Interview with Paul Popp Ph.D., BC-HIS, MCAP, Author and Hearing Healthcare Practitioner
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TOPIC - The Hearing HealthCare Practitioner's Handbook
AO/Beck: Hi Paul. Thanks for your time this morning.
Popp: Hi Doug, thank you for your time too!
AO/Beck: Paul, I know you have a rather diverse background. I think it would be a good idea to tell the readers a little about your education before we get into the book.
Popp: Sure Doug. I got my bachelor's degree in 1969 from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA in 1972 from Duquesne University, also in Pittsburgh. Following that I got a master's in public affairs in 1974, and a Ph.D. in Organization Behavior and Development from the University of Cincinnati in 1975.
AO/Beck: Very good. And then after all of that you started teaching?
Popp: I was a full-time faculty member at UC when I was working on the doctoral degree. After leaving UC, I took a position with the Dade County (FL) government, and was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Miami teaching graduate courses in public administration.
AO/Beck: How long did you teach?
Popp: I taught full-time at various universities pretty much from 1972 through 1989.
AO/Beck: And then when did you get involved with hearing?
Popp: I returned to the hearing care field in 1992. I had experience with the effects of hearing loss due to my father's severe noise-induced loss. However, my first experience with hearing healthcare began in 1962. My best friend's father purchased the Beltone office in Lexington Kentucky, and he and I were more or less outside reps. That was an amazing experience, and keep in mind, it was almost 40 years ago! In those days you didn't need a license to fit hearing instruments. We went to some homes in rural Kentucky that didn't have electricity or running water. I recall one sharecropper family with two children...I guess this was late 1962 or so. The older child, Angela, was about 5 years old at the time. She had a severe hearing loss and she wasn't talking. They also had a three year old boy, and it was interesting - he had normal hearing, but he wasn't talking either. Reflecting back on that, I think it was probably a learned or modeled behavior from his sibling...she didn't talk, so he didn't talk. Anyway, as soon as we put her on the master hearing aid, she screamed in delight! Her parents were so taken by this event that even though the binaural hearing aids cost about a thousand dollars, they bought them. As you can imagine, once the little girl could hear she started to speak, as did the little boy, and the family was terrifically impacted by this event, as was I. It was really an amazing thing to be part of that process.
AO/Beck: Yes it really sounds invigorating. Nonetheless, after that you went back to school, earned all sorts of degrees, and then eventually went back to hearing healthcare. What was it that finally got you back into hearing healthcare?
Popp: Frankly, after many years of university teaching and administrative work, I thought the best thing would be to take some time off and write another book and pursue my consulting interests. Academic administration can be very frustrating! During my off time, I had a car accident, and wound up moving to California. I joined up with my old friend who had remained in hearing healthcare, and I decided to return to my roots - so to speak. I was amazed at the many changes that had occurred in the profession, and they were fascinating and interesting.
AO/Beck: Paul, let's talk a little about the book. You have a new book titled The Hearing Healthcare Practitioner's Handbook - A Guide to the Successful Treatment of Hearing Loss with Auditory Prosthetics and I notice you have a co-author, Gregg Hackett. Who is Gregg please?
Popp: Gregg has been in hearing healthcare for 20 years. We are in practice together in Santa Rosa, California through his office - Advanced Instruments. My hearing healthcare and consulting practice is called Sound Advice and we work in conjunction with each other. Gregg is also the president of Hearing Healthcare Providers/California, which is the state association for hearing healthcare practitioners.
AO/Beck: Paul, tell me about the book? Now that it's out, what are your thoughts when you reflect back on the book?
Popp: Doug, as you know, whenever you write a book or an article, you always want to change it a little after it's published. I would like to have developed a more in-depth discussion by adding audiology-based topics such as pediatric audiology, educational audiology, more on cochlear and middle ear implants, vestibular evaluation and rehabilitation, but then again, you can't do everything in one book. I think it does what I intended to do in a comprehensible manner, but of course, I would make some changes if I had to do it again.
