18Mari KimuraMedical Instrument Sales Department, Medical Instrument Division. She joined Rion in 2009. After joining the company, she was assigned to hearing aid sales in the distribution sector, working with retail stores such as department stores and opticians. She later transitioned to Rionet Center, where she applies her Certified Hearing Aid Technician qualification by advising customers and selling hearing aids.Interview and article by Ryosuke KobayashiPart 4 in the series: Many of our staff in the Medical Instrument Sales Department are qualified as Certified Hearing Aid Technicians.The certification program consists of four terms over four years, each including lectures and written exams. If you pass the test for the first term, you move on to the second, third, and fourth terms. If you pass the exam at the end of the fourth term, you can earn the certification. Test takers are required to submit preliminary documents and take the written exam. The former consists of a brief summary of the records of hearing aid fittings that the examinee personally performed for customers. The latter tests examinees on the body of knowledge acquired over the four-year training course. You must work hard to prepare yourself for both.To ensure proper selection and adjustment of hearing aids, close collaboration with prescribing doctors is essential. For this reason, examinees must submit documents signed by doctors when taking the exam.First-time hearing aid users are often unfamiliar with how the devices work or what to expect. Since hearing aids can be expensive, it’s natural for many customers to feel anxious before making a purchase. Certified Hearing Aid Technicians spare no effort in explaining the benefits and potential of hearing aids, and how to use them properly. They work carefully to address concerns and ensure customers feel comfortable using them.There are customers who are professionally familiar with acoustic engineering, and some of them may doubt our expertise, thinking that we are merely sales staff with less knowledge or experience. In those cases, we try to reassure them, saying, “We reassure them by explaining, 'As Certified Hearing Aid Technicians, we are qualified to help customers use hearing aids safely and effectively.' We’ll do our best to ensure that you’re satisfied with your hearing.”The Association for Technical Aids now offers a searchable national database of Certified Hearing Aid Technicians on their website. I’m pleased to find that some of our customers have come to see me because they used the database beforehand.One experience left a deep impression on me. It involved a fitting session at a special needs school. I took an impression of the tiny external auditory canal of a 6-month-old baby who was born prematurely, to make earmolds for the baby’s hearing aids. I remember the moment the hearing aids were This is the fourth installment in a series of articles showcasing the diverse qualifications of Rion employees. This edition highlights the Certified Hearing Aid Technician qualification. An employee who holds this certification shares its significance and scope.placed in the baby’s ears, when sound reached those tiny ears for the first time. The baby reacted to hearing the sounds and moved its head from side to side. I was deeply moved to see the parent’s joy at witnessing their child’s response. After that, every time I met them, they would tell me about the progress their baby was making—how the baby was babbling more and more. I realized the hearing aids were having a tremendous impact on the child’s development.Hearing aid support continues well beyond the initial purchase. The purchase of a hearing aid is just the start of a long relationship—the hearing aid needs to be adjusted in response to changes in the user’s hearing acuity and their listening environment. I’ve been working in the hearing aid business at Rionet Center for 12 years. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing in some of the most important moments in our customers’ lives through my work handling hearing aids.I once had a customer who said to me in his first session that he had just retired. He returned five years later to tell me his daughter had just gotten married and that he wanted to purchase a second, even better pair of hearing aids because he wanted to hear better when talking to his daughter’s husband and family. He subsequently returned and informed me he had a grandchild. It’s deeply rewarding to witness a person’s life journey through our shared connection to their hearing aids. I’m grateful for the experience. I see around 50 customers a month, and have supported around a thousand in total.As a Certified Hearing Aid Technician, I hope I’ll always be able to stand by my customers as they face their hearing problems, help improve their hearing, and help enrich their lives.What is a Certified Hearing Aid Technician?The Association for Technical Aids grants this certification. The association supports research and development in welfare equipment, disseminates relevant information, and certifies skilled technicians.Though not a national qualification, it is the only certification for specialists in hearing aid selection and adjustment, and it is recognized by both the medical community and the government. This meaningful certification enables professionals to support their customers and enrich their lives over the long termLICENSING AND QUALIFICATIONSCertifiedHearing AidTechnicians
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