Bringing pleasure back
to people’s lives

Caroline Do Cao, audiologist at
the Institut Raymond-Dewar

Caroline Do Cao has been working at the Institut Raymond-Dewar since 2003, and specifically at the cochlear implant programming clinic since 2008. She is one of about 20 specialized audiologists in cochlear implant programming in Quebec. She chose this career because she wanted to practise a profession that directly helps people. Her choice was also influenced by technological advances in implants and hearing devices.

For Caroline, working in rehabilitation is about supporting and helping people in different spheres of their lives. As a specialist in cochlear implant programming, she works with people with substantial hearing loss who have had this device surgically implanted.

Regaining quality of life

In addition to enabling people to hear as well as possible with their new tool, she gradually determines their hearing needs. Using programming software, she adjusts the various parameters of the electric current that enables hearing. The cochlear implant has its limits, but it is possible to adjust it to each person’s specific needs, like helping a mother be more aurally comfortable at the arena where her child is playing, or enabling a healthcare worker to hear better with a stethoscope. She also tackles programming issues for implants with special technical dimensions.

Adjustments also have to be made when a user encounters new challenges (in a work environment or at school, for example). “I really feel like I contribute to their quality of life because the work we accomplish together makes it possible for them to better communicate with the people around them.”

Her expertise and knowledge have enabled hundreds of people to regain some of the small pleasures of daily life! “I feel privileged to be able to support people and to see them move forward with their new implant. I feel like I help them regain
some of life’s pleasures.” »

Caroline Do Cao
Audiologist