AO/Beck: I do know! I think writing is a lot like painting a picture, it's hard to know when it's is done, when to add a little more here and there, or is it better to leave well enough alone. Those are tough questions to answer, particularly when you're so close to the project.
Popp: I agree and I also recognize that there are some political issues in the book that in retrospect I would like to change somewhat if I could. But the book is not about politics, it's about hearing healthcare from the practitioner's perspective.
AO/Beck: Paul, how is this book different from the other books out there?
Popp: I think one of the things that separates this book is that it deals primarily with the practice behavior of the hearing healthcare practitioner. It offers to the educated general reader - practitioners, physicians, students and consumers - a discussion of what we do based on a synthesis of the existing literature of the field as each of 157 topic areas are addressed. I guess the bottom line is that this book is a narrative interpretation of the existing literature of the field regarding hearing loss, hearing instruments, and the practice behavior of the hearing healthcare professional.
AO/Beck: Paul, would you please give me your definition of Hearing Healthcare Practitioner.
Popp: Sure, I use the term to define a health care professional who has a license issued by the state to provide hearing instruments for the treatment of hearing loss. In the majority of states, the term hearing healthcare practitioner includes hearing instrument specialists, audiologists and physicians who dispense hearing aids.
AO/Beck: Paul I noticed that you use an enormous amount of footnotes. Frankly, there were times when reading the book that I actually found myself reading footnote after footnote.
Popp: Well, I agree, there are a lot of footnotes. For me, other than for the purpose of attribution, footnotes are a useful tool because I can add a framework for a comment or a fact without getting too far off the point I am working on in the text itself. I like to keep the footnote on the same page as the relevant text because it's easier to read, and as you noted, sometimes the footnotes can be interesting.
AO/Beck: Paul, for the reader interested in getting a copy of the book, I know it's available on Audiology Online, but what other sources are there?
Popp: The book can be obtained through www.rayveproductions.com, Amazon.com, or they can e-mail me at drpp@aol.com.
AO/Beck: Paul, thanks for your time and thoughts this morning.
Popp: You're welcome Doug. My compliments to you on developing Audiology Online into a world class e-journal. Thank you.
AO/Beck: Hi Paul. Thanks for your time this morning.
Popp: Hi Doug, thank you for your time too!
AO/Beck: Paul, I know you have a rather diverse background. I think it would be a good idea to tell the readers a little about your education before we get into the book.
Popp: Sure Doug. I got my bachelor's degree in 1969 from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA in 1972 from Duquesne University, also in Pittsburgh. Following that I got a master's in public affairs in 1974, and a Ph.D. in Organization Behavior and Development from the University of Cincinnati in 1975.
AO/Beck: Very good. And then after all of that you started teaching?
Popp: I was a full-time faculty member at UC when I was working on the doctoral degree. After leaving UC, I took a position with the Dade County (FL) government, and was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Miami teaching graduate courses in public administration.
AO/Beck: How long did you teach?
Popp: I taught full-time at various universities pretty much from 1972 through 1989.
AO/Beck: And then when did you get involved with hearing?
Popp: I returned to the hearing care field in 1992. I had experience with the effects of hearing loss due to my father's severe noise-induced loss. However, my first experience with hearing healthcare began in 1962. My best friend's father purchased the Beltone office in Lexington Kentucky, and he and I were more or less outside reps. That was an amazing experience, and keep in mind, it was almost 40 years ago! In those days you didn't need a license to fit hearing instruments. We went to some homes in rural Kentucky that didn't have electricity or running water. I recall one sharecropper family with two children...I guess this was late 1962 or so. The older child, Angela, was about 5 years old at the time. She had a severe hearing loss and she wasn't talking. They also had a three year old boy, and it was interesting - he had normal hearing, but he wasn't talking either. Reflecting back on that, I think it was probably a learned or modeled behavior from his sibling...she didn't talk, so he didn't talk. Anyway, as soon as we put her on the master hearing aid, she screamed in delight! Her parents were so taken by this event that even though the binaural hearing aids cost about a thousand dollars, they bought them. As you can imagine, once the little girl could hear she started to speak, as did the little boy, and the family was terrifically impacted by this event, as was I. It was really an amazing thing to be part of that process.
