The department integrates principles and methods of acoustics, anatomy, psychology, linguistics, medicine, physiology, and rehabilitation to prepare students to more effectively help persons of all ages who have either congenital or acquired impairments to hearing, speaking clearly, participating in conversations, or any of the other skills that allow effective communication. Graduate programs in the department provide a mixture of academic course work, clinical experience, and research involvement. Students are expected to master knowledge related to treating persons with disorders and to apply this knowledge in clinical activities at BYU and at other professional settings in the community. Strong performances in both course work and clinical activities are required, as is the successful completion and defense of a thesis. About eight students per year are admitted into the audiology program, and about fifteen students per year are admitted into the speech-language pathology program.
Students generally complete their programs in two years.
As a discipline, audiology involves such topics as the normal anatomy and physiology of the ear, the neurophysiology of hearing, the diseases and disorders of the ear, psychoacoustics, hearing assessments, middle-ear testing, electrophysiological testing of hearing and balance, the design and prescription of hearing aids, aural habilitation and rehabilitation, and hearing conservation. Admission and Entry. Because audiology is a clinical profession, both academic and personal qualifications are considered in selecting applicants and in evaluating, retaining, and graduating students. Requirements for Degree. The discipline of speech-language pathology involves the study of the anatomy and physiology of speech production mechanisms, the normal and impaired development of speech abilities, disorders of articulation, voice disorders, stuttering and related disorders of speech rate and rhythm, speech acoustics, speech perception, and swallowing disorders.