Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Cleveland Clinic Section of Audiology offers a 52-week externship experience that begins mid-May, commencing with a half-week orientation and onboarding process. Pending funding, a small stipend is awarded and disbursed to the extern by their academic institution. Externs will complete four to five rotations and gain experience with various clinical services at the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus and several of the Family Health Center (satellite clinics) locations. This multi-site externship program offers not only a wealth of clinical experiences: it also provides exposure to diverse patient populations, opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary clinics, and collaboration with multiple preceptors over the course of the year.

Clinical practicum experiences will include:

Adult and pediatric audiologic behavioral assessment Adult and pediatric audiologic management, including hearing aid services and assistive listening/FM technologies; Adult and pediatric hearing implant services, including cochlear implants and osseointegrated implants Electrophysiology across the lifespan in clinic and the OR, including newborn diagnostics (ABR, ASSR, DPOAEs), electrocochleography, VEMPs, NRT/I, and potentially exposure to intraoperative monitoring; Vestibular assessment (videonystagmography, rotational chair, head impulse testing, functional measures) and vestibular therapy; Auditory based therapy Tinnitus management Ototoxicity monitoring Clinical and surgical observations with neurotology Participation in multidisciplinary clinics and shared medical appointments Externs prepare an Evidence-Based Project in the spring. They also participate in training meetings on Thursday mornings. Constructive feedback will be provided to the extern frequently throughout each rotation, as determined by the preceptor and extern. An informal evaluation occurs mid-rotation with a written formative evaluation conducted at the end of each clinical rotation. Externs are provided with personal time off in addition to six national holidays.

Application Process:

We are participating in the Audiology Clinical Education Network and adhering to proposed timeline: Application Process The academic institution must make the initial contact. All correspondence will be between Dr. Tamara Francini (francit2@ccf.org) and the clinical placement coordinator at the academic institution. Once the academic program has agreed to our requirements, students should submit a cover letter describing ideal externship experience, resume, and three letters of recommendation by September 16, 2026. The application will be reviewed, and the student will be notified of interview invitation. We are holding interviews on Saturday September 26, 2026. The interview will be offered in person at the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic or virtually. Acceptance of applications to the externship program is conditional upon the agreement of the academic institution to the externship program requirements outlined in this document. Please address any questions or concerns to externship program senior audiologist, Tamara Francini, AuD (francit2@ccf.org). The academic institution must agree to the following terms: Pending funding, Cleveland Clinic provides a small stipend to audiology externs. The stipend must be paid to the academic institution and cannot be paid directly to the extern by Cleveland Clinic. The academic institution will be responsible for disbursing the stipend to the extern. There will be a fee for establishing the Clinical Affiliation Agreement between the academic institution and Cleveland Clinic; payment of this fee will be the academic institution's responsibility. The fee is currently $500.00 and is subject to change without notice. A fee of $50.00 will be incurred for each extern to cover the cost of onboarding. Payment of this $50.00 fee must be made by the academic institution by the end of the first semester of the externship (December 2027). Externs will not be invoiced by the Clinic for this fee as the fee is the responsibility of the academic institution. This is non-negotiable. The extern must maintain general liability and professional liability insurance in the amounts of not less than

ONE MILLION DOLLARS

($1,000,000) per occurrence and

THREE MILLION DOLLARS

($3,000,000) in the annual aggregate.

Externship Information:

Primary Practice Setting:

Multi-specialty medical center Number of Audiologists at the site: 2 FTE Masters Degree 40 FTE Au.

D. 3 FTE

Ph.

D. 0 FTE

Other Doctorate (ScD) 4 FTE professional support staff (technicians/audiometric assistants) 2 FTE Clerical Support Staff Number of Audiology Students each year: 0 1st year AuD Clinical Rotations 0 2nd year 4 3rd year 6 4th year Externships Financial arrangements: Stipend Will interview travel be compensated?

No Vacation Days:

7 Continuing education opportunities? Yes Thursday morning meetings and participation in training events

Start Date:

5/17/2027 Expected hours/days a week: 45 Travel to satellite centers required? Yes 10-25 miles Local students preferred: No Does the externship site provide orientation to relevant clinical policies and procedures? Yes Does the externship site provide instructions about patient's rights and providing patient education? Yes Does the externship site provide orientation to quality assessment, quality assurance and quality improvement? Yes Externship site expects the extern to have mastered these skills before they begin their clinical externship: Demonstrate knowledge and skills in diagnostic audiology (behavioral hearing testing). Demonstrate knowledge and skills with hearing aid evaluation, orientation and troubleshooting. Externship site expects the extern to learn/demonstrate these skills during their clinical externship: The externship experience is considered pre-professional year to provide students with the requisite skills for ongoing learning after the completion of formal education and clinical training. Pre-professionals will demonstrate independence in adult and pediatric audiological assessment, hearing aid fitting and follow-up for adults and pediatrics, vestibular diagnostics, electrophysiology, implantable evaluation, fitting and follow-up. Clinical opportunities that will be given to the extern: Rarely Hearing Screenings Regularly Pediatric evaluations: infant/toddler Regularly Pediatric evaluations: school-age Regularly Adult hearing evaluations Regularly Tympanometry Regularly Acoustic Reflexes Never Auditory processing evaluations Rarely Hearing Screenings Regularly Evoked potential assessments Rarely Intra-operative monitoring cases Regularly Otoacoustic emissions Rarely Industrial/hearing conservation Regularly Vestibular assessments Regularly Vestibular rehabilitation Regularly Hearing aids dispensed Regularly Hearing aid selection/fitting Regularly Audiologic rehabilitation (group or individualized) Regularly Cochlear implant evaluations Regularly Cochlear implant rehabilitation Rarely Tinnitus assessments Rarely Tinnitus rehabilitation Rarely Cerumen management Research opportunities? Yes Externs interested in research can initiate involvement in research Consortium or collaborative arrangements with other sites? Yes We are part of the Northeast Ohio Au.

