Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a medium-sized, independent university dedicated to challenging its faculty and students alike to seek new knowledge and greater understanding of an ever-changing, multicultural world. The University is counted among the world’s leaders in teaching and research, and draws students and faculty to St. Louis from all 50 states, and over 80 nations. With approximately 15,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, Washington University offers more than 90 programs and nearly 1500 classes in a broad spectrum of traditional and interdisciplinary majors.
Founded as Eliot Seminary in 1853 by St. Louisans, Washington University is highly regarded for its commitment to excellence in learning. Its programs, administration, facilities, resources, and activities combine to further its mission of teaching, research, and service to society. The University has played an integral role in the history and continuing growth of St. Louis, and benefits in turn from the wide array of social, cultural, and recreational opportunities offered by the metropolitan area to its residents.
More information about Washington University in St. Louis can be found at www.wustl.edu.
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is committed to advancing human health throughout the world. As noted leaders in patient care, research and education, its outstanding faculty has contributed many discoveries and innovations to science and medicine since the School’s founding in 1891. Located on the Washington University Medical Center campus, it is one of seven schools of Washington University.
Patient care
The School of Medicine’s clinical practice, Washington University Physicians, includes more than 1,000 clinical faculty members who serve as the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Its clinicians also treat patients at dozens of office locations in the St. Louis region and at these BJC facilities: Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital, Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital, Christian Hospital, Missouri Baptist Medical Center and Progress West Hospital. The Best Doctor List highlights the nation’s top medical experts, as chosen by their peers. Of the 1267 physicians in the St. Louis region for 2016, one out of every three Best Doctors in St. Louis is a Washington University Physician.
Research
The School of Medicine is a robust research enterprise and received more than $548 million in research gifts and grants during the 2016 fiscal year. Its faculty, staff and students are committed to advancing the application of research discoveries to clinical care through multidisciplinary collaborations such as BioMed 21. Its clinical faculty additionally oversee a wide array of clinical trials, which offer people the opportunity to participate in studies evaluating the effectiveness of investigational treatments and disease prevention strategies.
Education
Students have the opportunity to learn from master clinicians and researchers while pursuing their studies in a wide array of academic departments and programs. The MD program, as well as the programs in occupational therapy, audiology and communication sciences, and physical therapy, are among the highest ranked and most highly-regarded in the nation. Faculty members are actively engaged in the local, regional and global community. Their efforts to improve human health range from studying and remedying disparities in health care, to educating local populations on disease risk, to affecting change in public health policy. Multidisciplinary efforts, such as those coordinated through the Institute for Public Health, are leading efforts to positively impact human health.
Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences
The Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (PACS) offers graduate education programs leading to the following degrees through the Washington University School of Medicine.
- Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.)
- Master of Science in Deaf Education (M.S.D.E.)
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Speech and Hearing Sciences
A Minor in Speech and Hearing Sciences is also offered cooperatively with the Washington University College of Arts & Sciences.
Mission Statements
Washington University Mission
Washington University’s mission is to discover and disseminate knowledge, and protect the freedom of inquiry through research, teaching, and learning. Washington University creates an environment to encourage and support an ethos of wide-ranging exploration. Washington University’s faculty and staff strive to enhance the lives and livelihoods of students, the people of the greater St. Louis community, the country, and the world.
Our goals are:
- to welcome students, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds to create an inclusive community that is welcoming, nurturing, and intellectually rigorous;
- to foster excellence in our teaching, research, scholarship, and service;
- to prepare students with attitudes, skills, and habits of lifelong learning and leadership thereby enabling them to be productive members of a global society; and
- to be an institution that excels by its accomplishments in our home community, St. Louis, as well as in the nation and the world.
To this end we intend:
- to judge ourselves by the most exacting standards;
- to attract people of great ability from diverse backgrounds;
- to encourage faculty and students to be bold, independent, and creative thinkers;
- to provide an exemplary, respectful, and responsive environment for living, teaching, learning, and working for present and future generations; and
- to focus on meaningful measurable results for all of our endeavors.