AO/Beck: Yes it really sounds invigorating. Nonetheless, after that you went back to school, earned all sorts of degrees, and then eventually went back to hearing healthcare. What was it that finally got you back into hearing healthcare?
Popp: Frankly, after many years of university teaching and administrative work, I thought the best thing would be to take some time off and write another book and pursue my consulting interests. Academic administration can be very frustrating! During my off time, I had a car accident, and wound up moving to California. I joined up with my old friend who had remained in hearing healthcare, and I decided to return to my roots - so to speak. I was amazed at the many changes that had occurred in the profession, and they were fascinating and interesting.
AO/Beck: Paul, let's talk a little about the book. You have a new book titled The Hearing Healthcare Practitioner's Handbook - A Guide to the Successful Treatment of Hearing Loss with Auditory Prosthetics and I notice you have a co-author, Gregg Hackett. Who is Gregg please?
Popp: Gregg has been in hearing healthcare for 20 years. We are in practice together in Santa Rosa, California through his office - Advanced Instruments. My hearing healthcare and consulting practice is called Sound Advice and we work in conjunction with each other. Gregg is also the president of Hearing Healthcare Providers/California, which is the state association for hearing healthcare practitioners.
AO/Beck: Paul, tell me about the book? Now that it's out, what are your thoughts when you reflect back on the book?
Popp: Doug, as you know, whenever you write a book or an article, you always want to change it a little after it's published. I would like to have developed a more in-depth discussion by adding audiology-based topics such as pediatric audiology, educational audiology, more on cochlear and middle ear implants, vestibular evaluation and rehabilitation, but then again, you can't do everything in one book. I think it does what I intended to do in a comprehensible manner, but of course, I would make some changes if I had to do it again.
AO/Beck: I do know! I think writing is a lot like painting a picture, it's hard to know when it's is done, when to add a little more here and there, or is it better to leave well enough alone. Those are tough questions to answer, particularly when you're so close to the project.
Popp: I agree and I also recognize that there are some political issues in the book that in retrospect I would like to change somewhat if I could. But the book is not about politics, it's about hearing healthcare from the practitioner's perspective.
AO/Beck: Paul, how is this book different from the other books out there?
Popp: I think one of the things that separates this book is that it deals primarily with the practice behavior of the hearing healthcare practitioner. It offers to the educated general reader - practitioners, physicians, students and consumers - a discussion of what we do based on a synthesis of the existing literature of the field as each of 157 topic areas are addressed. I guess the bottom line is that this book is a narrative interpretation of the existing literature of the field regarding hearing loss, hearing instruments, and the practice behavior of the hearing healthcare professional.
AO/Beck: Paul, would you please give me your definition of Hearing Healthcare Practitioner.
Popp: Sure, I use the term to define a health care professional who has a license issued by the state to provide hearing instruments for the treatment of hearing loss. In the majority of states, the term hearing healthcare practitioner includes hearing instrument specialists, audiologists and physicians who dispense hearing aids.
AO/Beck: Paul I noticed that you use an enormous amount of footnotes. Frankly, there were times when reading the book that I actually found myself reading footnote after footnote.
Popp: Well, I agree, there are a lot of footnotes. For me, other than for the purpose of attribution, footnotes are a useful tool because I can add a framework for a comment or a fact without getting too far off the point I am working on in the text itself. I like to keep the footnote on the same page as the relevant text because it's easier to read, and as you noted, sometimes the footnotes can be interesting.
AO/Beck: Paul, for the reader interested in getting a copy of the book, I know it's available on Audiology Online, but what other sources are there?
Popp: The book can be obtained through www.rayveproductions.com, Amazon.com, or they can e-mail me at drpp@aol.com.
AO/Beck: Paul, thanks for your time and thoughts this morning.
Popp: You're welcome Doug. My compliments to you on developing Audiology Online into a world class e-journal. Thank you.
