On February 1, graduate students from the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, all members of the Ohio State Student Academy of Audiology (SAA) Chapter, took to Capitol Hill to lobby on behalf of audiology issues.

Jessica Middaugh, a third-year year Doctor of Audiology (AuD) student from Zanesville, Ohio, organized and planned the trip.

“I believe that students need to recognize the importance of advocating for our profession,” said Middaugh. “The two main goals that I wanted for the students were to become more comfortable with speaking to legislators about issues related to audiology and to recognize the importance of advocacy early in their careers.”

Fifteen speech and hearing science graduate students traveled to Washington DC where they met with Krista Lambo, health legislative assistant to Ohio Senator Rob Portman, Val Molaison, health legislative aide to Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, and Donnica Hawes-Saunders, legislative assistant to Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty. The trip, which was funded by the students, allowed them an opportunity to advance audiology on a national level while providing education and advocacy -- all integral parts of SAA’s mission.

Middaugh decided to get involved in the world of politics after attending a national audiology conference last summer. There, she took part in a session to learn how to improve advocacy efforts at the national level and discovered that few professionals understand the importance of reaching out to legislators and the impact that state and national legislators have on the profession.

“I decided that if we start as students then maybe we can enhance the number of professionals who will advocate at the state and national levels for audiology as we begin to enter the field,” Middaugh stated.

Staff and consultants of the American Academy of Audiology accompanied the speech and hearing students on their visits to legislators’ offices. Melissa Sinden, senior director of government relations at the academy, praised the efforts of the Ohio State students as “impressive” and “inspiring.”

“The Ohio State group did a tremendous job of educating decision makers on Capitol Hill,” said Sinden. “I hope that other members of the academy will echo their exceptional efforts."

Jason Wigand, a Chicago native and third year audiology student, was among the group of students who traveled to Washington DC; this was Wigand’s first experience lobbying on the national level.

“The trip gave us the opportunity to learn about advocacy from practicing professionals and incorporate what they learned into educational points that could be conveyed to legislators unfamiliar with the audiology profession,” said Wigand. “It was an amazing opportunity to be able to lend student and future professional voices to critical advocacy efforts for audiology and to showcases Ohio State's program and students."

The students intend to make this an annual event and it’s expected to become a much-anticipated aspect of the department’s audiology student experience.

“The trip to Capitol Hill was a success because of the tremendous support and guidance we received from our faculty and from Christy Goodman, audiology clinical supervisor and the American Academy of Audiology government relations team,” Middaugh stated. "I hope that other SAA chapters will follow our lead and meet with their legislators and advocate for important issues that benefit both audiologists and patients with hearing loss.”

Wigand echoed Middaugh's sentiments: "Continued advocacy will always be a part of my life, fueled by my passion for audiology in order to serve the hearing-impaired population and families in particular, and for the benefit of the profession of audiology as a whole."