Hearing The Call!

As I wrote last month, recently I’ve been able to (briefly) step away from my very busy clinical care to connect and learn with/from fellow hearing healthcare professionals. It was a much needed opportunity for growth and to recharge/rejuvenate my Audiology ‘battery’, which have been missing since the onset of the pandemic.

Back in September, my friend/partner/Practice Manager (John) and I traveled to Chicago to participate in our first in-person meeting of an amazing organization we joined last year called Entheos Audiology Cooperative. I first heard about Entheos (from the Greek, meaning ‘possessed by a G-d’, from which words like ‘enthused’ or ‘enthusiasm’ are derived) when I delightfully and fortuitously reconnected with a friend/former co-worker from my time working at the seminal hearing aid manufacturer ReSound, when it was based in Rewood City. Laurel Gregory, who was a Research Audiologist at the time, is now Director of Training & Development at Entheos. We reconnected shortly before the pandemic, and she was absolutely gushing about Entheos. Knowing the type of person I am, she wanted me to become a member. Knowing the type of person she is, I was intrigued.

Entheos was started back in 2014 by a small group of exceptional people and “founded on the principle that the practice of hearing healthcare is a privilege” (which has always guided how I practice medicine), “to be better leaders in their practice, find ways to inspire and motivate their employees, to go the extra mile and deliver extraordinary patient care, every time.” A core pillar of Entheos is ‘Best Practices’, because Best Practices always leads to the best patient outcomes.

But even all of that isn’t enough! Entheos also has giving back, to your community and the world, as one of its core ‘pillars’. In fact, inspiration for the Cooperative began after the founders created a non-profit to serve their community alongside their private practice. And it was the realization by their community of just how amazing these exceptional audiologists were that convinced the public that they were the best caregivers to entrust their hearing healthcare to. When you give, you get. Since the founding of “Hearing The Call” (www.hearingthecall.org; the non-profit arm of Entheos), Entheos members have travelled the globe providing thousands of people with exceptional audiological care/technology, free of charge. Entheos members have also provided this same exceptional service/gift to folks in their communities. Though the worldwide pandemic has temporarily curtailed these “Mission Trips”, I look forward to participating in them once we get the green light.

All of this is to say that I’m sold on these amazing people. Finally getting to meet them in person, after only having Zoom to communicate, was an absolute delight. The theme of the meeting was “We’re Better Together”, and we absolutely are! Throughout the weekend we participated in groups to improve overall patient care/best practices, maximizing employee engagement & personal growth and continuing education sessions on topics such as the effects of hearing loss and cognitive impairment on overall health.

Entheos is focused on helping all of its members (owners and staff) succeed both professionally and personally, because the two are intertwined. To that end, they hired actor/comedian/genuinely good guy Dion Flynn to work with everyone to improve communication using improv techniques. This was a particular highlight for me, as I was able to surreptitiously showcase/highlight to everyone one there one of the many facets/talents that makes John such an amazing person, whom I’m lucky and honored to have as a friend and partner.

In a time of such polarization, we need to find ways to come together, to truly and finally internalize our common humanity.