Audiology students benefit from Dominican Republic trip

Six audiology graduate students spent five days in the Dominican Republic volunteering and helping to combat hearing loss.
During spring break, the students spent three days working with American audiologists in clinics and hospitals and two days volunteering in orphanages with the organization, Orphanage Outreach.
Illinois graduate student Gina Geissler met American audiologist Laura Dennison. Dennison is on the board of directors for Orphanage Outreach and invited CMU students to come back.
“Most third-world countries don’t have audiology programs,” said Lisa Whitney, Florida graduate student. “We put hearing aids on people and we tested their hearing. Nobody goes to the doctor there. Sometimes they just get sick and lose their hearing.”
Because medical care is different in the Dominican Republic, people are more likely to have problems, said Elise Diaz, Pennsylvania graduate student.
“We were told the country has only one audiologist,” she said. “There is a high hearing loss because the medical care there is different. The parents just don’t know what causes hearing loss and don’t have the resources to prevent it.”
Education was also part of the work CMU students did, said Andrea Peck, Iowa graduate student.
“We tested and fit mainly children, but some adults too,” she said. “We did hearing tests and we took ear impressions and coupled it to a hearing aid. And we told them how to use them and care for them.”
The trip allowed Whitney to learn more about audiology.
“Overall it was an incredible experience,” she said. “It showed me a whole other aspect of audiology.”
Diaz’s work with a different population also taught her about audiology.
“To me, it was a learning experience as far as the cultural aspect and as far as audiology because a lot of the population is profound, meaning almost no hearing. We ran out of hearing aids in the first three days. We had about 120.”
Peck said she learned what hearing meant to people.
“I learned how much people care about hearing,” she said. “They wanted nothing more than to hear. It taught me how important the sense of hearing is.”
Whitney said she learned about more than just her field of study.
“It was surprising, the conditions, how bad they were” she said. “The kids got really attached to the volunteers.”
While most of the trip was spent working, students did have a chance to visit the beach and do some shopping at local vendors.
Many situations helped Peck feel happy about her work. After Peck fitted a child with a hearing aid and he started to speak, his mother began to cry. She said it was the first time she had ever heard him say “mama.”
But it was also difficult to choose who would receive hearing aids when they began to run out, Peck said.
“It was the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had. But it was also a bittersweet feeling.”
Whitney, Peck and Diaz said they anticipate some audiology students continuing their work in the Dominican Republic.
“I think a lot of our classmates will want to continue to go down there and be active,” Diaz said.
Only audiology students are allowed to take part in the overseas work.
Molly Moore, North Carolina graduate student and Jeremy McCallister, Florida graduate student also participated in the trip.