Pay & Benefits Audiology

[Shelley Duncan]

In response to all this talk about CFY's being underpaid... I do think it 
is really too bad that some people are perpetuating the attitude that if 
you are a CFY you _should_ be underpaid.  I don't mean to imply that I 
feel I _deserve_ a high paying job when I graduate in May... but I DO know 
that I have to live, and pay off my student loans... and I have put in a 
lot of time and hard work (yes, CLINICAL work) to get where I am.  I know 
that my classmates would say the same about themselves, as would friends in other audiology 
grad programs.   I really feel that if you have quality outplacement 
experiences and make the most of your time in your university clinic, that 
should give you a remarkably good knowledge base that should make you 
worth more than "minimum wage".  I would never go as far to say that I am 
as good of an audiologist right now as someone who has actually been "out 
there" for any period of time... but I think that the majority of us that 
come out of grad programs right now should have confidence in our 
ability to APPLY what we have learned and grow professionally.  Which in 
turn means that we should have enough confidence in our abilities that we 
don't sell ourselves short.  Maybe if "new" audiologists would have more 
faith in their ability to learn on the job, and convey this to employers, 
this debate about what to pay a CFY would not have to take place.  In 
other words... in order to have respect, you must prove yourself worthy 
of it... and then expect to be treated with such.