Kingsbridge Hearing Care would like to welcome our new Audiologist Lynsey Hunter to the team. To find out a bit more about Lynsey we have compiled a fun Q&A.
Lynsey, give us a brief outline of your career to date
I began my career in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, they advertised for a student Audiologist as I was about to start my clinical placement year at University. I’ll never forget the day I got the phone call to say I’d been successful, I was so excited and couldn’t wait to get started. Normally, after a clinical placement year, students would go back to University to complete their final year of studies, however, as I was an employee of the trust this meant as well as completing my finals, I was also working full time at the hospital. It was tough, I worked at the hospital during the day and studied in the evenings and weekends. Looking back now, I don’t know how I did it! I was very fortunate to have fantastic mentors at work and a great support system at home.
I had been working in the Northern Trust for 7 years when a job opportunity came up in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust. It was a difficult decision leaving my first job, I had learned so much and had established great working relationships with the Audiology and ENT teams, but I was eager to learn and develop additional skills. I spent the next 8 years working in the Southern Trust, I applied for every training opportunity available and gradually increased my knowledge in neonatal and paediatric hearing assessment and rehabilitation, tinnitus and balance.
In 2018 I wanted a new challenge, so I made the decision to leave the NHS and enter the private sector. This gave me the opportunity to utilise the clinical skills and experience I had developed over the past 14 years with the additional benefit of having access the newest hearing aid technology available. There have been lots of advances in hearing assessment and rehabilitation since the start of my career and I am now enjoying the opportunity to be at the forefront of both.
What was your favourite subject at school?
I always enjoyed Art, it wasn’t as formal as other classes, the radio was always on in the background and we were allowed to chat as we worked, I really loved doing clay sculpture.
Did you go on to further/higher education, if so where did you study and where?
After I completed my A levels I went to University of Ulster at Jordanstown to study BSc Clinical Physiology and then specialised in Audiology.
How did you get into your area of work?
I wanted to go into healthcare, but I wasn’t sure what area I wanted to specialise in. Our school took us to a careers fair at University of Ulster in Jordanstown and that’s where I found out about Audiology.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
I spent the first 18 years of my life not knowing what I wanted to do then 10 minutes into my first Audiology lecture I was hooked!
What does a typical day entail?
One of the advantages of me branching into different specialisms within Audiology is that no two days are the same. I could be performing earwax removal, hearing assessments, consulting on complex cases and working with Ear Nose & Throat colleagues one day then fitting hearing aids, setting up assistive listening devices, assessing for hearing protection and doing 3D ear scans the next.
What are the best and most challenging aspects of the job?
Part of my job involves me working together with individual patients to figure out the best solution for their hearing needs. For me, one of the most rewarding parts of being an Audiologist is observing the transformation in these patients. Many people with hearing loss can become withdrawn and isolated; being able to see first-hand someone who has given up socialising and going out with friends regain their confidence and enjoying pastimes and hobbies again is very fulfilling. I am now in a position where I have access to world leading technology and I want to get it to the people who need it.
I find the most challenging aspect of being an Audiologist is trying to address longstanding misconceptions about hearing loss and hearing aids. People tend to assume hearing loss is only an age-related event, yet there are 4.4 million people in the UK with hearing loss who are of working age. Unfortunately, for some, there is still a stigma attached to wearing hearing aids, currently only 40% of people who could benefit from hearing aids use them. One of my goals is to provide better awareness of hearing health and promote advancements in hearing aid technology, for instance as well as various styles and colours, hearing aids are now also available as rechargeable, have Bluetooth connectivity and streaming options, they can be controlled by apps, we even have hearing aids that fit deep into the ear canal and can be worn for up to 12 weeks at a time.
(*Stats from hearinglink.org)
What advice would you give anyone looking to follow a similar career path?
Contact your local Audiology Clinic and ask if you can visit and shadow an Audiologist for a couple of days, I’ve done this for school students many times during my career. I think it gives much more insight into the job than reading about it in a university prospectus.
If you weren’t doing this what would you like to do?
I’ve always been a big animal lover, I would be a volunteer at an animal rescue shelter
What is the one piece of advice you would give yourself on your first day?
Relax, no one expects you to know everything on your first day.
Describe your ideal day off
Meeting up with friends for a coffee and a catch up then going for dinner too because we spent so long talking
Pizza or Chinese?
Oh I love a good Chinese
Tipple or teetotal?
I enjoy a mojito now and then as a treat
Gym or swim?
Swim
Cinema or theatre?
Cinema
Car or bus?
Car
Shopping centre or city centre?
The city centre has more of a vibe about it and more shops to choose from
Crisps or nuts?
Crisps, yum!
Summer or winter?
Definitely summer, I hate being cold