This year marks four decades of practising for audiologist Dirk de Moore including 30 years in the rural Victorian city of Bendigo. He says being the first Australian audiologist to achieve an MBA has given him a slightly different view. He provides valuable advice for practitioners starting out and others more advanced.
When people google Bendigo Hearing Clinic and land on its website they are not greeted with photos of hearing aids or people having hearing tests. Instead, they see the owner Mr Dirk de Moore in his golfing gear with his golfclubs, and a large photo of his big-eared kelpie Nala at home in the garden.
The caption for de Moore’s photo says he is “a golfing enthusiast, Blues (Carlton football club) supporter and your audiologist”.
Photos of happy patients pictured doing what they love also feature on the home page website gallery but still not a hearing aid in sight even though all wear hearing aids. There’s farmer Frank, a lamb producer and Collingwood Aussie Rules supporter; Ian, a pharmacist and winegrower pictured in his vineyard; motoring enthusiast and Geelong Cats supporter John; and bank manager and mum Maree.
Penny, a receptionist and horticulturalist, is holding secateurs in her garden while de Moore’s mum Eileen, a retired music teacher and church organist, is also featured.
‘’There’s still stigma about hearing aids and it annoys me when you look at some audiology websites and I think they couldn’t have chosen a more unattractive photo of a hearing aid,” de Moore says. “Consumers don’t wake up and say, ‘I think I might buy some hearing aids today’; there’s still a long lag time, about seven years before action.
“I know a lot about my patients, who they barrack for, what dogs they’ve got, what type of farm they have, their interests and so on. Our appointments are filled with chat and I think that patients enjoy that relationship.
“I would encourage audiologists, rather than using stock images on their websites, to show photos of real people enjoying doing what they love to do, of course aided by better hearing.”
To further spread the hearing health message, de Moore has written 10 articles educating the public about hearing for a local magazine featuring his tagline ‘Life Amplified’.
After completing a science degree at the University of Melbourne, he went on to study audiology and graduated as an audiologist in 1983. He then spent his first 10 years working at what was then the largest employer, the National Acoustic Laboratory, now known as Hearing Australia. He worked with adults with severe to profound hearing problems before moving to manage one of the organisation’s major Melbourne clinics.
Simultaneously de Moore embarked on studying an MBA which involved taking a year off work to study full-time. “It was hard but I learned so much about marketing and strategy, and it made me question what I was really trying to achieve,” he recalls.
Work life balance
The idea of working in a rural hospital was appealing as he thought he could also start a private practice on the side so he took a role as senior audiologist at Bendigo hospital and moved to rural Victoria, a decision he has never regretted.
“I encourage people who want to start private practice to consider having some form of regular income or cash flow, and on the side to gradually open a private practice and develop it,” de Moore says. “There’s that classic thing you hear in business of being so busy that you can’t work on your business because you’re too busy working in your business. There are choices, options available in private practice but many don’t strategically think about them.
“Some just take whatever is out there because it’s there and try to get as busy as they can but you can have a better work life balance if you think a bit about what you want to do and what you don’t want to do.
“When I started at the hospital I asked if I could take a day a week off to start a private practice and they were fine because it was hard to get audiologists to regional areas especially those with experience.
“You can live really well in a regional area, however, and I would encourage young audiologists to give it a go.”
The hospital work involved a lot of diagnostic work servicing the GP community but also included a large paediatric load, many children with middle ear infections, and auditory brainstem testing for suspected tumours. “There was a huge paediatric demand, and there still is in regional areas in hospitals. It was a great environment,” he recalls.
After working at the hospital for eight years, de Moore had built his private practice sufficiently to practise there full-time. He was the only audiologist in private practice in Bendigo, as others worked for the government’s Australian Hearing clinics.
Technology has had a huge impact on changing audiology over the 40 years he has practised. He has seen vast improvement in electronics, hearing aid sizes and aesthetics with more power, recharging abilities and Bluetooth connectivity that links to phones , as well as expanded scope-of-practice.
“There’s also a trend towards people embracing newer technology – baby boomers are very accepting of the technology as they need it to perform in the workforce and multifunctionality of devices increases acceptance,” he adds.
Tips for graduates and independents
When audiologists graduate these days, there’s a broad range of options for employment, de Moore says.
“Major retail outlets, private practice, research or working for a manufacturer,” he says. “One thing I always told audiology students when I lectured for many years at The University of Melbourne was, ‘you might be just thinking about passing this course and getting a job but if I was your age I would consider working in Switzerland or maybe the US.’ I know many people who’ve had successful international careers with overseas based hearing aid companies.
“Another tip I always give new graduates is talk to people who are more advanced in the profession than you because there’s a wealth of wisdom there,” he says.
“If you’re talking to people 20 to 30 years in, they’ve been where you are going so listening to them and taking their advice is sensible. Also try to move around in the first few years to get a broad base of experience and a feel for what you’re passionate about. Some people are just not cut out to be in private business.
“My main advice for independents in private practice is to be more strategic. Stand back and write out the things you can do in private practice such as the government work, NDIS, WorkSafe, wax removal, then decide what you do and don’t want to do. Obviously, you need to do things that will enable you to be profitable enough to stay in business but it’s interesting to think about what you are passionate about and what you enjoy most and try to choose those options.”
While 85% of his revenue comes from private hearing aid sales through a large private clientele, de Moore does a small amount of industrial screening, ear plugs and wax removal.
“I don’t do government work because I did that for 27 years. I’m 64 now and I want to play golf twice a week and work 20 to 22 hours and as long as I can maintain that and stay financially viable, it’s a great lifestyle and really good work life balance. I think I can continue working until I’m maybe 70 at this pace,” he says.
“I love the work, I’m passionate about it. I have a great relationship with my patients and many of them I’ve looked after for 30 years because I’ve been in private practice in Bendigo for 30 years now.
“Finally, I feel very privileged to have worked for so long in this profession. Almost all audiologists I know are intelligent, ethical and highly professional people working to improve the quality of life of their fellow Australians.”
