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In This Issue:
Peg Toro and Erin McMahon perform a newborn hearing screening.
As the leader of the Newborn Hearing Screening Program, audiologist Peg Toro has introduced dozens of young professionals to the medical field, many of whom continued on to careers in nursing, research and other areas of health care.
“What’s rewarding about my job is seeing new beginnings, not only with the birth of babies, but also the young people who work here as they progress professionally,” said Toro, who has led for five years a group of eight to 10 hearing technicians who are part of the newborn screening program. “I also feel that the hearing screening program is vitally important to our babies and their families.”
Required by the state, the hearing screening program tests a newborn baby’s responses to sound prior to being discharged from BWH.
Under Toro’s guidance, one of the technicians places a set of headphones over the baby’s ears and gently attaches wire leads to the baby’s head. A computer omits slight sounds through the headphones, and the leads capture the infant’s reaction. The computer analyzes the data, indicating whether the baby has passed the test or requires further evaluation from a hearing specialist.
The 15-minute test requires the baby to remain quiet, so technicians must have a gentle, patient approach.
“That’s when Peg’s teachings come into play,” said Erin McMahon, a hearing screening technician and biology student at Northeastern University. “You need patience and that’s something I learned from Peg. She is so calm and always there to help.”
Program staff perform about 20 to 25 screenings a day at BWH, where more than 8,000 babies are born each year.
“Peg is very supportive and teaches us more than just the technical skills,” said technician Jackie Karvales, who hopes to have a career in speech-language pathology. “She teaches us how to talk to parents, who are often nervous about being away from their babies, and how to work with each other as a team.”
Toro, who splits her time between the newborn screening program and the Audiology Department in the Division of Otolaryngology, credits the technicians’ desire to learn.
“I always say to them, it’s important to learn the job, but it’s also important to learn skills such as communicating and being a team player. Those are the skills they’ll take with them no matter what career their futures hold,” Toro said.