GN ReSound Supports Student Scholarship, Education

Lafayette, IN -Five ReSound/AFA Practitioner Scholarship winners recently traveled to Bloomington, MN, to get a hands-on look at the processes involved in producing hearing aids. The scholarship winners were chosen based on the strength of their resume, application essay and commitment to the profession. The five winners each also received $1,000 to be applied toward tuition at a distance education Au.D. program.

During the trip to ReSound University on September 15, the scholarship recipients toured the manufacturing facility and received an in-depth look at the high-tech processes used. Attendees were given the opportunity to select their own hearing aid, and then followed it through the entire manufacturing process, from receipt and tracking the ear mold to watching laser technology put paper thin layers of material on each hearing aid to assure a custom fit.

"It was such a valuable experience to see the actual processes involved in meeting patients' needs," said AFA Executive Director Susan Paarlberg, who attended ReSound University Day with the scholarship winners. "It's clear that technology is being constantly updated to give patients the best possible fit and reduce errors and remakes."

GN ReSound's training personnel also provided talks and information on open fittings in hearing aids, noting that about 60 percent of patients would actually benefit from this type of fitting. "Open fittings may help reduce patients' complaints about 'hearing inside a barrel,'" said ReSound Training Manager Deb Castor, Au.D.

GN ReSound also recently sponsored an AFA postcard that awarded a $1,000 scholarship for distance Au.D. education to Laura Holden. Holden has worked at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis for 20 years. She works with patients clinically, and also has a special interest in adult cochlear implants. She began classes at the Arizona School of Health Sciences this fall.

The AFA is a non-profit foundation founded in 1989 to lead audiology's transition to a doctoring profession with the Au.D. as its unique designator. Scholarship programs such as these help further its commitment to fostering the education and training of audiologists to meet the needs of those with impaired hearing.


Pictured from left to right are: scholarship winners Joe Voglund and Nancy Terry, ReSound manufacturing audiologist Laura Prigge, scholarship winners Kristina Sheehan and Karen Kantzes, ReSound training manager Deb Castor, Au.D., scholarship winner Kathleen Peterson, ReSound training manager Annie Crockford, Au.D., ReSound manufacturing audiologist Jan Storhaug, and Susan Paarlberg, AFA Executive Director.