By LCDR Kelly Paul, USN
Congratulations to LTjg Mari Schulz and LTjg Karen Strickland who have been selected for Lieutenant!
Fair winds and following seas!
At the ASHA Convention in San Antonio, Ms. Janet Sells, of Naval Hospital Audiology/Hearing Conservation, Newport, RI, won the 1997 ASHA Editor's Award for the article of highest merit in the American Journal of Audiology: A Journal of Clinical Practice on "Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease (AIED): A Tutorial". Note: The AJA is now on-line and is only offered in hard copy at the end of the year, when all articles for the year are printed.
Dr.'s Lynne Marshall (Audiologist) and Laurie Heller (research Psychologist) of Naval Submarine Med. Research Lab in Groton, CT, authored two papers on "Otoacoustic Emissions and Temporary Threshold Shifts" and "Otoacoustic Emissions and Permanent Threshold Shifts", which were presented in Sydney, Australia, on 24 Nov 98 at the International Noise Congress.
LCDR Keith Wolgemuth, of Navy Medical Center, Occupational Audiology Dept, San Diego was awarded a grant to do a study on Genetic Pre-disposition to Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, funded by NIH. Team members for the study include, Dr. Wolgemuth (Navy Audiologist), Dr. Lynne Marshall (Navy Audiologist), LTC Rick Kopke (Army Physician), and LCDR Mike Hoffer (Navy Physician).
The Navy Audiologists would like to give a special thanks to CDR Kathy Hartmann for all the effort and hard work she invested toward the success of our profession as Navy Audiology Specialty Leader. Some of her major accomplishments include:
We appreciate all that CDR Hartmann has done on our behalf and all the personal assistance she has given to each of us as Specialty Leader. We will miss your mentorship and the regular communications with you. Enjoy your new position and keep in touch with all of us!
Mr. John Page is finishing up changes to the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Instruction for Hearing Conservation. This updated Instruction will have more general information on Hearing Conservation and the specifics of the program will be spelled out in a Navy Environmental Health Center Technical Manual. The Technical Manual should be complete by the first of the year.
Mr. Tom Hutchinson will be finishing up his Master's Degree in Health Care Administration in May 1999!!
National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, now has two clinical rotation positions for Audiology See Navy graduate students. Students come from Gallaudet, James Madison and University of Maryland.
Ms. Tammy George of Naval Hospital, Camp Lejeune, NC, recently began dispensing programmable hearing aids. Camp Lejeune will have its first Audiology student intern from East Carolina University beginning in January 1999.
LCDR Kelly Paul and LT Joel Bealer are making final changes to the proposed new Navy Audiometric Technician Training Package. The Navy Audiology Senior Leadership Team and the Navy Environmental Health Center will then make final recommendations and approval of the standardized training. The entire training package will be available on CD-ROM.
Due to the downsizing of Naval Hospital, Charleston, SC, the Audiology Clinic there is working more closely with patients from Charleston Air Force Base. Ms. Foley recently began dispensing hearing aids through the RACHAP Program.
Navy Audiology would like to extend a special thanks to LT Joel Bealer for all the hard work he has done as the Navy Functional Manager for the Joint Services Hearing Conservation Program with the new DOHRS-HC program/systems. Joel has gone above and beyond in communicating with the different commands regarding deployment of the new systems, giving personal attention to each site to ensure a smooth transition. His expertise and teamwork is also very much appreciated among the staff at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Thanks Joel!!!
By CDR Linda D. Simpson
Here in Alaska in the past year we have seen a unique partnership develop involving members of the Therapist (Audiology) category and other health care providers in various federal and state agencies. What follows is a brief report of two such examples of cooperation, in which officers promoted goodwill in offering their time and expertise outside their normal workplace.
1. The Alaska Federal Health Care Partnership Agreement was set up in 1997 to facilitate the sharing of resources and personnel between the Indian Health Service (IHS), the Veteran's Administration (VA), and the military branches. Under the auspices of this agreement, CDR Linda Simpson, an audiologist based at the Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) helped develop an operating agreement between ANMC and a local military facility, Elmendorf Air Force Base (EAFB). When the base lost its staff audiologist for a few months last fall, IHS audiologists were able to step in and provide audiology coverage of ENT clinics held at EAFB as well as see some Air Force beneficiaries at ANMC. All told, approximately 25 military personnel and/or their dependents received audiology care, including several who received specialized procedures such as auditory brainstem response (ABR) and electronystagmography (ENG) testing. Not only did the agreement allow for timely access to services, but it also provided for reimbursement for the audiologists' time, with generated revenues earmarked for the ANMC audiology department. Even after EAFB regained its audiology position, the partnership has continued on in the form of mutual sharing of expertise in such areas as otoacoustic emissions, ABR and noise control measures.
2. On another front, LCDR Larry Otwell, ANMC audiologist, volunteered to participate in Operation Beach Master, a joint mission involving the ANMC, the Alaska National Guard, the US Coast Guard, the US Army, the Army National Guard, and the US Air Force. The team of 20 health care providers offered comprehensive clinical services to residents of St. Paul and St. George in the Pribilof Islands, some 250 miles offshore in the middle of the Bering Sea. While the notorious Bering Sea weather forced the cancellation of the visit to St. George, the 750 residents of St. Paul were the beneficiaries of a full week of clinical services, ranging from dental and eye care to psychological counseling, family preventive medicine services and audiological evaluations. By week's end, approximately 450 patient encounters were registered, and many more residents received important health information from a series of radio interviews and inservices. The villagers were particularly pleased to receive the first on-site audiology service in nearly 10 years, and several elders with hearing aids received long-overdue amplification device check-ups. In appreciation of the Operation Beach Master participants, the island residents held a special luncheon complete with traditional native foods (seal meat and fish), accompanied by traditional songs. Strong interest was generated in having another audiology clinic in the near future, and there was talk of arranging for annual visits to both St. Paul and St. George.
The next Indian Health Service Audiology Meeting will be held in Phoenix, AZ on March 17-19, 1999. The conference will be held at the Phoenix Area Office. For more information, contact Pat Clees at (602) 263-1514.