Better Hearing Month
Free Hearing Screenings Clifton’s Deidra Ramos-Perez among those offering services at MSU Armed with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Pace University in 2010, Deidra Ramos-Perez considered a number of career options then took some sound advice. “I took Intro to Audiology during my second year at Pace and I fell in love,” the 24-year-old Dutch Hill resident recalled how she discovered her calling. “I found it interesting how the field encompasses so many different disciplines.” Now in her third year of the four year Doctoral Program in Audiology at Montclair State University, Ramos-Perez is on track to be a Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.). She attends classes at MSU’s state-ofthe-art facility on Broad St. in Bloomfield. The program is the only of its kind in the Garden State and one of 70 nationwide. Audiology is the study and treatment of hearing loss. RamosPerez, who attended School 15 and Woodrow Wilson Middle School before graduating from Eastern Christian High School in 2006, originally went to Pace considering a career in teaching. “Actually first I wanted to be a chef,” she admitted. “My father is a chef.” She fulfills her desire to teach by instructing Sunday School at Hope Reformed Church at Burgess Pl. and Third St. Once at Pace, Ramos-Perez found audiology more to her liking. It was one of her professors, Dr. 46 May 2013 • Clifton Merchant
Abbey Berg, Ph.D, who helped put her on the path towards a career in audiology. “I was two years in and she asked if I was available for an internship at Columbia New York Presbyterian,” she recalled of the internship which turned into a job. “She got me that internship. She’s
always been there for me.” Dr. Berg, along with her boss at Columbia Presbyterian, Dr. Maria Olmeda-Jenkins, have both become important mentors for RamosPerez, and ultimately influenced her to enroll at MSU. “I don’t know if I would be so passionate about audiology