Presenters: 
J. Riley DeBacker, AuD, PhD 
Aaron M. Roman, AuD

CEUs: 0.1 AAA/Tier 1 CEUs

Duration: 60 minutes

Instructional Level: Beginner

Program Focus: Knowledge 

Description:
 
A diverse professional workforce has been shown to add additional perspectives, promote growth in a profession, and improve access to and quality of care. Recruiting and retaining diverse students is an essential part of creating a more diverse workforce and supportive academic and clinical learning environments are essential to these efforts. This session will introduce original research on supporting sexual and gender minority (SGM) audiology students alongside best practices suggested in other fields. Guided group discussions will be used to identify strategies for implementing these practices in audiology programs and clinical placements to support students.

Learning Outcomes: 

1. Describe current clinical and didactic outcomes for audiology students, including how they vary across demographic groups.
2. Apply knowledge from other disciplines and participants’ own experiences to support diverse students in their environment.
3. Analyze clinical and classroom situations that present opportunities for bystander intervention and demonstrate ways to support students in these situations.

J. Riley DeBacker, AuD, PhD 

Riley DeBacker is a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Audiologist at the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research (NCRAR) in Portland, OR. His research focuses on the ototoxic effects of drugs used in the management of cancer and HIV. Dr. DeBacker serves as the subcommittee chair for Research and Scientific Posters for the AAA 2023 conference and as a member of the AAA Guidelines and Strategic Documents Committee. He has previously published and presented on creating LGBTQ+ inclusive audiology clinics and is a founder of Queer Empowerment for Audiologists, Researchers, and Students (QuEARS).

Aaron M. Roman, AuD

Dr. Aaron Roman received his B.A, M.A., and Doctor of Audiology degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. He has clinical expertise in hearing loss assessment, hearing aids, and evaluation and treatment of auditory processing disorder. His research endeavors primarily assess the efficiacy and utilization of newborn hearing screening programs. He additionally researches models of education within audiology and related fields His work has been disseminated through peer reviewed publication, as well as national and international presentations. Dr. Roman’s primary teaching responsibilities include courses on speech and hearing sciences, psychoacoustics, and auditory processing disorders.