Grace Shyng, BA’91, MSc’95

Grace Shyng (she/her) is a Registered Audiologist and Hearing Instrument Practitioner. Grace is qualified to provide hearing assessments; hearing aid services; tinnitus management services; cerumen management (fancy word for earwax removal); custom noise, musician or swim plugs; and communication accessibility consultations, where she explores ways to help make employment, educational, and social listening environments more communication-friendly. (Think of the last time you were at a meeting or restaurant and couldn’t hear what everyone said. Grace can help with that!). She is a proud UBC alumna: B.A. (1991 – Speech Sciences) and M.Sc. (1995 – Audiology). Grace is also passionate about clinical education: she has been a Clinical Assistant Professor with the UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences since 2001, and in 2009 she was honored to be the inaugural recipient of the School’s Noelle Lamb Award for Excellence in Clinical Education.

Grace is a true Vancouverite, having been born and raised in Vancouver. She also loves creative writing, travelling, and hiking friendly trails with her family and Shiba Inu dog.

What drew you to the Master of Science – Audiology program at UBC?

I’ve always had an interest in sciences, language arts, and psychology, and at one point I considered a career in Law. But then I heard about Audiology which was a field that combined the background of science and communications, so I was intrigued. I was also very close with my maternal grandmother and I really enjoyed spending time with seniors. The field of Audiology was a perfect fit for this.

What is your favorite memory from your time at UBC?

I have many favourite memories, but it’s the year of firsts that stand out for me. As tough as first year at UBC was (First year Calculus and Physics – ouch!), I met amazing people and made lifelong friendships, including the one who became my husband. In my first year of my graduate Master’s degree in Audiology at UBC, my world expanded even more, setting me on a professional journey that continues to pay back and pay forward year after year.

What has been your journey since graduating from UBC?

Since graduation, I have worn many hats. Early on in my career, I participated in a very interesting project for Rotary International. In the summers of 1998 and 1999, I travelled to Zimbabwe with a Rotary International Hearing Health Care team where we provided audiology services across the country and trained local professionals on hearing health service delivery.

Two of my most notable and proudest positions have been for a non-profit hearing clinic based in Vancouver. From 1999 to 2018, I was their Head of Audiology, where I grew the department from 2 clinicians to an 11-member group of brilliant, stellar clinicians. Our team developed an excellent reputation, and we received many accolades for our clinical services and clinical education. From 2018 to 2020, I served as their Interim Executive Director and during that stint, I successfully led a $16 million capital project where we built the most accessible building in Canada, as awarded by the Rick Hansen Foundation.

From 2021 onwards, I worked for a private hearing clinic in Surrey, and also joined the Academic Coordinators of Clinical Education (ACCE) Team at the UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, (SASS), Faculty of Medicine. As part of the UBC SASS ACCE team, I helped to develop and coordinate a very successful student-led hearing clinic that provided hearing assessments to clients from the UBC community and beyond.

Most recently, in August 2022, I founded a private practice hearing clinic with a longtime colleague and fellow Audiologist. Network Hearing Health is a dream come true for us, and we’re excited to build a modern hearing clinic that is true to our values and our 25-year working history together. We are both passionate about the profession of audiology and strongly believe that the management of hearing loss is not a quick fix, but it’s best supported over the lifetime with the help of knowledgeable and trusted Audiologists. My areas of professional interest include clinical education, hearing health and aging, amplification and aural rehabilitation and communication accessibility. I’m active on several professional audiology committees at both the local and national level.

What do you find most interesting about a career in audiology?

Audiology provides me the opportunity to combine my interests in the sciences, language arts, psychology, and counselling into one rewarding profession. Hearing is the less-noticed cousin to the other senses of sight and touch and is often overlooked. But hearing is what connects us to each other; it’s the conduit that creates the sense of belonging and inclusiveness with our social, family, educational or work networks. Audiology is a field where you can develop close bonds with your clients and share in their joys and successes. It is deeply moving moment when you switch on a hearing aid for someone who hasn’t heard for a long while, and to watch their eyes and face light up when they realize they are hearing the babble from their little granddaughter sitting across from them.

Where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration in both my colleagues and my clients. My colleagues, with their patience and unlimited curiosity to query, seek, and find solutions to help people manage their hearing losses, and from my clients, particularly my seniors, who share inspiring stories of the trials and tribulations they have overcome in their life journeys.

How has your identity affected your perspective on the field of audiology and your future pursuits? 

Growing up as a Vancouverite, and as a first generation Chinese Canadian, I’ve realized the importance of that term, “it takes a village.” I attribute my successes in my personal and professional life to my sense of belonging with community from my family, friends, and colleagues. The field of audiology focuses a lot on connectedness with other people in one’s network, whether it familial, social, vocational or educational. When work with clients, I explore how their hearing loss has impacted any sphere of a person’s life and what we can do together to help them reconnect with their community and their network.

What is one thing you hope to accomplish?

I hope to raise more awareness of the importance of hearing health. We all know to get baseline tests for our eyes, our teeth, and we do annual physicals. But what about our hearing? Most people don’t even think about getting their hearing tested until they realize they are having trouble. Hearing is what connects you to another human being. You can look at a vacation photo and remember that fun moment fondly, but if you playback a video or an audio message, and hear the voices, the laughter, and the sounds of that moment, you will be transported right back to that place in time.

What does a healthy society mean to you?

A healthy society is one in which everyone has equitable access to health services and opportunities for growth and wellness, so that people can achieve their greatest potential regardless of their background or abilities and feel a strong sense of belonging and inclusiveness with their community.

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