Yesterday, Trey Gorman, BC-HIS, and I were officially sworn in at the Georgia State Capitol to serve as the two hearing aid dispenser representatives on Georgia’s newly restructured State Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensing.
It was an important day for our profession, but I want to share a little more about what this change means to me—because I did not begin this process automatically convinced that combining these professions under one board was going to be the best direction for Georgia.
I Had Questions About the Change
When the restructuring was first proposed, I had legitimate concerns.
Hearing Instrument Specialists have a distinct profession, a distinct scope of practice, and an important responsibility to the people we serve. I wanted to understand whether our profession would continue to have a meaningful voice and whether bringing Hearing Instrument Specialists, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists together under one board would truly improve hearing healthcare for Georgians.
Rather than simply deciding how I felt about it, I started asking questions.
I reached out to industry leaders through the International Hearing Society and spoke with Hearing Instrument Specialists who already serve on combined licensing boards in several other states.
I wanted to hear from people who had actually experienced this type of structure—not simply what someone thought it might look like on paper.
What I Heard Changed My Perspective
What I learned was encouraging.
Again and again, I heard that bringing these professions together at the same table could create better communication, stronger professional relationships, and more informed decision-making.
Several Hearing Instrument Specialists serving on combined boards told me something particularly important: working directly alongside audiologists and other hearing healthcare professionals did not necessarily diminish the voice of the Hearing Instrument Specialist.
In many cases, it strengthened understanding of our profession.
When colleagues have the opportunity to hear directly from one another, ask questions, discuss differences, and understand the experience each profession brings to patient care, decisions can be made with a much broader perspective.
And ultimately, consumers can benefit from that.
Our First Meeting Confirmed What I Had Been Hearing
What Trey and I experienced during our first meeting in Georgia was very much in line with what colleagues in other states had described to me.
Our new board colleagues from audiology and speech-language pathology gave us a genuinely warm welcome.
More importantly, there was an immediate willingness to hear our perspectives and understand the experience that Hearing Instrument Specialists bring to the table.
Trey and I were not treated as outsiders joining someone else’s board. We were welcomed as colleagues.
That was important to me.
The new board brings Hearing Instrument Specialists, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists into one regulatory structure while preserving two dedicated positions for Georgia-licensed hearing aid dispensers.
We are different professions. We have different educational backgrounds, different experiences, and sometimes different perspectives.
I no longer see those differences as something this structure necessarily has to overcome.
I believe they may become one of its greatest strengths.
Different Perspectives, One Table
When professionals with different backgrounds can sit at the same table, respectfully challenge one another, learn from one another, and share their experience, we have an opportunity to make better decisions.
The goal does not have to be for every profession to think exactly alike.
The goal should be to make sure the right voices are in the room when decisions are being made about hearing and communication healthcare in Georgia.
Hearing Instrument Specialists bring years of direct experience evaluating hearing, fitting and programming hearing aids, counseling patients and families, and helping people live successfully with hearing loss.
Audiologists bring their own extensive clinical and educational perspective.
Speech-language pathologists bring another important perspective on communication and the people we collectively serve.
There is value in having all of those perspectives represented.
An Opportunity to Help Shape the Rules
Trey and I were both assigned to the Rules Committee, an assignment I accepted as an honor and a significant responsibility.
Rules are where legislation and professional standards often become the practical requirements that affect licensees, professionals, businesses, and ultimately consumers.
Having Hearing Instrument Specialists directly involved in those discussions gives our profession an opportunity to contribute its practical experience while also hearing the perspectives of our colleagues.
That is exactly the type of collaboration I had hoped could emerge from this new structure.
Looking Forward
I began this process with real questions about whether merging these boards was the right path forward.
I believe it was appropriate to have those questions.
But I also believe that when we receive new information and learn from people who have already traveled the road ahead of us, we should be willing to reconsider our assumptions.
After speaking with Hearing Instrument Specialists and industry leaders around the country—and now after sitting at the same table with the professionals who will serve alongside Trey and me here in Georgia—I am genuinely excited about what this board can become.
There will undoubtedly be difficult issues and different opinions along the way.
That is part of responsible professional oversight.
But if Hearing Instrument Specialists, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists continue listening to one another and sharing their different experiences while keeping the people of Georgia at the center of our decisions, I believe this new structure has the potential to be very good for hearing and communication healthcare in our state.
I am honored to represent Georgia’s Hearing Instrument Specialists alongside Trey Gorman, and I am looking forward to the work ahead.
— Gwen Cantrell, BC-HIS
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