Audiology student awards presented to class of 2016 graduates
Posted: August 9, 2016
The ATSU Department of Audiology presented two awards at a graduation dinner held on August 5.
Bernadette Smith, AuD, ’16, was awarded the Professional Leadership Award for the Transitional Audiology program by Les Schmeltz, AuD, associate professor, Department of Audiology.
Dr. Smith has lived in Taiwan, on the island of Saipan, on the Navajo Reservation in Tuba City, Arizona, Guadalajara, Mexico, and did a clinical fellowship in Alaska. In addition, Dr. Smith was a registered nurse for 12 years prior to pursuing a career in audiology. She now works as an educational audiologist serving a diverse population from birth to 22 years old and has implemented an Academic Monitoring Program to track the academic progress of all the students in her district with hearing loss regardless of education status.
Sandy Yu, ’16, AuD, was presented with the Outstanding Student in Audiology Award for an entry level Doctor of Audiology graduate.
Zarin Mehta, PhD, associate professor, Department of Audiology, presented Dr. Yu with the award. In her speech, she stated that Dr. Yu has “consistently and uniformly performed at an exceptionally high level.” As a student, she routinely received accolades from clinical preceptors, and went above and beyond the call of duty.
“Dr. Yu demonstrates an exceptional understanding of the struggles encountered by the patients we serve and this fuels her quiet passion to provide valuable services to those with hearing loss,” said Dr. Mehta. “I was able to experience up close her abilities, generosity, warmth, and humility when she worked as my teaching assistant.”
From left: Elton Bordenave, Andrea Ruotolo, Tricia Dabrowski, Les Schmeltz, Bernadette Smith, Tabitha Parent-Buck, Henry Trahan, Zarin Mehta