School of Medicine Mission and Vision
Link to School of Medicine Mission and Vision Statements
Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (PACS) Mission
The mission of the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (PACS) is to serve as a center of excellence in audiology, deaf education, and speech and hearing sciences. This will be accomplished by:
- delivering exemplary educational programs;
- fostering a community of support; and
- maintaining high expectations for professionalism, leadership, and service.
Curriculum Design and Framework
Program curricula emphasize the importance of knowledge and practice in the areas of science, research, and clinical practice to the understanding of the fields of audiology, deaf education, and speech and hearing sciences. Copies of curricula by program and year can be found on the WUSTL Box site.
Audiology
The Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) Program is a four-year course of study, with all students following a prescribed curriculum. Students gradually progress from classroom-based instruction to clinical practicum in audiology, culminating in an independent clinical externship experience. The first-year classes provide the foundation of information needed for practice. Students gain knowledge in the basic and applied sciences, basic evaluation and diagnosis practices, critical review of the literature, and intervention strategies. Students begin clinical observation and practicum in audiology and are introduced to researchers/laboratories. The second- and third-year classes provide advanced training in hearing science, evaluation and diagnosis practices, counseling techniques, research methods, and clinical practicum. Students also complete the Capstone Project by the end of the third year. The fourth year provides students with the clinical externship experience.
Deaf Education
The Master of Science in Deaf Education (M.S.D.E.) Program offers one- and two-year courses of study. Students in the two-year program follow a prescribed curriculum and gradually progress from classroom-based instruction to independent practice teaching experiences. The first-year classes provide the foundation of information needed for practice. Students gain knowledge in the basic and applied sciences, curriculum, instructional methods, sign language, and research methods, and complete classroom observation experiences. The second-year classes provide advanced training in evaluation techniques, intervention strategies, counseling techniques, and research methods, along with immersive practice teaching experiences. Students also complete the Independent Study in their second year. The one-year program is designed for experienced teachers of the deaf, and the curriculum for this program is individually tailored to meet the individual needs of the students enrolled.
Speech and Hearing Sciences
Students in the Speech and Hearing Sciences (Ph.D.) Program spend approximately three years completing academic coursework requirements and one to two years completing a dissertation. Coursework builds upon the student’s basic knowledge of aspects of the fields that pertain to speech, language, and hearing and emphasizes research training and Mentored Teaching Experience (MTE) at an advanced level.
History of the Program
The consortium of graduate-education, research and clinical programs known today as CID at Washington University School of Medicine was born out of the pioneering efforts of St. Louis physician Max Goldstein, MD. In 1914, he founded the Central Institute for the Deaf (CID), where doctors and teachers worked together to help people who were deaf. When CID’s school building opened two years later, its auditory/oral methods for instructing children who were deaf or hard of hearing were groundbreaking.
Washington University and CID first joined forces in 1931, when CID’s established teacher training program became the first deaf education undergraduate program to affiliate with a university. Graduate programs in deaf education, audiology, and speech and hearing sciences soon followed.
CID’s research efforts began in the 1930s to study the anatomy and science of hearing. During World War II, CID’s research on hearing loss in military personnel laid the foundation for the field of audiology. CID also pioneered hearing testing and hearing aids and opened the country’s first hearing aid clinic in 1941.
In September 2003, a new affiliation transferred CID’s graduate degree programs, research programs and adult audiology clinic, along with its building, to Washington University School of Medicine. The CID school continues to operate on the School of Medicine campus as CID – Central Institute for the Deaf.
Today, these programs continue to work together to fulfill a shared mission to serve people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Program Accreditation
The Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) Program is fully accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and provides all necessary academic and clinical experiences required for the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology (CCC-A).
The two-year Master of Science in Deaf Education (M.S.D.E.) Program is fully accredited by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Council on Education of the Deaf (CED). Graduates of the two-year program are eligible for recommendation for initial teacher certification in the State of Missouri (Deaf/Hearing Impaired, Birth-12th grade) and by CED.