When I was first searching for an extern placement, I knew I wanted to be at a private practice. I had completed many clinical rotations in different settings, but something always pulled me back to private practice. I loved the ability to have time during the appointments to truly connect with patients and continually see them for their follow-up care. I love building relationships with patients and making sure they know that their hearing health is always the top priority. Whenever I was searching for private practices around St. Pete, Florida, Gardner Audiology came up immediately. I saw how many great reviews each location had and how the audiologists were truly making a difference and establishing relationships with each patient they met. Once I clicked on their website, I could tell that their main focus is on the patient, with the first line reading, “See an Audiology Doctor, not a Salesman.” That line drew me in right away as I had experience in other settings that were more sales-driven than patient-driven and I knew that was not the direction I wanted to take my career.
There was no initial application to be an extern for Gardner Audiology whenever I first was looking for an externship site, I took the initiative to submit a contact form on their website and inquired about the possibility of them taking on an extern for the 2023-2024 year. Flash forward to me receiving a phone call by our owner, Dan Gardner, who began to ask me about myself and what lead me to Gardner Audiology. I told him the same scenario I told above, patient-driven care and from the website, everything seemed to be so well managed. It was such a lovely phone call, and I kept my fingers-crossed that when the time came for an interview, I would be selected to be a part of their practice. Thankfully, I was selected and started my externship in June 2023 with Gardner Audiology.
Throughout my externship, I learned so much. I never realized how many insurances have 3rd parties that provide them with hearing aid benefits. At other practices I worked at during my clinical rotations while in school, many patients were either not told about their insurance benefit because the facility didn’t work with the 3rd party, or they were referred out to someone who did. It felt terrible to do that because you establish rapport with a patient just to tell them they must go somewhere else for the hearing aids and follow-up care. During my externship at Gardner Audiology, I was able to get comfortable with all the insurance companies and their 3rd parties to effectively communicate the hearing aid benefits to my patients. Having this knowledge and reoccurring training on the changes with insurance was such a vital aspect in preparing me for my career as an Audiologist. It’s important to be confident in what you are presenting to your patients and Gardner Audiology has helped me so much with that.
At Gardner Audiology, we also have an amazing team. All of us couldn’t be the providers we are to you as patients without our team’s support. We see a lot of patients throughout the day and my externship at Gardner Audiology helped me learn how to best manage my time with each patient, which was critical in preparing me for my career as a new Audiologist. The reason everything can flow seamlessly is because of the foundation that Gardner Audiology has built and its team approach. I am so excited to continue my career here at Gardner Audiology.
Call Gardner Audiology at 1-800-277-1182 if you want expert hearing care for one of it’s 10 locations in West Central Florida.
