October is Audiology Awareness Month so we spoke with Dr. David Tolstyka about why he chose audiology. His professional journey is an interesting one, so you do not want to miss it. We also discussed a typical day for an audiologist, and he also gives some great advice for any future audiologists out there.
Shelby:
Welcome to the Texas ENT audio blog. I'm Shelby Stockton. October is Audiology Awareness Month. So I spoke with Dr. David Tolstyka about why he chose audiology. His professional journey is an interesting one, so you do not want to miss it. We also discussed a typical day for an audiologist, and he also gives some great advice for any future audiologists out there.
Shelby:
Dr. Tolstyka, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to talk with me today.
Dr. Tolstyka:
Of course, a pleasure to be here.
Shelby:
Well, I don't know if you're aware, but October is Audiology Awareness Month. So this is a perfect time to talk to an Audiologist, like yourself. And my first question is, why did you choose to go into audiology?
Dr. Tolstyka:
Well, I have a bit of a kind of unique introduction to the field. I grew up. I had completely normal hearing. And then on my 15th birthday, I got very, very sick. And over the course of about three months, I went from completely normal hearing to profound bilateral deafness. Subsequently, I was implanted with cochlear implants first on the right side, and then a year later on the left side. And even through all that, I actually didn't know I wanted to be an Audiologist, at first.
Dr. Tolstyka:
I did my undergrad at Texas A&M University, where I spent the first two years trying to become a nuclear engineer. Before realizing that engineering was not quite the playing with Legos that it was made out to be in high school. After I did a little bit of self-assessment, I talked with some of my previous audiologists, as well as some of the physicians that I had worked with kind of throughout losing my hearing. And I thought that audiology would be a great combination of patient care mixed with technology and kind of really bringing people into the future, so to speak. Whether it's through hearing aids, implants, management of those devices and I really just fell in love with the technological and medical side of things and how it all intertwined and mixed.
Shelby:
It's so interesting someone who is not a doctor and is a patient sometimes. If my doctor was dealing with what I'm dealing with, I would feel like he or she was so empathetic towards me. And that must be comforting for your patients.
Dr. Tolstyka:
I do believe that that is the case with a lot of my patients as well. I'm asked all the time, "Hey, what are those things on your head?" Or "Are those cochlear implants? Dr. Chang was telling me about them." And I think it really allows me to better connect with those patients. Because not only can I empathize with being in that patient chair, being in the test booth, trying to figure out how can I hear, what can I do better. But I can actually understand what their perspective is because I've been there before. I know exactly where they're at, and I think it really helps me to build a good relationship with them and counsel them in a way that is understandable and meaningful.
Shelby:
Definitely. So what's a typical day like for you or an audiologist?
Dr. Tolstyka:
Well, if you're very much a night owl like me, you wake up as late as you possibly can to make it in the clinic with enough time, obviously to prep for your first couple of patients. I try my best to look over every patient's chart, just to see, have they been here before? What were their issues previously? As well as to kind of update myself on, what should I expect with each appointment. At least in my current role where I'm primarily doing diagnostics, it does depend a little bit on the day. But oftentimes I'm doing a lot of different hearing evaluations and we see a variety of different patients with a lot of different complex medical needs, including their hearing loss. So it definitely can be a little bit of a challenge day in and day out.
Dr. Tolstyka:
I also just with my current role, I try to specialize in electrophysiology and vestibular diagnostics. I'm actually part of the Texas ENT specialist team that does [inaudible]. Which is really kind of gratifying to be somewhat young in my career and able to work with kind of the most complex patients that we have. Because oftentimes when patients are dizzy, they're scared and it's really nice to be able to try to give them some answers and some insight and help our physicians really treat those patients. But once the day ends, I go home and I try to keep fit. Try to do everything I can to just be able to make a difference the next day.
Shelby:
What are some symptoms that people should be aware of, or indicators that they should probably go see an audiologist?
Dr. Tolstyka:
So there's a variety of different things. Some of my professors called it "mumble syndrome", which is where when patients start to notice that it sounds like people around them are mumbling. That often isn't the case, it's often that they're just not hearing certain pitches as they were when they were younger. And that can be a bit of a problem because, well, it tells us something is going on within the auditory system that's not allowing you to hear as you once did.
