Department of Audiology

Hello friends, I am Lecturer Eyyüp Kara from Istanbul University- Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Audiology. I have been a faculty member in the Department of Audiology since 2011. I have completed my master's degree studies at Gazi University and doctorate at Istanbul University. I am still attending undergraduate, graduate and doctorate courses in the Audiology Department. Our department has been accepting undergraduate students since 2011, and graduate and doctoral students since 2012. We have around 400 undergraduate and 30 graduate students in the department. The Department of Audiology is actually a field of science that was established to diagnose, treat and rehabilitate the hearing and balance diseases. The first establishment in our country dates back to the 1960s. Undergraduate education began being provided in 2011 as a part of Istanbul University Faculty of Health Sciences. Afterwards, operations continued in Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Health Sciences. The aim of our department is to conduct researches in this field for the diagnosis and rehabilitation of hearing and balance diseases, and to train specialists for diagnosis and rehabilitation studies. Primarily, in the first two years at the undergraduate level, there are courses in the field of fundamental sciences, Anatomy, Physiology, Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Anatomy Physiology, Basic Acoustic Physics, Basic Physics, Basic Instrumentation Knowledge, Knowledge of Diseases, basic introductory courses of hearing and balance diseases. Our field-oriented courses in the third and fourth grade are more focused on our field. In particular, we have courses for the diagnosis and treatment of individuals with hearing loss or individuals with balance disorders. In the fourth grade, our students have the opportunity to practice on patients in the clinic we are currently in, after taking courses on advanced diagnosis and treatment of basic hearing and balance related diseases. Our clinic is located in Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine Campus. It provides a great advantage for our students to practice on patients after learning the clinical practices. Our laboratory is currently located in Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine Campus. We have a unit in our department to perform hearing tests on pediatric patients. We have laboratories that we use for the diagnosis and rehabilitation for the hearing and balance problems of adult patients. We have units and test sections for newborn hearing screening, and school age hearing screening. In addition, various applications and rehabilitation necessities of our patients after undergoing hearing aid and cochlear implant surgeries are also carried out within the departments of our clinic. Instead of a graduate thesis, there is a project assignment or a graduation project. We use such a method so our students can learn more about research and scientific techniques by producing research projects in various fields in their final year. There is an internship requirement. One-month internships are compulsory in the second and third year summer terms. Our department participates in domestic and international student exchange programs. We can realize domestic student exchanges with Farabi and Mevlana. We are included in the Erasmus Plus Student Exchange Program. If our students would like to, we are currently able to exchange students with the Audiology Department of the Belgium Ghent University.
Our department holds the "Traditional Istanbul Audiology Scientific Research and Project Development Congress", held for the fourth time in January this year. This congress was held nationally for three years straight, and then turned into an international event this year. Participants came from close to 20 countries. The first international meeting held by our department was the "European Audiologists Association Congress" in 2015. We have held 4 national and 1 international congress since 2016. Our traditional congress is held every year in May. Graduates from our department can work in public or private hospitals. In the private sector, they can work in companies that sell cochlear implants and audiological diagnostic equipment. If they want to pursue a career in the field of Rehabilitative Audiology, they can also find work in hearing-speech rehabilitation centers. In the first years, our students may have a hard time with the fundamental science courses such as Anatomy-Physiology, Ear, Nose and Throat Anatomy, and Otorhinolaryngology diseases. In general, we maintain our operations, courses in the clinic and get direct support from our professors, and we also provide support for learning and skill development by observing the practices in our laboratories in the hospital. My most important advice to candidates who will choose our department is as follows. Our department, like many other health sciences departments, is a department that has direct patient contact. We welcome friends who are comfortable with direct patient contact and direct contact with people and trust their skills in this field. Since we have patients from all age groups, from newborn babies to geriatric groups, that is, individuals over the age of 65, if they do not want to contact too many people in social terms, some procedures in our department may make them uncomfortable a little. If they have reservations about direct contact with the patient population, they may have some difficulty in our department. Individuals who want to help people and be in touch with people can easily choose this department. All patient groups, from infants to the elderly population, can be helped and treated. Our university has dormitory and accommodation facilities for students coming from outside of Istanbul. In addition, there are orientation programs for our students so they can organize their lives in Istanbul and to continue living in the city more easily. They can join these. When students coming from outside of the city have orientation problems, they are directed to the relevant units or guidance research units and these problems are tried to be eliminated. All of the theoretical and applied courses of our department are carried out in Istanbul University - Cerrahpaşa, Faculty of Medicine Campus. The intertwining of clinical practice and theoretical courses in the field of health sciences provides a great advantage for our students. We are one of the few universities that can provide this advantage. The fact that both the theoretical courses and the practical applications in the laboratories involving the units in the department are carried out in the Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Faculty of Medicine Campus allows our students to turn theory into practice instantly and apply what they’ve learned on the patient. I would like to welcome all fellow students who will join us. I wish you success in your academic and professional pursuits.