An audiologist with an Au.D. (Doctor of Audiology) holds a doctoral degree, but they are not a medical doctor. The Au.D. is a clinical doctorate, similar to what dentists, pharmacists, and psychologists earn. Audiologists diagnose and treat hearing and balance disorders, but they do not attend medical school, perform surgery, or prescribe most medications.
What the Au.D. Degree Requires
Earning a Doctor of Audiology degree takes four years of full-time graduate study after completing a bachelor’s degree. That means most audiologists spend about eight years in higher education before entering practice. The final year of the program is a supervised clinical externship, where students work directly with patients in real clinical settings.
After graduating, audiologists typically pursue national certification. The Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology (CCC-A), issued by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, requires a doctoral degree from an accredited program and ongoing professional development, including at least 30 hours of continuing education every three years. Most states also require a separate license to practice.
What Audiologists Can and Cannot Do
Audiologists have a broad scope of practice when it comes to the ears and hearing. They perform diagnostic hearing evaluations, fit and program hearing aids, manage tinnitus, evaluate balance disorders, monitor for drug-related hearing damage, and provide rehabilitation for both adults and children. They can also examine the ear canal and remove earwax, assess auditory processing disorders, and manage patients with cochlear implants after the device has been surgically placed.
What they cannot do is anything that falls under the practice of medicine. An audiologist does not diagnose ear infections, prescribe antibiotics, or perform surgery of any kind. If your hearing loss has a medical cause, like a tumor, chronic infection, or structural problem, the audiologist will refer you to a physician for treatment.
How Audiologists Differ From ENTs
An ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor) is a physician who completed medical school, a residency, and sometimes an additional fellowship. ENTs diagnose and treat medical and surgical conditions across the ear, nose, throat, sinuses, and parts of the head and neck. Some ENTs specialize even further as otologists or neurotologists, completing two extra years of fellowship training focused on complex ear surgeries, including surgically implanting cochlear implants.
In practice, audiologists and ENTs often work as a team. The audiologist handles the diagnostic testing and ongoing hearing rehabilitation, while the ENT steps in when medication or surgery is needed. If you visit an audiologist and your test results suggest something beyond hearing loss, like a growth on the auditory nerve, they will send you to an ENT for further evaluation.
Can an Audiologist Use the Title “Doctor”?
Because the Au.D. is a doctoral degree, audiologists can legally use the title “Doctor” in most states. However, many states require them to clearly disclose that their doctorate is in audiology, not medicine. In New York, for example, any licensed health professional using the title “Doctor” must specify the field in which they earned the degree. This prevents patients from mistakenly assuming they are seeing a physician.
So if your audiologist introduces themselves as “Dr. Smith,” that is typically accurate and legal. It reflects their doctoral-level training in hearing and balance care, not a medical degree.
Audiologists vs. Hearing Instrument Specialists
Another professional you might encounter when shopping for hearing aids is a hearing instrument specialist. These practitioners are licensed to test hearing for the purpose of fitting and selling hearing aids, but their training is far more limited than an audiologist’s. Most states require only a high school diploma or associate degree, plus an apprenticeship, to become a hearing instrument specialist.
Audiologists, by contrast, are trained to diagnose the underlying cause and type of hearing loss, evaluate balance and neurological function, manage cochlear implants and other advanced devices, and treat conditions like tinnitus and auditory processing disorders. If you need more than a basic hearing aid fitting, or if you want a full diagnostic workup, an audiologist is the appropriate provider.
The Short Answer
An Au.D. is a doctor of audiology, not a doctor of medicine. Audiologists earn a four-year clinical doctorate, hold national certification, and are experts in diagnosing and managing hearing and balance problems. They are not physicians, cannot prescribe most medications, and do not perform surgery. For most people with hearing concerns, an audiologist is the first and most frequent point of care, with physicians brought in only when a medical or surgical issue arises.