Situation of Audiology in Finland university degree programmes

Situation of Audiology in Finland • university degree programmes : – medical audiology: special competence, training possible in all 5 medical faculties (5 -year specialisation in Otorhinolaryngology or Phoniatrics, then 2+ years of specialisation in Audiology) – speech and language therapy: 1 -year special competence training in 1975, no formal training programmes have been available after that although legisation nowadays allows specialisation also in the auditory disorders • polytechnic level: – audiology assistants • technical audiology, psychology, social work, rehabilitation guidance: no special formal training / specialisation

Training programme for Audiology Department of Clinical Sciences / Otorhinolaryngology, University of Oulu • trainee needs to be a specialist in Otorhinolaryngology or Phoniatrics • the training takes place in the hearing (or hearing and balance) centre of a tertiary (university) hospital • structure and content of the programme: – clinical training: minimum of 1½ years of full-day work, ½ year supervised work as a phoniatrician or otorhinolaryngologist – in-house theoretical education: several kinds of regular inhouse meetings and consulation meetings with specialists – theoretical courses provided by professional and scientific societies: minimum of 60 hours – written examination (texbooks and scientific journals listed)