge sacred, and unique.  Leave it to the dispensers to dispense hearing aids, but make it our prerogative to be the unique specialists who carefully diagnose the full range of hearing problems before writing the prescription for when and how a hearing aid should be fitted. Let us be the researchers into better hearing aid technology.  Let us be the trailblazers in making better assistive listening devices, improving testing techniques, and increasing efficacy of treatment to hearing and balance related ailments.  

That should be our priority.  Not how much revenue will be lost because a hearing aid is being sold on the shelf, or by someone with less training.  Yes, we should be outraged that hearing aids are being dispensed without the involvement of an audiologist, but not because of the loss of revenue, but because of the potential detriment and reduced quality of treatment to the end user.  It has been said we justify, verify, and dignify our opponents simply by the act of choosing them [Spoiler alert: sort of like Lord Voldemort choosing Harry over Neville to be his ultimate arch enemy].   Be careful whom we choose to be our adversary. 

Ultimately, our biggest hindrance is not the physician, the hearing aid dispenser, or the hearing aid manufacturer.  It is each of us failing in our ability to become indispensable, to be innately necessary to the care and treatment of our patients. 

The time has come to rally around the standards that define Audiology Education.  Standards are beacons in the chaos of battle.  They lead the way and signal the changes in strategy.  So long as the standards are upheld, the morale of the army it leads hold strong and true - if the raising of the American flag on that tiny island of Iwo Jima is any indication.  The future of audiology lies in the recognition of a unique set of standards developed of, by and for audiologists; they are the essential undeniable elements of any campaign.  It may bring back childhood memories of playing “capture the Flag”, but there is nothing childish behind its significance.  That recognition in any of its form is truly about raising one’s flag and prevents others from stripping it.  Similarly, in our strive for independence, we must have a set of standards that is our own to defend, to lead, and to rally upon.  A set of standards that is indispensable.