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Kraena Pre-Health
Career Library

Therapy & Rehab

Audiologist (AuD)

Diagnoses and treats hearing and balance disorders — a doctorate with unusually civilised hours.

Years after high school

8

Degree

AuD (clinical doctorate)

Entrance exam

GRE at many programs

Median pay

$95,780 national median for audiologists (BLS, May 2025).

What the job is actually like

Hearing evaluations, fitting and programming hearing aids and cochlear implants, balance testing, and counselling patients and families about hearing loss. Much of the satisfaction is watching someone hear a grandchild clearly for the first time in years.

The path

  1. 014 years undergraduate, often communication sciences or biology
  2. 02GRE at many programs
  3. 034 year Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program including clinical placements
  4. 04Praxis examination and state licensure

Good fit if

  • You want doctoral-level expertise with predictable weekday hours
  • You like technology and precise measurement
  • You want visible, measurable improvement in patients

Think twice if

  • A four-year doctorate for a narrow scope would frustrate you
  • You did not expect device sales and fitting to be a real part of the job
  • You want broad specialty options later

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All salary figures here are median annual wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 — the most recent full national dataset. 'Median' means half of workers earn more and half earn less. Three things to keep in mind: (1) pay varies enormously by state, city, setting, and experience — a nurse in California and a nurse in rural Alabama earn very different salaries; (2) training lengths are typical, not guaranteed, and programs differ; (3) these numbers change every year. Always verify current figures at bls.gov/ooh before making a decision. For context, the BLS median wage for all U.S. occupations was $50,980, while healthcare practitioner and technical occupations had a median of $86,530 — one of the reasons health care is such a stable field.