Fourth-year Au.D. candidates will complete an externship designed to extend and refine their clinical skills.  The extern will be under the supervision of a licensed and certified audiologist (the Preceptor) at a site external to the University of Louisville.  This will require the extern to relocate to another city in most cases. (Note: there may also be a limited number of opportunities to complete the externship in the city of Louisville).

The externship experience is intended to encompass general audiology practice.  The externship site should demonstrate the capacity to provide the desired clinical educational experience by providing documentation of staffing, depth and breadth of clinical experiences, physical environment and facilities, adequate resources, time for learning, complementary activities, supervisory controls and a willingness to participate in the evaluation of student competencies.

The extern is a "student-in-training" who receives supervision in compliance with professional, ethical and legal expectations.  The extern should not be licensed, either fully nor provisionally, to practice audiology independently.  The extern should not receive compensation as an employee.  The extern may receive stipends, traineeships, assistantships, tuition remission and/or grants commonly associated with student training.

The extern, with help from the University of Louisville faculty, will locate potential externship sites and preceptors during their third year of on-campus study.  The student, faculty and the preceptor will determine whether or not the site meets the needs of the student and external site.  Externships generally begin in May and end just before graduation the following year.

The extern is supervised and evaluated throughout the externship experience. The preceptor and a University of Louisville faculty liaison are in constant communication concerning the extern's progress.  Externs also communicate with their faculty liaison via telephone, e-mail and live group chats on the internet.  These encounters serve to guide and mentor the extern as they adjust to new clinical protocols and expectation of the externship site.

More detail guidelines about the 4th-Year Externship experience are available in the Practicum Regulations document distributed to all audiology students in the Au.D. program.

Externship Guidelines

Externship Sites

Click here for a partial list of the externship sites where current fourth years and recent alumni have completed their clinical training .

Current Externships 

UofL Audiology's Class of 2025 has accepted externships across various locations. 

Back row (left to right): Michele Carden, Erin Holcomb, Kaylee Skipper, Brianna Fields, Zach Mattingly

Middle row (left to right): Audie Gilchrist, Bailey LaPaugh, Carrie Nuss, Emily Shupe, Caitlin Greer

Front row (left to right): Yana Estes, Emily Cullum, Annie Fields, Keeler Pansing