History of Audiology in Turkey

The first developments in audiology around the world started in the 1920s. The members of audiology were officially organized in the United States in 1925. Although the measurement of hearing and studies on the hearing impaired date back to the 1940s, the term "Audiology" came into professional use in 1940 with a government decision.
 
In the process of audiology becoming a branch of science, World War II was effective. Acoustic traumas and head traumas, which constitute the majority of war-related injuries, are the most important causes of hearing and balance disorders. The significant increase in the number of patients with hearing and balance loss problems after the war led to the emergence of a new profession that would take part in the treatment and rehabilitation of patients with these disorders at the end of the war years.
 
Raymond Carhart, known as the "Grandfather of Audiology" after graduating from Northwestern University's PhD program, stayed at the university after completing his thesis and began developing clinical methods for speech audiometry. Rehabilitation of soldiers with hearing loss was carried out in the Re-Speech Education Department at the university with studies to improve speech understanding.
 
Raymond Carhart pioneered the establishment of the science of Audiology and created a name for himself with his scientific studies by starting the first academic program in the field of audiology in the United States.
 
The foundation of the science of Audiology in Turkey was first established in 1967 at Hacettepe University, Department of Ear Nose and Throat by Prof. Dr İ. Nazmi Hoşal.
The Audiology Master's program was started under the Hacettepe University Postgraduate Education Faculty in 1968.
 
Richard Israel and then Jack Katz were hired from the United States to teach the Audiology master's and doctorate courses, which were Turkey's first official education program. The program, which was carried out as Audiology until 1989, was then revised and continued as "Audiology and Speech Disorders" graduate and doctoral education. Richard Israel is the first person to organize and implement the Audiology Education Program in Turkey.
 
Hacettepe University Health Services Vocational School launched an audiometry associate degree program in 1984 to teach audiometry technicians. Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ferda Akdaş, the first Department of Audiology was created at Marmara University Faculty of Medicine.
 
The first department of Audiology was established at Marmara University in 1990. Hacettepe University Health Sciences Institute established the Educational Audiology Science Specialization Program in 1992. The Audiology PhD program was established in 1974 at Hacettepe University's Faculty of Health Sciences.
 
In 1994, the first "Newborn Hearing Screening" started in Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, ENT Department, Audiology Department. The first professional association of Audiology, the Audiology and Speech Disorders Association, was established in 1995, and the name was changed to "Audiology, Speech, and Sound Specialists Association" in 2003.
 
Richard Israel participated in the first Audiology and Speech Disorders Congress in 2002. The "National newborn hearing screening program" was launched in 2004 in order to give early diagnosis and rehabilitation to the thousands of newborns born with hearing loss in our country each year.
 
In 2011, audiologists were defined as professions together with other health professional groups, and their duties and authorities were legally guaranteed. Occupational law: "Audiologist: Graduated from faculties or colleges providing undergraduate education in the field of audiology, or having a master's or doctorate in audiology on other undergraduate education, working on hearing and balance controls and prevention of hearing disorders in healthy individuals, and subject to the guidance of the relevant specialist physician for diagnosis or treatment. It is a healthcare professional who detects and rehabilitates hearing and balance disorders and determines the devices used for these purposes. (Law No. 6225, Adoption Date: April 26, 2011)
 
Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ataş, the audiology undergraduate program was launched in our country in the 2011-2012 academic year at the Audiology Department of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Istanbul University. The first graduates of the Audiology Undergraduate Program in Turkey were given by the Istanbul University Audiology Department in 2015. In 2012, Hacettepe University's Faculty of Health Sciences established the first Department of Audiology.
 
"Istanbul Gelisim University School of Health Sciences" started education in 2012-2013, and the Audiology Department was established in the 2013-2014 academic year. The "School of Health Sciences" was renamed "Faculty of Health Sciences" on November 25, 2020.
 
In 2018, the AHPGS institution accredited the Audiology Department's education. The Audiology Department of Istanbul Gelisim University Graduate Education Institute accepted its first graduate students in the 2019-2020 academic year. It graduated its first class in the 2020-2021 academic year.