Let’s hear about a career that’s in demand across Canada.
Marianne is an audiologist who works in Whitehorse. She works with the Government of Yukon’s Hearing Services clinic.
We asked Marianne about her career in the Yukon.
When did you first consider going into audiology?
I think audiology is very low on the radar in terms of allied health professions. In high school I was really into mathematics. I was also interested in languages. At first I thought I would become a mathematics teacher.
I switched my major to linguistics in my undergraduate degree. When I graduated, I applied to the UBC program of speech language pathology and audiology.
In the end, I chose to work in audiology because I was very interested in human hearing.
Also, like a lot of audiologists, I am a technology nerd! I love technology. Our profession offers a really unique opportunity to help people through the application of acoustics and technology.
What makes for a good day at work?
I think there are no bad days in audiology. We always have good days because we're always able to provide valuable service. I would say the best days are when the equipment's working fine and your patients are able to get in without much stress.
I always like being able to help people.
The interactions with the patients and also the team members here are what build a really good experience.
One thing I really like is being able to work with people of all ages. The youngest patients on my caseload are infants under the age of six months. And the oldest patients on my caseload right now are in their mid nineties.
What’s unique about working in the Yukon?
There are a few unique factors to working here. I used to work in British Columbia and when I compare, one difference is that we do every aspect of hearing services up here in the Yukon.
When the population base is much bigger, audiologists tend to be much more specialized. And so, in my previous role, I was only seeing children to age 19. Here I can work with all age ranges.
Here in the Yukon we also collaborate with the specialists who visit Whitehorse General Hospital. That means I get to see some really interesting medical scenarios.
Something else that’s unique is that we also serve the entire territory. We see folks from Whitehorse and I have also met folks from most communities, like Old Crow, Dawson City and Watson Lake.
It’s always really enjoyable to chat with people.
I will add that sometimes we provide support by phone as well. That could be troubleshooting over the phone to help somebody in Watson Lake figure out how to connect their hearing aids to their Bluetooth on their TV, or somebody in Dawson City who is very elderly and can't leave their home anymore for example.
While audiology is very hands-on and people do need to visit here in Whitehorse when possible, we still try to do remote care.
I would add that the Yukon is a fantastic place. My experience has been that I don't have a sense of isolation up here. There's strong community.
Would you have any advice for a young person considering this career?
I would say that with audiology, you will never get bored. It’s a good career if you like helping people and also technology.
Plus, the companies who supply our hearing aids for our patients are really wonderful to work with. I find that these companies really work hard to develop technologies and devices to help people. We have good collaboration with them.
I’d say audiology is a really rewarding profession, where you can see the impact that you make on the quality of people's lives. You feel very rewarded in that regard.
I would say when patients can come back and see me with new hearing aids and tell me they've been able to hear the birds or their boots crunching in the snow, something they haven't heard for a long time, that is very satisfying.