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Focus on Students with Dora Murphy

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5 minute read February 27, 2013

Focus On highlights faculty, staff, students and researchers at the UC Academic Health Center. To suggest someone to be featured, please email uchealthnews@uc.edu.

Audiology doctorate student Dora Murphy is in her final year of studies at UC’s College of Allied Health Sciences. She earned her undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders at CAHS. When it came time to apply to graduate school, she says she only applied to two places: UC and the University of Louisville. She chose to continue at UC because of her love for the environment, the program, and the people. 

The Ohio Academy of Audiology recently named Murphy as their 2013 Outstanding Student, which recognizes a student who has demonstrated outstanding clinical achievement and patient care, the highest level of scholastic achievement and exceptional service to the profession of audiology.

What made you want to study audiology?

"Dr. Doug Martin, who used to be on faculty at CAHS and Dr. Tom Goldman, an audiologist at Jewish Hospital. Dr. Martin gave several presentations on what audiology is, what audiologists do, and it just sounded so interesting. The first audiologist I observed was Dr. Goldman. He made it all look so fun and interesting and I just knew that it was the field for me.

"Audiology allowed me to learn more about something I already loved: sound. It also allowed me to use my interpersonal skills to work with individuals and their family members to educate and provide support for their communication needs in a way that best matched their family’s needs.”

What’s been your favorite experience at the College of Allied Health Sciences so far?
"It’s not so much the experience, but the people that make the experiences here at UC. The audiology faculty provides such amazing education, support and assistance that they should be the highlight for audiology program information.

"For eight years now, I’ve worked with most of the faculty in Communication Sciences and Disorders and I can say that, to me, it is wonderful. I have had interactions with various departments and professors throughout UC and have yet to find someone that doesn’t have the students’ interest at heart.

"I guess the experience that I’ve enjoyed the most is the fostering of friendship and mentoring. That is something that develops with time and each faculty member takes time to get to know the students.”

What’s your research focus in the doctorate of audiology (AuD) program?
"I’ve completed several research projects focusing on cochlear implants and electrophysiological measures with Dr. Fawen Zhang, and am currently working on research looking at family stress levels of families with children with hearing loss, families with children with autism and families of children with both hearing loss and autism.

"I am doing this research with Dr. Susan Wiley and Dr. Lisa Hunter at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center through the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) program.

"My involvement with the LEND program has really pushed me to a completely new level of advocacy, interdisciplinary team care, and providing families with supports than I had ever dreamed of. I’m hoping to present the latest family stress levels research at the Annual Disabilities Conference in Washington, D.C. 

What do you hope to do after UC?
"Just like everyone else, I hope to get a job. I hope to work anywhere that provides best care practices to patients and their families. While most of audiology focuses on adult care (a patient-centered approach), I can’t help to think of the families—especially families providing care to our patients, whether the patient be a child or adult.

"I hope to work somewhere that focuses far beyond hearing healthcare and looks at the whole individual, providing services within the scope of practice to meet the needs of the individual and their family.

"I have also found that I would love to provide transitional care to patients that are leaving a pediatric setting and going into the adult setting; I also have a passion for children with developmental disabilities.

"If I could make my whole career out of serving individuals and families and following those folks all through their life course, I would be the happiest person on earth.”

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