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Dr. Don W. Worthington received his B.S. and his M.S. from Utah State University and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. His initial work in audiology was in private practice. He later served as an audiologist in the United States Army where he was stationed at Walter Reed General Hospital. He served as the first non medical Director of the Army Audiology and Speech Center, and as Audiology Consultant to the Army Surgeon General. During his time in the Army he helped increase the number of Audiology positions from 6 to 63. He went to Boys Town National Research Hospital in 1975 as Director of Audiology and Speech Pathology. Dr. Worthington has served as, President of the American Auditory Society, a Panel member and Consultant for the Ear Nose and Throat Devices Panel of the Food and Drug Administration, Consultant to the Veteran Administration Hearing Aid Program, a member of the Board of Representatives of the American Academy of Audiology, a Legislative Counselor to the American Speech Language Hearing Association, and on numerous other committees both within the state and nationally. He has made numerous presentations in the areas of pediatric audiology, site of lesion evaluation, auditory evoked potentials and vestibular evaluation and treatment.. In 1993 He moved to Salt Lake City where he has built a nationally recognized Center for Hearing and Balance Disorders. He has been author and co author of a number of publications. He is currently Director of the IHC Hearing and Balance Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has been the recipient of a number of honors and awards. What got you started in the field? My grandmother who was a very outgoing individual (on city council, active in everything in the community), suffered a sudden bilateral hearing loss. This was devastating to her, she could no longer understand what was being said in meetings or in social gatherings. She became a social recluse. She purchased a hearing aid that was one of the old body aids about twice to three times the size of the present aids. The response could not be modified to fit her hearing loss and it just about drove her crazy, so she would not wear it. I was in college at the time and was majoring in Elementary Education and Secondary Education (Biological Science) at Utah State University. One day I walked over to the Speech Pathology and Audiology Department to see if anyone could tell me anything about any new advances in hearing that I might be able to take advantage of for my Grandmother. While there, I found that they offered a class that would fill one of the groups that I needed, so I signed up for the class. However at that time they only offered a degree in Speech Pathology. After taking the class, I applied for a fellowship to do a masters in Speech Pathology. Since I did not have the back ground, it was a two year masters. At the end of the first year, they established a masters in Audiology, so I took every class they had and got a masters degree in Speech Pathology and a masters degree in Audiology. I learned enough to be able to help my grandmother get appropriate amplification. I then went on to Northwestern University for my doctorate. What is your favorite thing about your job? My favorite thing about my job is the satisfaction of seeing patients improve in either their balance or in their ability to hear. | 