Student Profile: Kim Moïse
Kim Moïse is a third-year audiology graduate student in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
Q: Tell us about your summer practicum.
I am a third-year audiology graduate student in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Audiology students partake in a clinical rotation every semester, including summers, first on-campus and then transition to off-campus placements. In our fourth year, we work full-time for a year before graduating and becoming Doctors of Audiology.
This summer my clinical rotation was for the Trinidad and Tobago Association for the Hearing Impaired. It’s a nonprofit organization founded by parents of children who are D/deaf or hard of hearing, and adults and professionals interested in hearing loss. The clinic, the Diagnostic, Research, Educational and Therapeutic Centre for the Hearing Impaired (DRETCHI) is where I spent the majority of my 2 months in Trinidad.
DRETCHI is unique because it is the only place that offers audiology-related services in the two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Just like there is a growing need for audiologists here in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America are experiencing that same need. Currently, two audiologists serve both islands which have a combined population of 1.5 million residents. During my time there, my supervisor was the illustrious Dr. Amanda Piper, AuD, who’s a native of Trinidad and Tobago. She completed her college studies here in the United States before returning to work in Trinidad and Tobago.
I worked in the busy clinic four times a week. Most of my time in the clinic was spent performing audiological evaluations for adults and children. However, we also preformed hearing aid fittings and worked with cochlear implant patients. Cochlear implant patients get implanted out of the country and then get the implants activated and mapped by Dr. Piper in Trinidad. We also conducted a handful of natural sleep auditory brainstem responses on babies.
Q: What was it like learning in a different country?
Just like here in the United States, I believe your preceptors and the team you work with play a huge role in shaping your experience. The learning environment wasn’t that different from what I’ve experienced here in the Northeast. A large part of the clinic’s work involves dispensing free hearing aids and providing diagnostics. Under Dr. Piper’s guidance, I gained more confidence in my testing skills, programming, and, most importantly, counseling patients as they navigated hearing loss and planned their next steps for treatment or management.
I also learned a lot from other members of the association, including patients. Many of the staff at DRETCHI are culturally Deaf, so I picked up new signs from them. They also showed me how to take an ear impression and turn it into an earmold in their lab, a process audiologists usually outsource to hearing aid companies. Dr. Piper and another staff member, Mr. Lewis, introduced me to local foods and drinks. Aside from the all of the wonderful staff at DRETCHI, the patients were amazing. I was able to learn about their lives and culture, they gave me life advice and I even learned new, local phrases. I could go on about the incredible people I met, both in and out of the clinic. Spending over two months abroad, not knowing anyone, was daunting at first, but the patients and staff made Trinidad feel like home. If given the chance, I'd love to return to DRETCHI.
Q: Is audiology care much different in other countries?
The biggest difference I noticed at DRETCHI was how streamlined everything is, especially for a place that’s not a major hospital. This efficiency is likely driven by necessity, challenges like shipping delays, and limited transportation, especially for patients from Tobago. Despite these hurdles, DRETCHI has a pediatric screener, a social worker, a lab for earmolds, a hearing aid department, a technician, and a volunteer ENT who visits monthly. They also have American Sign Language interpreters and staff trained to perform hearing screenings in rural communities.
Being in a smaller nation and a non-profit, there are logistical and cultural differences compared to the U.S. But the standard of care? It’s still audiology. What I witnessed at DRETCHI was a collaborative team committed to the association’s mission.
There’s often a stigma about healthcare standards outside the U.S., but we can’t impose our American culture and viewpoints on other countries, each country is different. What matters more than the specifics of equipment or testing methods is that the care is evidence-based, providers use their clinical judgment, and patients receive high-quality care.
Q: How did the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences department prepare you for your practicum?
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention and thank Dr. Emily Bambacus, AuD, our clinical coordinator, for working diligently to get me approved for my trip to Trinidad. She got it done through my nagging and constant questions. So, thank you Emily!
My course sequence and prior clinical placements I had up until that point helped tremendously. I was confident in my skills and I felt like I could bring them anywhere and I would be useful.
Q: Why did you choose to come to UMass?
I’ve been at UMass since 2018. I got my undergraduate degree here and knew I wanted to continue my education. UMass was the only program in the state which offered a Doctorate of Audiology. I also had built connections with faculty, was familiar with the campus, and appreciated the education that I had received on the undergraduate level so UMass just made the most sense to me.
Q: What do you plan to do in the future after graduating from UMass?
Ideally, I’ll be working as a licensed audiologist, though I haven’t decided where yet. I’m passionate about serving multilingual populations, and low-income communities, and doing outreach to encourage more Black, Latino, and first-generation American students to pursue higher education. Wherever that path leads is where I’ll be.