China: August 2017: This year I was delighted to have been invited to speak at the Beijing Audiology Forum and the Beijing CHINA-UK Paediatric Hearing Aid Fitting and Rehabilitation Workshop held at the Tongren Hospital in Beijing. It was very encouraging to see such a motivated and committed group of Audiologists from all over China, gathered to increase their skill set, despite already delivering a high standard of care, in order to improve the lives of hearing impaired children. I was welcomed with incredibly warm hospitality and people, from the students who met me at the airport to Ying, the amazing Audiologist who acted as my interpreter for all of my talks!
Over three days I discussed Global Audiology and leadership in the context of service provision in China, Family-centred rehabilitation and finally diagnostic test interpretation in children. These are all current topics very applicable to a very small number of Chinese audiologists who have a huge task of serving a population of almost 1 and a half billion people, with an estimated 17 million new births each year. Despite this, they are all keen to provide a world-class service and constantly striving to improve.
As the representative for Kent Hearing, I was very lucky to have had the opportunity to meet and discuss Audiology with such a phenomenal group of people. And of course, there was a bit time to visit the Great Wall, and sample some of China’s culinary delights! ☺