Let’s Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Jason Leyendecker, Au.D.

2024 is coming to an end and so are my responsibilities as current president of the Academy of Doctors of Audiology. When I was nominated and elected for the presidential seat, I knew there would be a lot of hard work, long hours, travel and relationship building. I knew we had a dedicated board of directors who we could count on to help make this year successful and I knew our executive director and management company were all in, making sure operations ran smoothly and we had everything needed to keep audiology moving forward. What I didn’t know was what we were going to accomplish, what relationships we were going to build and what curveballs we would need to handle.

I am extremely proud of the team leading ADA and the profession of audiology forward. What we have accomplished this year is nothing short of amazing. After all the research we did to understand where the doctor of audiology started and why it started, the board came together to create a vision of the future, a vision that will solidify a place at the highest level in the medical community for audiology.

I want to remind audiologists that the profession of audiology is very young. We are less than 30 years into our doctoral degree and there have been major strides forward in our clinical standards, creating a foundation for legislative and policy changes, and continuing to modernize care with better technology, diagnostic tools and improved therapies so our patients can have a better life. We should be proud of our profession for what we have accomplished thus far but we are just getting started!

Our comfort zone has been expanded with the recent legislative changes in Maryland to modernize the scope of audiology practice there. To quote David Goggins, “Comfort zones--if you live in one too long it becomes the norm. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.” We are branching out of our comfort zones every day. There is no “because we have always done it this way” in our profession. It will always be new and there will always be a level of discomfort pushing things forward. What a time to be alive!

We cannot stop now. We must keep moving forward and the best way forward is with a vision that has goals and objectives on which audiologists can align. Audiology 2050 is that vision. It creates a roadmap of what needs to happen based on the objectives of the Doctor of Audiology as it started, as well as the objectives required to modernize the profession based on technology, job force, legislation, and the professional socialization of future Doctors of Audiology. This isn’t just what needs to happen with ADA but with all audiologists in all specialties.

I want to wrap this up by letting you know why I went into audiology. I wanted to make an impact on the community. My impact gets bigger with autonomy, and private practice is where I have the most autonomy. My impact gets even bigger by expanding my business, so more patients get proper hearing care through my team. The impact gets exponentially bigger by volunteering within my state and national organizations where we have opportunities to make changes that will provide better access for our patients across the country. We all need to be volunteering to make the biggest impact on the community.

Now is the time for all audiologists to understand the impact of their hard work and dedication to audiology. Becoming an audiologist is only the first step. We must be lifelong advocates and activists for audiology, and we must work together. Now is the time to start being comfortable, being uncomfortable as we have hard conversations and push our boundaries of what could be. Now is the time to put our gloves on and fight for what we believe in! Now is the time to open our wallets to advocacy because the only way this vision doesn’t succeed is if we give up! Now is the time to modernize audiology. I want to thank ADA for giving me the opportunity to represent audiology at its highest level. It is truly an honor to have a seat at the table and say I helped make an impact in the community. I’m excited about the future for audiology, and I hope you are too. ■