The George S. Osborne College of Audiology Alumna of the Year is Emily McMahan, AuD ‘13.
“It was quite a surprise and an honor to be recognized by my program for my work beyond Salus’ walls,” said Dr. McMahan. “I have placed countless hours, time, and dedication into my tinnitus work.”
Dr. McMahan was nominated for the award by Jonette Owens, AuD ‘03, MHA, FNAP, CH-A, associate dean for Clinical Education at Osborne Audiology, Salus at Drexel University, who said that what’s not readily evident on Dr. McMahan’s resume is the number of individuals upon which she has had a positive impact.
“While driven from within, success for Dr. McMahan is not focused on self-advancement. In its purest sense, success is making her patients’ lives better and helping other audiologists provide gold-standard care to their patients as well,” said Dr. Owens.
She added cited Dr. McMahan’s passion for the field of Audiology and how she continues to be a role model for the future of Audiology that makes her stand out.
“Dr. McMahan has never forgotten her path to becoming an audiologist. She regularly opens her doors to audiology students who want to train under her direction. I say doors because Dr. McMahan understands that being a healthcare provider involves more than providing excellent patient care. Dr. McMahan exemplifies that being well-rounded enhances one’s ability to extend oneself to others while caring for oneself and their family,” said Dr. Owens.
Dr. McMahan has had a lifelong interest in tinnitus, or “ringing in the ears.” When she entered the University’s Doctor of Audiology program, there was still much to learn about tinnitus.
While at OCA, she was fortunate to be in an Audiology program that included a tinnitus management course, which was a rarity at the time. OCA’s connections with community practices allowed Dr. McMahan to experience multiple rotations and receive mentorship from Dr. Gail Brenner, an award-winning Audiologist and Tinnitus Specialist at the Tinnitus Treatment Center of Philadelphia.
After completing her residency in Alaska in 2013, Dr. McMahan chose to stay there. In 2015, she founded the Alaska Hearing and Tinnitus Center, a full-service diagnostic private practice with an emphasis on serving patients with tinnitus. She also hosts Doctor of Audiology students for externships from OCA in her clinical facility. She has branched out into 11-plus states and 20-plus locations for remote field clinics and heavily utilizes telehealth services.
Currently Dr. McMahan is now leading groundbreaking Tinnitus research. She is part of the first real-world analysis of treated with Lenire, the only FDA-approved bimodal neuromodulation treatment device for tinnitus. She is one of 15 healthcare professionals in the United States who have been trained to implement the Lenire treatment device. Her manuscript, co-authored with Hubert Lim, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Neuromodulation at the University of Minnesota, is titled “Effectiveness of Bimodal Neuromodulation for Tinnitus Treatment in Real-World Clinical Settings in the United States.” Most recently, the work has been published in the Nature Communications Medicine journal.
“Receiving both the Alumni of the Year award at the same time when my real-world patient outcomes were published in prestigious medical journals has been a humbling and rewarding experience,” said Dr. McMahan. “I can hardly believe it.”
