Connecting audiologists through global networking

Dr Ross Roeser has been interested in understanding what the field of audiology covers internationally in practical terms for some time. He has found that audiology services throughout the world can be very different, particularly when it comes to educational requirements and the availability of equipment.

Along with Dr Vinaya Manchaiah, Director of audiology and associate professor of audiology at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, Roeser has set up an online network to bring professionals together called the Global Resource for Audiology Information Networking (GRAIN). The aims of GRAIN are to enable audiologists and other stakeholders in the field to learn from one another, to provide each other assistance, and ultimately to provide optimal care to people with hearing loss.

“We’re connecting people around the world so that we can, in some way, affect all aspects of audiological care and practice, with the end point of helping consumers to get help for their hearing loss,” says Roeser, the Howard B. and Lois C. Wolf Professor for Pediatric Hearing. Talking about the network, Roeser added that “It’s a way of networking. If a person needs information from a country or a region in a country that is very hard to access, the person would have a contact person who could facilitate whatever need might exist.”

UT Dallas News Center indicated that a key part of GRAIN is its network of regional and subregional editors. These volunteer specialists operate as resource coordinators for people who have an interest in audiology in their region.