Doctor of Hearing Therapy

Mode of delivery: Blended learning ( mainly distance learning but with some essential face to face delivery)

Duration: Around 6 to 7 years part time (PgCert, PgDip and MSc will take approximately 1 academic year each, with the research phase to gain a PhD taking 3 to 4 years)

Entry requirements:

• We welcome applications from candidates interested in our course who have the skills and capability to excel. All candidates are considered on an individual basis based on their qualifications, experience, references and motivation.
  
• The Doctor of Hearing Therapy programme is aimed at practising audiologists, who will complete case records where required for taught module coursework, and will undertake a practice- based research project.
• Applicants must posses a good honours degree (minimum upper 2nd class) from a recognised university.
• We will also consider applicants with relevant professional experience on a case by case basis.
  
• International applicants will be considered on a case by case basis.
  
• Applicants whose first language is not English will be required to provide evidence of an English language qualification. English language test requirements may be waived where students’ undergraduate degree was studied in an English speaking country. Find out more about our English language requirements.
• The information contained on this website details the typical entry requirements for this course for the most commonly offered qualifications. Applicants with alternative qualifications may wish to enquire with the relevant admissions teams prior to application whether or not their qualifications are deemed acceptable. For less commonly encountered qualifications this will be judged on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the academic admissions tutor.
  

Start dates: 1 October 2018

How to apply:

• Apply here
  
• The application deadline is 31 August 2018.
  
• If you are applying close to the deadline, please ensure you have all supporting documentation ready for the application.

• Fees for UK/EU/International students: £1,100 per module / current indicative cost £8,400 full research project (£2,800 p.a)
• MSc Research Review (60 credits): Fee will be three times the 20 credit Module Fee, for the relevant academic year.
• Please note: In accordance with University policy, tuition fees may increase in future years of study.

• The Doctor of Hearing Therapy course can be broken in to four stages. You have the option of taking each of the four stages in order, or it is possible to exit the course at any of the stages, enabling you to be flexible with your level of commitment at the outset.

  You will attend Aston University campus for face to face teaching, which will also give you the opportunity to participate in group activities to meet fellow Doctor of Hearing Therapy students.

  It is also possible to take any of the following modules independently as they are offered as part of the School of Life and Health Sciences Continuing Professional Development portfolio.
  

  You have the option of taking each of the four stages of this course in order, or it is possible to exit the course at any of the stages, enabling you to be flexible with your level of commitment at the outset.
  

  Some modules are available as standalone modules, or as part of the Aston University School of Life & Health Sciences Flexible Credit Accumulation Framework.

  PgCert:
  

  • Hearing Therapy (20 credits, 5 days on campus delivery and online support): This module aims to equip you with the knowledge base to support provision of a service for patients with a wide range of hearing related problems. The module will enable you to develop and use a range of counselling and communication skills. This will enable people with hearing disorders to make informed choices about management options, and to appreciate the ways in which change and development can be sustained through effective helping relationships.

  • Tinnitus Management (20 credits, online delivery): This module will enable you to recognise what is needed to develop and deliver rehabilitative services for people with tinnitus, and related difficulties such as hyperacusis. It will enable you to develop a systematic understanding and critical awareness in managing patients or clients with tinnitus and / or hyperacusis.

  • Adult Rehabilitation (20 credits, online delivery): This module introduces the topics of acoustics & psychoacoustics, the function & disorders of the auditory system, audiological assessment, and management of hearing disorders in adults. It encourages students to engage with evidence-based decision making and to develop the higher thinking skills that are essential for practice as a healthcare scientist.

  PgDip:
  • Evidence Based Practice (20 credits, online delivery): This module aims to provide you with a theoretical and practical understanding of evidence-based practice in healthcare and its role in service improvement..
  • Health Behaviours (20 credits, online delivery): This module introduces you to concepts such as fixed health factors, personality, risk perceptions, physical activity, smoking, screening, binge-drinking, health behaviour change and theory-based health interventions to support patients in managing a range of health conditions.
  • Vestibular Rehabilitation (20 credits, online delivery): This module aims to provide you with a theoretical understanding of the basic principles and practice of vestibular assessment and rehabilitation. It also considers implications for service delivery. You are required to either have experience in vestibular assessment in clinical practice or undertake pre-requisite study in this area.
  MSc:

  Following the completion of the PgDip, if you wish to continue to the MSc / Doctor of Hearing Therapy levels, you will meet with course staff for a progression interview. During this interview you will discuss your preferences and establish which future route you will pursue. You may take Research Methods, Research Project I and then progress to the Doctor of Hearing Therapy, or you may take all three MSc modules listed below and exit the course with an MSc.

  • Research Methods (20 credits, on campus delivery and online delivery): The overall aim of this module is to ensure that the practitioner has the underpinning knowledge of the importance of research, development and innovation across the NHS and in healthcare science and in particular to provide the underpinning knowledge for the research project.
  • Research Project I (20 credits, on campus delivery and online delivery): The module aims to develop your skills in evaluating research, research design, analysis and interpretation. You will be encouraged to acquire an in-depth practical understanding of work that is at the forefront of research into healthcare science.
  • Research Project II (20 credits, on campus delivery and online delivery): You will complete a research project that shows originality, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in healthcare sciences. It will build on the learning from the second year research modules.
  Doctor of Hearing Therapy:

  You will undertake one of the following optional modules:

  • Qualitative Research Methodology (20 credits, online delivery): Qualitative research design, interviewing, focus groups, appraising qualitative research, reflexivity, discourse analysis, narrative analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis, grounded theory.
  • Quantitative Methods and Advanced Statistics (20 credits, online delivery): Experimental design, questionnaire design, systematic review methodology, univariate statistics; measures of association, measures of difference, GLM, multiple regression, logistic regression, meta-analysis, factor analysis, structural equation modelling.
    

  In addition to:

  • Research project & thesis: The personal research project is the core of Doctor of Hearing Therapy programme. You will be supervised by members of the Aston University Applied Health Research Group. You will develop your research proposal based upon your own clinical interests, or may opt to select a project nominated by an Aston academic. Because this is a distance-learning programme, the research is not normally carried out on the University campus, and so it is essential that you have access to the facilities and resources needed to carry out the research, usually in your place of work. You will s ubmit a thesis which is examined in a viva voce examination.