Audiology technician to audiologist
An audiology technician already meets 30% of what the audiologist role asks for. The move turns on 41 required skills not yet in the profile.
80.5/ 100
1 How much of what an audiologist is expected to do is already part of an audiology technician’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the audiologist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An audiologist role treats 19 of its required skills as things an audiology technician already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- acoustics
- adapt hearing tests
- adjust hearing aids
- communication related to hearing impairment
- comply with legislation related to health care
- contribute to continuity of health care
What stands in the way is 41 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 20 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An audiologist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an audiology technician background worth leading with.
- already held adapt hearing tests assisting and caring
- already held adjust hearing aids working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held hearing aids health and welfare
- already held human ear health and welfare
- already held physiology of hearing health and welfare
- already held produce impressions for ear moulds handling and moving
All 20 carried skills, including the 19 the audiologist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 51 missing skills fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn counsel patients on improving hearing required
- still to learn instruct on the use of hearing aids required
- still to learn accept own accountability required
- still to learn advise on healthcare users' informed consent required
- still to learn apply context specific clinical competences required
- still to learn work in multidisciplinary health teams required
- still to learn communicate in healthcare required
- still to learn develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship required
- still to learn educate on the prevention of illness required
- still to learn inform policy makers on health-related challenges required
- still to learn interact with healthcare users required
- still to learn provide health education required
- still to learn work in a multicultural environment in health care required
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
- still to learn balance disorders required
- still to learn physiology of balance required
- still to learn audiology required
- still to learn audiometry required
- still to learn human anatomy required
- still to learn human physiology required
- still to learn neurophysiology required
- still to learn pathology required
- optional, not held counselling methods optional
- optional, not held disability types optional
- optional, not held paediatrics optional
- still to learn adjust cochlear implants required
- still to learn clean patients' ear canals required
- still to learn comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
- still to learn ensure safety of healthcare users required
- still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
- still to learn deal with emergency care situations required
- still to learn follow clinical guidelines required
- still to learn promote inclusion required
- still to learn diagnose hearing impairement required
- still to learn evaluate the psychological impact of hearing problems required
- still to learn monitor patients' progress related to treatment required
- still to learn undertake clinical audit required
- still to learn conduct health related research required
- still to learn manage healthcare users' data required
- optional, not held conduct research on hearing topics optional
- still to learn provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health required
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- still to learn respond to changing situations in health care required
- optional, not held supervise audiology team optional
- still to learn psychoacoustics required
- optional, not held human psychological development optional
4 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an audiologist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 adjust cochlear implants practise this
- 02 balance disorders study this
- 03 clean patients' ear canals practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 20 skills that carry over
- already held acoustics knowledge
- already held adapt hearing tests skill
- already held adjust hearing aids skill
- already held communication related to hearing impairment knowledge
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
- already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
- already held hearing aids knowledge
- already held hearing loss knowledge
- already held human ear knowledge
- already held hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- already held interpret diagnostic tests in otorhinolaryngology skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held physiology of hearing knowledge
- already held produce impressions for ear moulds skill
- already held refer healthcare users skill
- already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
- already held use of specialised instruments in otorhinolaryngology skill
- already held use special hearing equipment for tests skill
- already held geriatrics knowledge
The 4 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn health care legislation required
- still to learn health care system required
- optional, not held speech techniques optional
- optional, not held pedagogy optional
10 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held conduct research on hearing topics optional
- optional, not held supervise audiology team optional
- optional, not held human psychological development optional
- optional, not held counselling methods optional
- optional, not held disability types optional
- optional, not held paediatrics optional
- optional, not held pedagogy optional
- optional, not held speech techniques optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
11 held skills the audiologist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role advise customers on hearing aids skill
- not needed by the target role assist audiologists with screening skill
- not needed by the target role health, safety and hygiene legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role maintain laboratory equipment skill
- not needed by the target role maintain records of clients' prescriptions skill
- not needed by the target role order supplies for audiology services skill
- not needed by the target role perform technical tasks with great care skill
- not needed by the target role prepare audiologist patients for assessments skill
- not needed by the target role recommend hearing aids skill
- not needed by the target role repair hearing aids skill
- not needed by the target role types of audiological equipment knowledge
17 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn balance disorders required
- still to learn physiology of balance required
- still to learn audiology required
- still to learn audiometry required
- still to learn psychoacoustics required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- still to learn health care system required
- still to learn human anatomy required
- still to learn human physiology required
- still to learn neurophysiology required
- still to learn pathology required
- optional, not held human psychological development optional
- optional, not held counselling methods optional
- optional, not held disability types optional
- optional, not held paediatrics optional
- optional, not held pedagogy optional
- optional, not held speech techniques optional
Common questions about this move
Can an audiology technician become an audiologist?
Yes, and it is a career change move. An audiology technician already covers 30% of what an audiologist is expected to do: 20 skills carry over, 19 of which the audiologist role treats as required.
What skills does an audiology technician need to become an audiologist?
41 required skills are missing, plus 10 optional ones. They fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is adjust cochlear implants.
How hard is the move from audiology technician to audiologist?
Its learning distance is 80.5 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.