D. Consortium (NOAC) and conduct a first round of interviews with only NOAC students How frequently will the externship site communicate with the university during the externship? As Needed Communication or other support do expected or required from the university during the externship: Feedback on evaluations and due dates

Application Deadline:

9/16/2026

Application Requirements:

Letters of Recommendation Resume Letter of request/intent A cover letter describing ideal externship experience Resume/CV Three letters of recommendation Steps for the student/university to follow in the application process: Application Process The academic institution must make the initial contact. All correspondence will be between Dr. Tamara Francini (francit2@ccf.org) and the clinical placement coordinator at the academic institution. Once the academic program has agreed to our requirements, students should submit a cover letter describing ideal externship experience, resume, and three letters of recommendation by September 16, 2026. The application will be reviewed, and the student will be notified of interview invitation. We are holding interviews on Saturday September 26, 2026. The interview will be offered in person at the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic or virtually. Acceptance of applications to the externship program is conditional upon the agreement of the academic institution to the externship program requirements outlined in this document. Please address any questions or concerns to externship program senior audiologist, Tamara Francini, AuD (francit2@ccf.org). The academic institution must agree to the following terms: Pending funding, Cleveland Clinic provides a small stipend to audiology externs. The stipend must be paid to the academic institution and cannot be paid directly to the extern by Cleveland Clinic. The academic institution will be responsible for disbursing the stipend to the extern. There will be a fee for establishing the Clinical Affiliation Agreement between the academic institution and Cleveland Clinic; payment of this fee will be the academic institution's responsibility. The fee is currently $500.00 and is subject to change without notice. A fee of $50.00 will be incurred for each extern to cover the cost of onboarding. Payment of this $50.00 fee must be made by the academic institution by the end of the first semester of the externship (December 2027). Externs will not be invoiced by the Clinic for this fee as the fee is the responsibility of the academic institution. This is non-negotiable. The extern must maintain general liability and professional liability insurance in the amounts of not less than

ONE MILLION DOLLARS

($1,000,000) per occurrence and

THREE MILLION DOLLARS

($3,000,000) in the annual aggregate.

Contact Person:

(preceptor, supervisor or extern coordinator) Tamara Francini, AuD - francit2@ccf.org Are all externs supervised?

Yes Application Process:

We are participating in the Audiology Clinical Education Network and adhering to proposed timeline: Application Process The academic institution must make the initial contact. All correspondence will be between Dr. Tamara Francini (francit2@ccf.org) and the clinical placement coordinator at the academic institution. Once the academic program has agreed to our requirements, students should submit a cover letter describing ideal externship experience, resume, and three letters of recommendation by September 16, 2026. The application will be reviewed, and the student will be notified of interview invitation. We are holding interviews on Saturday September 26, 2026. The interview will be offered in person at the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic or virtually. Acceptance of applications to the externship program is conditional upon the agreement of the academic institution to the externship program requirements outlined in this document. Please address any questions or concerns to externship program senior audiologist, Tamara Francini, AuD (francit2@ccf.org). The academic institution must agree to the following terms: Pending funding, Cleveland Clinic provides a small stipend to audiology externs. The stipend must be paid to the academic institution and cannot be paid directly to the extern by Cleveland Clinic. The academic institution will be responsible for disbursing the stipend to the extern. There will be a fee for establishing the Clinical Affiliation Agreement between the academic institution and Cleveland Clinic; payment of this fee will be the academic institution's responsibility. The fee is currently $500.00 and is subject to change without notice. A fee of $50.00 will be incurred for each extern to cover the cost of onboarding. Payment of this $50.00 fee must be made by the academic institution by the end of the first semester of the externship (December 2027). Externs will not be invoiced by the Clinic for this fee as the fee is the responsibility of the academic institution. This is non-negotiable. The extern must maintain general liability and professional liability insurance in the amounts of not less than

ONE MILLION DOLLARS

($1,000,000) per occurrence and

THREE MILLION DOLLARS

($3,000,000) in the annual aggregate.