EUHA Congress 2023: afh informs about further education and career opportunities

From October 18-20, 2023 the international EUHA Congress took place in Nuremberg for the 67th time. Participants of this most important event of our branch, had the opportunity to visit numerous events, workshops and an industrial fair. An afh team was on site and offered information about the diverse further qualification and education opportunities available at the Luebeck Campus of Hearing Acoustics, and the career prospects these create. Another highlight was the lecture of Germany’s only hearing-impaired head physician, Dr. med. Veronika Wolter.  At the invitation of the Bundesinnung der Hörakustiker, she gave a very impressive and personal account of her personal journey and stressed the importance of hearing acousticians and paediatric acousticians for the care of children and adults with hearing defects.

During the 3-day EUHA congress, the branch exchanged information on innovations and current developments. How to attract and qualify new recruits, was one of the main topics.

During the Nuremberg meeting, the afh team used conversations with apprentices and well-attended talks to highlight the excellent career chances, which arise with a continued education to obtain a Master Craftsman/woman certificate or other advanced training programs.  The Luebeck Hearing Acoustics Campus with its state-of-the art equipment, offers the best learning environment and a comprehensive course program, which is complemented by the International Summer Academy for participants from all over the world.

The advantages of additional qualifications, such as a specialization on tinnitus care,  the aftercare for CI patients or  children in paediatric acoustics, were presented: You augment your knowledge in order to provide the best possible care for patients of all ages and with different hearing problems and needs and hence promote access to different groups of patients.

The importance of paediatric acousticians was also specifically mentioned by Dr. Veronika Wolter in her inspiring lecture during the biha members‘assembly held on Thursday. The head physician at the Helios Hörklinik Munich speaks from her personal experience, as she has fallen ill with meningitis at the age of nine years, which first led to a moderate, then later in life to an almost complete loss of her hearing. Thanks to a Cochlea Implant, the mother of two children regained her hearing.

Today, Dr. Veronika Wolter counts among the most renowned experts for artificial hearing prosthesis. Not only is she Germany’s first head physician with a hearing defect, but so far also the only deaf head ENT specialist worldwide. Her emotional and very personal lecture was one of the highlights of this year’s congress program.