#10: Hearing Loss with Joshua Sevier, AuD, LLM

In this episode, we're lucky to have Josh Sevier, an audiologist who delves into his personal journey from being a trauma medic to an audiologist and shares valuable insights on hearing loss, its diagnosis, treatment options, and its broader health impacts. He shares about the evaluation process, recommendations for hearing aids, cochlear implants, and tips for communication strategies. We're proud that this episode was written by Nihar Rama, a current medical student at University of Chicago, with show notes written by Kylie McElheran, a medical student from Oregon Health and Science University. Check out the show notes here! & check out cool graphic design by medical student Jai Daniels from University of Chicago on our instagram! Suscribe, like and follow - you know what to do! Host Bio: Dr. Josh Sevier is an audiologist and clinical program manager of the cochlear implant program at UChicago Medicine. His clinical interests are research, objective measures, cognition, and training in cochlear implants, which he teaches about at multiple universities and publishes in numerous peer-reviewed journals. He's been involved with advocacy and legislation on a state and national level, including the Government Relations Committee for the American Academy of Audiology, Executive Board for the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission. He is the current President of the Illinois Academy of Audiology.  Guest Host Bio: Nihar is a third-year medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and a Cincinnati native. He is interested in pursuing a career in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. Outside of medicine, Nihar loves staying active, playing and discovering music, and working on his comedic timing. Writer: Nihar Rama, BS Co-Producers: Nihar Rama, BS, Patty Lee, MD, Samantha Ing, MD Primary editor: Patty Lee, MD Graphic designer: Jai Daniels, BA   Timestamps: 1:20 Introductions 2:38 Josh's journey to becoming an audiologist 4:32 Signs that someone might have hearing loss 7:15 Social impacts of hearing loss in geriatric patients 8:41 Referrals to audiology and types of hearing loss 10:52 Audiology evaluation details 13:50 ENT vs. Audiology 15:07 Case of Liz Senning, communication strategies/tips for families 16:47 Hearing Aids (commitment, costs, insurance coverage) 21:22 OTC Hearing Aids 24:28 Cochlear implants 27:42 Case 2 (90 y/o patient with severe vascular dementia and hearing loss) 29:34 Recommendations for patients adjusting to hearing aids   We are grateful to the University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division Office of Diversity and Inclusion for support.