Dr. Tolstyka:
The other thing that is usually kind of a big red flag for any audiologist, at least is whenever someone comes in and says, "Yeah, I'm having this ringing and buzzing cricket type noise that's in one of my ears or both of my ears." And that is called tinnitus. And what that is is essentially a phantom sensation in some cases, or in some cases an actual physical sensation within the ear that leads to kind of that sound perception. And anytime that we have something like that, well, tinnitus itself is a symptom. It is something where there's usually an underlying problem that needs to be solved. Whether it's hearing loss or even something more severe, like a tumor in the brain, like an acoustic neuroma. Really anytime that someone is having a problem with their ear, we always want you to see an audiologist as well as an ENT. And that way we can make sure that whatever that problem is with your ear, it's not either affecting your hearing, affecting your balance, and then looking into the medical indications of exactly what's going on with our ENT physician counterparts.
Shelby:
I see. That's so interesting. What would you say to someone who's afraid to come in and get their hearing tested? Because they're just afraid of what the [crosstalk]
Dr. Tolstyka:
Well, it's not a scary thing at all. You to get to interact with kind people that really try their best to understand the situation that you're in like myself. And the testing itself can be a little bit scary because we do put people into essentially a sound treated room. But we never deal with needles. We never deal with anything that's going to poke or hurt you all that much, at least on the audiology side. And it just allows us to have a conversation with those patients. And that's the main thing is just the patient will get out of any appointment what they put into it.
Dr. Tolstyka:
So if they are truly opening up about their concerns with their hearing loss and they're willing to accept professional help or to get professional feedback on what they can be doing better, then those patients will be much more successful, much more happy. And for those patients that do have those fears, well, it's important that we meet them where they're at. We don't just assume that they're ready to come to exactly where we want them to be. Because oftentimes people are scared. They're worried. They don't want to have to have hearing aids. They don't want anyone to have to tell them that, now is the time that we start protecting your ears.
Dr. Tolstyka:
And I think that as time goes on, there's a little bit less of a stigma with hearing assistive technologies, like hearing aids and cochlear implants. But that stigma is still there. And I really think that the best way for us to help those patients is to just increase the awareness that we are not trying to be bad guys here, just by telling you, "You have hearing loss. You need hearing aids." We do it because there's a medical reason for those things. And I think that just by sitting down, taking the time to actually talk with these patients one on one to figure out what their concerns are, it really can help to assuage those fears. And in some cases that might mean that we have to pull their hand more than just hold it.
Shelby:
Got it. Right. Right. And knowledge is power. Right?
Dr. Tolstyka:
Absolutely. My job really is just to educate patients on all the things out there and to help them really understand these factors so they can make the best decisions for their own health.
Shelby:
Right. Right. On an ending note, what advice would you give to anybody who's interested in becoming an audiologist?
Dr. Tolstyka:
Just as anyone who wants to go into medical school, into a PA program, into PT school, into optometry, so on and so forth, shadow, shadow, shadow. And the thing that I say about that is that audiology is a very unique field, in that we treat patients from birth all the way onto their deathbed. And we are seeing them at their best and at their worst, just like so many of my healthcare counterparts. Within audiology, especially though I do think it takes kind of a certain aptitude for technology in today's world, in addition to that desire to be at the forefront of patient care. And that's just because technology is constantly changing. I have to learn thing new each and every day, just to stay on top of what is the latest and greatest with hearing aids, with cochlear implants, with bone anchored devices, things like that.
Dr. Tolstyka:
And I think that by shadowing a lot during either your undergrad or even in high school, in some cases it really can help to just ensure that you know a little bit more about all of that technology. What you're getting into, and how the field is constantly adapting and evolving to meet those new challenges. And to really further the field with helping patients through those technological means.
Dr. Tolstyka:
The other thing that I think is important for audiologists to know is that it is a doctorate. It is hard. It is a challenging field to go into, as with any program that requires grad school. But the rewards of it are there. It is incredibly gratifying to do what I do and to get to help people hear their family, their friends, their children, their grandchildren, when they hadn't been able to do that for years at a time.
Shelby:
Well, that's great. Thank you so much. Thanks for educating us during Audiology Awareness Month.
Dr. Tolstyka:
No problem. It was a pleasure to be here.
