Subject: Petition to save the BSc in Audiology in the UK From: Stefan Bleeck <bleeck@xxxxxxxx> Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:41:37 +0000 List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>Please ignore if you are not living or working in the UK. The existence of the BSc course in Audiology in the UK is under discussion. These courses at various universities are internationally recognised and lead to an excellent patient care of hearing impaired people in the UK. Because of its structure and the interconnections, it is also of immense importance to the wider auditory research community in the UK, because a number of researchers are directly or indirectly funded by these courses and quite a few graduates end up in auditory research positions all over the country (hi there :) Apparently the government worries that the quality of teaching and research in the UK is too good, so it wants to abolish it, with far reaching consequences to patients and the hearing research in the UK. To avoid this, a petition has been created to make the government aware of these issues (Apparently there is a worrying lack of communication and consideration) Check out: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Audiology-BSc We need at least 500 signatures of people that are registered in the UK to be officially registered. The petition was created by Philip Holt and reads: "Under the proposed Modernising Scientific Careers programme, led by the Department of Health's Chief Scientific Officer, the current dedicated BSc in Audiology is to be abolished. It will be replaced with a generic healthcare science degree, with some specialisation in audiology. We do not believe that this can provide the necessary level of knowledge and skills to enable graduates to safely practice in the fields of rehabilitative and diagnostic audiology. The curriculum for the new courses, yet to be published by the Department of Health, has not involved consultation with Audiology professionals. We believe that curricula for vocational degrees should be developed by professionals and educators in the field, rather than by the Department of Health." We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to protect patients and the public by ensuring that the education and training of graduate audiologists recognises the need for greater specialisation in Audiology rather than more generic healthcare science." --- Dr. Stefan Bleeck Senior Lecturer Institute of Sound and Vibration Research University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK Room 4093, Tizard building (13) Tel.: 02380 596682 email: bleeck@xxxxxxxx