Dr. Hilary MacCrae received her Bachelor’s of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Montevallo, followed by her Doctorate of Audiology from Northwestern University.  She also holds the Certification of Clinical Competence in Audiology (CCC-A) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

“My undergraduate degree was focused on speech-pathology, not audiology.  It was a lot to learn, and we would break off into study groups to make sure everyone stayed on top of the material.  During one unit, there was this little section—almost a footnote—about the fact that patients with hearing loss can’t be accurately tested during speech therapy unless they have their hearing loss treated (with hearing aids, for instance).  That means untreated hearing loss can delay the whole process of recovering after something like a stroke!  Sitting down and talking things over with my classmates really helped me understand how important access to sound is to brain recovery, and that understanding brought me to audiology.  I want to give every patient access to the sounds of their lives, because that’s what they need to succeed.  It is critical.”

In order to give her patients access to sound, Dr. MacCrae uses research-based techniques to ensure accurate test results, then uses those test results to create individualized settings in any given patient’s hearing devices.

“If a patient of mine decides to use hearing aids, it’s my goal to get them as close to ‘normal’ hearing as possible.  Sometimes they end up hearing sounds they’d totally forgotten about, like a clicking turn signal in their car.  I love when a patient comes in raving about something new that they’re hearing, because that means we’ve opened up a whole new world for their brain to explore.”

When she is not seeing patients, Dr. MacCrae enjoys baking for her friends and coworkers, doing embroidery, and reading books on linguistics.