Fourth-year AuD Student Elizabeth Grossman’s Path of Sound and Service
Growing up in a musical family, fourth-year Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) student Elizabeth Grossman always had an interest in the way sound shapes our world. As a student at Washington University in St. Louis, she pursued a major in Philosophy, Neuroscience, and Psychology and minored in both Music and Speech and Hearing Sciences. Her varied coursework and interest in the health care field reflected her keen interest in communication disorders, but she was not initially planning on a path in audiology. But while she was learning about the science of hearing in the classroom, a family member who had spent decades around loud music in a professional setting began experiencing significant hearing loss. Elizabeth watched him navigate the process of seeing an audiologist, undergoing testing, and eventually being fitted with hearing aids.
“I was getting the very academic textbook, lecture version of the field, and then at the same time, I was able to see the real impact of that type of care,” she said. “Seeing how much of a difference it really made in [my family member’s] everyday life really drew me to want to do more, learn more, and eventually make this my career.”
When it came time to apply to graduate school, Elizabeth looked for a program combining academic rigor and clinical immersion. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine offered both. As someone without a traditional communication sciences background, she appreciated the welcoming, versatile nature of the program and how tailored the academic experience could be to her interests. That flexibility became even more important when her academic path unexpectedly shifted. After completing her first year, Elizabeth became seriously ill and had to take a medical leave. When she returned, she joined the class below her original cohort but found just as much support, connection, and momentum.
“That was not the way that I had planned for my studies to go,” she said. “That being said, it worked out amazingly. I got to meet another class of wonderful peers and learn from all of them while still keeping in touch with the older cohort.”
She also received significant support from the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences Vice-Chair of Graduate Studies, Dr. Todd Ricketts, and her advisor, Assistant Professor Dr. Richard Roberts. With their help, Elizabeth spent time during her medical leave working at Vanderbilt’s Green Hills audiology clinic as part of their audiology extender program. This experience provided her the chance to develop her skills and knowledge outside the typical student schedule and ensured she was ready to hit the ground running when she returned to the program.
Once back in the classroom, Elizabeth began developing her capstone project, an important part of the Au.D. curriculum at Vanderbilt. With support from her capstone advisor, Associate Professor Dr. Erin Picou, she chose to focus on the growing and timely topic of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. Through this project, Elizabeth explored the use of a simple, speech-based screening tool known as the Digit Triplet Test as a tool to determine whether it could be used by individuals to determine if they were appropriate candidates for an OTC device, particularly as these devices are legally limited in the level of amplification they can provide.
“My hope is that it’s something that can be used for people who find that seeing an in-person provider is a barrier to care,” she explained. “We want to see if it’s an efficacious tool and potentially a right step in the direction for someone who’s considering hearing aids or getting their hearing looked at more in-depth.”
Elizabeth’s project highlighted a question that drives much of her work: how do we broaden access to hearing care? That question would follow her far beyond the clinic and classroom; in fact, it would take her nearly 5,000 miles away to Krakow, Poland. Alongside classmate Aspen Bombardo, Elizabeth traveled to Krakow in 2023 to provide audiology care to Ukrainian refugees as part of a larger humanitarian audiology trip. Alongside a team of audiologists, professors, and student peers, Elizabeth and the team developed creative ways to treat patients with limited equipment.
“It was really meaningful to go somewhere where the healthcare system, political situation, and environment is different, and be able to provide care to people across situational and language barriers,” she said. “It was an amazing experience to be able to give back, of course, but also as a student to see how humanitarian audiology works.”
In her fourth year, Elizabeth continued her support of vulnerable populations during her externship with the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Washington, a placement she was inspired to apply to based on her powerful experience working at the Nashville VA Medical Center. Rotating between clinics in Seattle and Tacoma, Elizabeth has taken part in a number of unique learning experiences, including collaborating with Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) providers, performing vestibular evaluations, and witnessing cochlear implant surgery.
During her externship, she also helped lead an interprofessional seminar for VA externs, residents, and fellows across different clinical fields, presenting on the role of audiology in patient care. It was a moment that she says truly brought her training full circle.
“It really brought me back to being at Vanderbilt because we do so much presenting,” she said. “We do case conferences and give our capstone presentations and having that under my belt really made giving this presentation and representing audiology feel very natural and helped it to hopefully come across in a way that was easily understandable.”
From continuing her musical interests by performing with the Nashville Symphony Chorus at Carnegie Hall in New York City to working at VUMC as a newborn hearing screener, Elizabeth says she feels extremely grateful for her myriad of experiences over the past four years in Nashville. Reflecting on her time here, she advises future students to make the most of theirs.
“Take advantage of every opportunity you have at Vanderbilt, in graduate school, and in this program,” she said. “We have great opportunities for research, volunteering, and mentorship. No matter your interests, there’s a place for it here. I will carry those foundational experiences with me as I go forward.”
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