Letter to the Editor | March 01, 1994Letter to the Editor Lawrence I. Shotland Author Affiliations & Notes Lawrence I. Shotland Germantown, MD Copyright © 1994 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Article Information Professional Issues & Training / Letters to the Editor Letter to the Editor | March 01, 1994 Letter to the Editor American Journal of Audiology, March 1994, Vol. 3, 89. doi:10.1044/1059-0889.0301.89a American Journal of Audiology, March 1994, Vol. 3, 89. doi:10.1044/1059-0889.0301.89a View Article Figures Tables PDF PDF Supplemental Data Supplements Multimedia Share Email Twitter Facebook Pinterest Tools Get Citation Citation Shotland, L. I. (1994). Letter to the Editor. Am J Audiol, 3(1), 89. doi: 10.1044/1059-0889.0301.89a. Download citation file: RIS (Zotero) EndNote BibTex Medlars ProCite RefWorks Reference Manager © 2018 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association × Alerts User Alerts You are adding an alert for: Letter to the Editor You will receive an email whenever this article is corrected, updated, or cited in the literature. You can manage this and all other alerts in My Account The alert will be sent to: Confirm × Sign In or Create a free account to receive alerts. × Humes and Diefendorf have made several statements and recommendations, some of which are either inaccurate or misleading. I would like to address some of them. The authors argue that the CCC-A, not the degree, be the primary identifier of professional qualifications. This argument has no precedent in the health-care field and is seriously flawed from several standpoints. The graduate degree in one form or another dates back to the Renaissance and is the universal health-care credential. The curriculum culminates in a degree leading to the legal right to practice. Consider any other profession: medicine, dentistry, optometry, chiropractic, psychology. Their primary designators are their respective degrees; various certifications are secondary identifiers. Let us not be self-delusionary. CCC-A, after 30 or so years, has not achieved name recognition or widespread credibility. How many of your neighbors know what CCC-A is? The profession of audiology is embarking on an ambitious plan to upgrade educational requirements and training so we achieve greater parity with other professions. Respect, credibility, autonomy, and the ability to bill third-party payers are dependent on educational credentials, not an obscure acronym. The very nature of the document CCC-A connotes mediocrity rather than excellence. When one is in need of professional help, one seeks excellence, not merely competence. “Competence” certainly does not increase consumer confidence. As Humes and Diefendorf state, CCC-A requirements encourage mediocre training. Why perpetuate such a ridiculously low perception with an apt title? One may note that other professions use distinguished secondary designators such as “Fellow,” “Board Certified,” and so on. First Page Preview × View Large Subscribe to view more For full access to this article, log in to an existing user account, purchase an annual subscription, or purchase a short-term subscription. Order a Subscription Subscribe Pay Per View Entire American Journal of Audiology content & archive 24-hour access $30.00 Buy Now This Article 24-hour access $15.00 Buy Now Become a Visiting Scholar Sign In or Create an Account Please sign in using your ASHA.org login. If you do not have an ASHA login, you may register with us for free by creating a new account. Sign In or Create an Account Related Articles Letter to the Editor American Journal of Audiology, March 1994, Vol. 3, 91-92. doi:10.1044/1059-0889.0301.91b Letter to the Editor American Journal of Audiology, March 1994, Vol. 3, 90. doi:10.1044/1059-0889.0301.90a Letter to the Editor American Journal of Audiology, March 1994, Vol. 3, 88. doi:10.1044/1059-0889.0301.88a Letter to the Editor in response to Humes and Diefendorf's letter American Journal of Audiology, March 1995, Vol. 4, 61. doi:10.1044/1059-0889.0401.61a Letter to the Editor American Journal of Audiology, March 1994, Vol. 3, 90. doi:10.1044/1059-0889.0301.90b Related Topics Professional Issues & Training