Interview with Gus Mueller, Ph.D.
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Topic: Nashville Live! Vanderbilt Audiology's Journal Club - Unplugged
CAROLYN SMAKA: Today I am speaking with Gus Mueller - well hello, Gus!
GUS MUELLER: Well hello, Carolyn!
SMAKA: We're psyched that you will be hosting a regular feature this year at AudiologyOnline. I like the title: "Nashville Live! Vanderbilt Audiology's Journal Club Unplugged." I'm not sure what "unplugged" means, but if your journal club is like other's I've attended, you'll be reviewing journal articles, right?
MUELLER: Well first, let me say that I'm just the host, so I won't be doing too much reviewing or talking. I'm going to leave that up to my Vanderbilt colleagues. The format will be casual and fun—that's the unplugged part. But, yes, we indeed will be talking about current journal articles.
SMAKA: Can you tell us a little about what you have planned?
MUELLER: Sure. We'll be "on-air" every-other month throughout the year beginning in February. Each session I'll be joined by a guest presenter—a Vandy faculty member—and we'll focus on a specific area of audiology. The presenter will discuss four or five recent articles in his or her area of specialization;articles that they liked, and found to be especially useful or interesting. I know that most of your listeners are clinicians, so we'll try to put a clinical spin on the results whenever possible.
SMAKA: It's certainly tough to keep up with all the journal and articles, and the Vandy Journal Club sounds like it will be a great help for professionals.
MUELLER: Absolutely. I tend to pay pretty close attention to hearing aid articles, and I happen to know that there were over 200 published in 2009 on this topic alone. It's tough for any busy clinician to read them all. Wouldn't it be nice to sit back, relax over lunch, and listen to what Todd Ricketts thinks are the best five of the bunch? Now you can!
SMAKA: You mention Todd, so I assume he's going to be one of the contributors—who else can we expect to join you on Nashville Live?
Gus Mueller (left) and Fred Bess (right) appear to be hard at work
planning the upcoming Vanderbilt Audiology's Journal Club seminars.
MUELLER: We're going to start things off on February 3rd with the sage Fred Bess as the first guest. This will be an especially fun session as Fred will be talking about his favorite audiology research articles from the 1960's, that still have relevance for audiologists today. In April, our new Chair, Anne Marie Tharpe will join me. As you might guess, she'll be reviewing some of the latest and greatest publications in the area of pediatrics. As the year goes on, I suspect we'll see other notables such as Gary Jacobson, Linda Hood, Ben Hornsby and many more—there's a long list to choose from at Vandy.
SMAKA: Most impressive. Gus, what about CEUs?
MUELLER: All Vandy Journal Club sessions will be CE eligible.
SMAKA: Excellent. I hate to bring this up, but are you concerned that listening to someone talk about journal articles for an hour might be a little . . . shall we say . . . dry?
MUELLER: Well, our faculty and staff are pretty lively individuals, so I don't see that as a problem. And, just to break things up a little, we'll have some special features interspersed to add some variety. I think the listeners will especially like the "Vandy Vignettes," which will be part of each session.
SMAKA: Vandy Vignettes?
MUELLER: You know, audiology stories that just need be told, but have never . . . well, you'll just have to listen to find out.
SMAKA: Okay, I can hardly wait! Before we finish, I have to ask: Since Nashville is the "Music City," do you anticipate any singing during these Journal Club meetings?
MUELLER: It's hard to tell, but I suspect there will be attempts at singing, or at least some whistling creeping in now and then. After all, it was Vandy's own Fred Bess who penned the words to the classic ditty "My old man's an audiologist." You'll have to check out earTunes.com for the complete story on that topic.
SMAKA: Will Fred be wearing his audiologist's raincoat and hat to the Journal Club?
MUELLER: I would expect so, along with the collar and shoes.
SMAKA: Gus, the last time you were on AudiologyOnline for your open canal hearing aid course, we had a full house and actually had to close registration. People interested in the Vandy Journal Club should register now to reserve a seat in the virtual classroom.
MUELLER: Great reminder. See you on Feb. 3rd!
GUS MUELLER: Well hello, Carolyn!
SMAKA: We're psyched that you will be hosting a regular feature this year at AudiologyOnline. I like the title: "Nashville Live! Vanderbilt Audiology's Journal Club Unplugged." I'm not sure what "unplugged" means, but if your journal club is like other's I've attended, you'll be reviewing journal articles, right?
