INTENSIVE SHORT COURSE IN AUDIOLOGY MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY

18 July - 19 August 2005
(5 weeks duration)

sponsored and organised by

THE COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY FOR THE DEAF
- SOUND SEEKERS -
and held at
THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY
Kampala, Uganda

This intensive short course in audiology maintenance technology was designed initially to cater for people working in hospitals and schools in the developing countries of The Commonwealth, to maintain audiological equipment and repair hearing aids, but clearly it is also of significant value to commercial organisations in similar fields. The course has been running successfully since 1991 in the UK, and is to be offered again for the 3rd year at Kyambogo University, in the summer of 2005, to Commonwealth students whether resident in Uganda or elsewhere.

KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

Kyambogo University (KYU) was established in 2003 from the merger of three specialist
colleges and embraces the fields of Science, Technology, Education and Special Needs and
Rehabilitation, as its core areas of training and research.

Focussed on vocational and specialist education, the University is destined to be the pioneer
university in Special Needs and Rehabilitation in Uganda and the region.

As the student population grows, the university has improved training facilities, infrastructure,
human resources and learning services. KYU has built and continues to develop its capacity
in information and communication technology. It is the only university in Uganda that trains
teachers and staff in Special Needs and Rehabilitation and has extensive provision for
students with visual or hearing impairment.

KYU lies 8 km from Kampala City Centre. It has 5 halls of residence plus provision of meals. On campus there are Roman Catholic, Anglican and Seventh Day Adventist Churches and a Mosque to cater for different religious denominations.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Applicants should have a GCSE/GCE 'O' Level (Grades A-C) standard of education. Since all the tuition will be in English, they should have a good standard of English language. They should also have good manual dexterity.

Prior knowledge of instrumentation, audiometric equipment and hearing aids is not essential.

COURSE OUTLINE
The course is of 5 weeks' duration. The first week will be mainly introductory topics and revision of basic Science and Mathematics. Then the course provides an understanding of basic Acoustics and Audiology before focusing on Electronics and Laboratory Skills. The major emphasis is on fault finding, repair, maintenance and calibration of equipment. Practical work and demonstrations, form a significant part of the course.

By the end of the course, all students should have the confidence and ability to perform simple repairs of equipment and hearing aids, the calibration of audiological equipment and the production of earmoulds. More experienced students will have the opportunity to develop their skills further.

FEES:
Course/Accommodation/Meals: £1,250
Travel: individual flight costs.

SPONSORSHIP

It is strongly recommended that approaches to sponsors for funding should be made before, or at the same time as, applications are submitted to the Society.
Some possible sources of funding, including higher education grants, are:

• Ministry of Education Uganda (Ugandan nationals only)
• Ministry of Health Uganda (Ugandan nationals only)
• Ministries of Health or Education 'at home' for non-Ugandan nationals

HOW TO APPLY

Please send Application Forms to:
The Commonwealth Society for the Deaf
34 Buckingham Palace Road
London SW1W 0RE
England Telephone: (0044) 20-7233 5700
Fax: (0044) 20-7233 5800
Email:sound.seekers@btinternet.com

Applications should arrive as early as possible, but no later than 10 January 2005.
If candidates are successful and a course vacancy is allocated to them, all funds will be required in London by 1 April 2005. This is particularly important because priority is given to students who pre-position funds with the Society; students without funds are likely to have their nominations withdrawn. Successful candidates should check immediately with the Visa Section at the Ugandan High Commission in their own country to find out whether they require a visa for entry into Uganda.

APPRECIATION by COMMONWEALTH STUDENTS

The Commonwealth Society for the Deaf has received the following comments from former students:

A Headmaster, India - "The course has helped me to keep all my school children's (300) hearing aids in good working condition."

A Vice-Principal, Trinidad & Tobago - "The course has motivated me to continue in the field of audiology to the level of Medical Technical Officer II (Audiology) ... I am now able to put my technical and clinical knowledge into full use to develop speech and language skills of deaf children ... and I am involved in school hearing screening exercises."

An Electronics Technician, Papua New Guinea - "The course has helped to produce a report to establish a national hearing aid and audiometric equipment and calibration centre for the entire country, which has drawn favourable responses from international and domestic donors."

An Audiology Technician, Seychelles - "I can now diagnose and repair hearing aids. It has also helped me to service and repair other equipment in the orthopaedic, physiotherapy and other departments of the centre."

AMT COURSE OUTLINE SYLLABUS

1. Basic electricity and circuits - to include resistors, switches,
potentiometers, fuses
2. Principles of simple instruments - moving coil meters
3. Batteries - including car battery
4. Electronic components e.g. capacitors, inductors, diodes, transistors,
ICs, LEDs, lamps testing of components
5. Amplifiers
6. Filter circuits
7. Transducers - to include microphones, earphones, loudspeakers
8. Printers and chart recorders
9. The otoscope
10. The loop system - components of and production of etc.
11. Fault finding - general approach, trouble shooting
12. Simple testing apparatus - to include continuity testers, the AVO, the
CRO, signal generators
13. Repair method - checking components in situ, removal and testing replacement
14. Sources of replacement parts - suppliers (e.g. RS, Maplin and others), manufacturers manuals
15. Interpretation of manufacturers data - to include use of alternative parts
16. Maintenance on a shoestring budget - parts from equipment beyond
repair, simple circuits
17. Hearing aids - electronic maintenance, radio aids
18. Alternative power supplies - mains stabilised power supplies,
regulators, circuit diagrams of simple devices
19. Calibration of equipment - its importance, British and International Standards, Methods of calibration of audiometers, tympanometers,
hearing-aid test box
20. Assignment practicals
21. Force/pressure - pressure measurement (manometers, Bourdon
gauges, Strain gauges)
22. General properties of waves
23. Sound Waves
24. Units -dB, thresholds of hearing, dB scales (dBSPL, dBHL, dBA)
25. The Sound Level Meter
26. Standing waves, sound fields and reverberation
27. Harmonics, addition of waves, complex waves, distortion
28. Effects of sound on man. Hearing protection
29. Anatomy and physiology of hearing. Causes of hearing loss and
their treatment
30. The audiometer - main components
31. Basic principles of audiometry AC, BC
32. Making. Outline of other audiometric tests
33. Basic principles of admittance testing. The tympanometer - main components
34. The hearing aid - main components (principally body worn)
- radio aids
- the loop system
35. The hearing aid - fitting
36. Basic principles of the hearing aid test box and its use
37. Simple maintenance of hearing aids, ie. non-electric maintenance
38. Earmoulds - impression taking, production of the earmould, properties of the material used, simple acoustical modifications