Honoring the Contributions of Pat Stelmachowicz to the Field of Pediatric Audiology

Abstract

My first encounter with Dr. Pat Stelmachowicz was during my first week in an audiology clinical placement at Boys Town National Research Hospital (BTNRH) during my graduate program over 20 years ago. I was sitting at the lunch table with much of the audiology staff, still trying to figure out how I had managed to land a clinical placement at such an amazing place with so many people who cared about pediatric audiology. Pat came into the room and started asking the clinical audiologists questions about how they were fitting hearing aids for children who were coming into the clinic. I assumed from the interaction that Pat was another audiologist on staff that I had yet to meet, as there were nearly 20 on staff at the time. I had no idea that I was having lunch with a leading scientist in pediatric audiology who had created an environment that would allow clinical audiologists to actively engage in research to support our patients. This very first interaction with Pat exemplified the qualities that made her a great mentor to many audiologists and scientists.