MUELLER: Well first, let me say that I'm just the host, so I won't be doing too much reviewing or talking. I'm going to leave that up to my Vanderbilt colleagues. The format will be casual and fun—that's the unplugged part. But, yes, we indeed will be talking about current journal articles.
SMAKA: Can you tell us a little about what you have planned?
MUELLER: Sure. We'll be "on-air" every-other month throughout the year beginning in February. Each session I'll be joined by a guest presenter—a Vandy faculty member—and we'll focus on a specific area of audiology. The presenter will discuss four or five recent articles in his or her area of specialization;articles that they liked, and found to be especially useful or interesting. I know that most of your listeners are clinicians, so we'll try to put a clinical spin on the results whenever possible.
SMAKA: It's certainly tough to keep up with all the journal and articles, and the Vandy Journal Club sounds like it will be a great help for professionals.
MUELLER: Absolutely. I tend to pay pretty close attention to hearing aid articles, and I happen to know that there were over 200 published in 2009 on this topic alone. It's tough for any busy clinician to read them all. Wouldn't it be nice to sit back, relax over lunch, and listen to what Todd Ricketts thinks are the best five of the bunch? Now you can!
SMAKA: You mention Todd, so I assume he's going to be one of the contributors—who else can we expect to join you on Nashville Live?
Gus Mueller (left) and Fred Bess (right) appear to be hard at work
planning the upcoming Vanderbilt Audiology's Journal Club seminars.
MUELLER: We're going to start things off on February 3rd with the sage Fred Bess as the first guest. This will be an especially fun session as Fred will be talking about his favorite audiology research articles from the 1960's, that still have relevance for audiologists today. In April, our new Chair, Anne Marie Tharpe will join me. As you might guess, she'll be reviewing some of the latest and greatest publications in the area of pediatrics. As the year goes on, I suspect we'll see other notables such as Gary Jacobson, Linda Hood, Ben Hornsby and many more—there's a long list to choose from at Vandy.
SMAKA: Most impressive. Gus, what about CEUs?
MUELLER: All Vandy Journal Club sessions will be CE eligible.
SMAKA: Excellent. I hate to bring this up, but are you concerned that listening to someone talk about journal articles for an hour might be a little . . . shall we say . . . dry?
MUELLER: Well, our faculty and staff are pretty lively individuals, so I don't see that as a problem. And, just to break things up a little, we'll have some special features interspersed to add some variety. I think the listeners will especially like the "Vandy Vignettes," which will be part of each session.
SMAKA: Vandy Vignettes?
MUELLER: You know, audiology stories that just need be told, but have never . . . well, you'll just have to listen to find out.
SMAKA: Okay, I can hardly wait! Before we finish, I have to ask: Since Nashville is the "Music City," do you anticipate any singing during these Journal Club meetings?
MUELLER: It's hard to tell, but I suspect there will be attempts at singing, or at least some whistling creeping in now and then. After all, it was Vandy's own Fred Bess who penned the words to the classic ditty "My old man's an audiologist." You'll have to check out earTunes.com for the complete story on that topic.
SMAKA: Will Fred be wearing his audiologist's raincoat and hat to the Journal Club?
MUELLER: I would expect so, along with the collar and shoes.
SMAKA: Gus, the last time you were on AudiologyOnline for your open canal hearing aid course, we had a full house and actually had to close registration. People interested in the Vandy Journal Club should register now to reserve a seat in the virtual classroom.
MUELLER: Great reminder. See you on Feb. 3rd!
H. Gustav Mueller, PhD
Professor of Audiology, Vanderbilt University
Dr. H. Gustav Mueller is Professor of Audiology, Vanderbilt University, and has a private consulting practice nestled between the tundra and reality in Bismarck, ND. He is the Senior Audiology consultant for Siemens Hearing Instruments and Contributing Editor for AudiologyOnline. He also holds faculty positions with Central Michigan University, University of Northern Colorado and Rush University. Dr. Mueller is a Founder of the American Academy of Audiology, a Fellow of the ASHA, serves on the Editorial Boards of several audiology journals, and is the Hearing Aids Series Editor for Plural Publishing. Dr. Mueller is an internationally known workshop lecturer, and has published nearly 200 articles and book chapters on diagnostic audiology and hearing aid applications. He is the senior author of the books “Communication Disorders in Aging”, “Probe Microphone Measurements”, and the co-author of the “The Audiologists’ Desk Reference, Volumes I and II