Clinical Audiology diploma graduates with officials at the ceremony.
DOHA: Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Audiology and Balance Unit will launch two new study programmes this year.
Rare specialities — Diploma in Auditory Verbal Therapy and Diploma in Vestibular Rehabilitation — will be introduced, said Dr Khalid Abdul Hadi, Head of the unit.
“We are also in the process of expanding the unit as a special centre for cochlear implant [a procedure that involves pre- and post-surgical implantation of an electronic device that creates sense of sound for the deaf or those who severely hard of hearing] and vestibular rehabilitation [a form of therapy to improve balance and inner ear performances] with state-of-the-art facilities,” Dr Hadi said at the fourth graduation ceremony of the Diploma in Clinical Audiology programme.
Of 20 students who enrolled in the programme, 15 local and expat staff of HMC and healthcare professionals from other Gulf countries, including eight Palestinian students sponsored by Qatar Red Crescent, were recognised at the ceremony.
The one-year programme in clinical audiology offered in Qatar is part of the Qatari-Canadian initiative, established in 2009 in collaboration between HMC and the International Continuing Health Education Collaborative, a programme of Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto, Canada.
The initiative aims at bringing Canadian expertise to train Qatar-based audiologists to address the need for hearing healthcare in the country and equip graduates with the appropriate theoretical knowledge and clinical skills to recognise hearing loss early on in a child’s life.
Dr Sivakaran, Programme Director from the University of Toronto, said, “There are over 300 million people around the world with hearing loss.
“Globally, there is a significant shortage of health workers trained in hearing screening and rehabilitation.”
The Peninsula
