10 Fun Facts about Dr. Curtis
1. She is married to Daniel and has two children (Zach and Ellie), 2 cats, and a dog
2. She is a Mentor High School graduate
3. She originally wanted to be a band director and was a music education major at Youngstown State University (from where she graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in music)
4. She worked at Camp Sue Osborn as an aide/counselor for 7 summers
5. She is the oldest child and the oldest grandchild on both sides, and almost her entire family lives in northeast Ohio
6. Her first audiology job was in Lakeland, Florida. She and Daniel miss having season passes to their favorite place, Walt Disney World!
7. She spent a summer living and interning at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA – this is where Helen Keller went to school!
8. Her favorite place to live has been Knoxville, Tennessee where she participated as an AmeriCorps VISTA then attended graduate school.
9. She and Daniel are huge Cleveland Cavaliers fans and spend most evenings during the season watching the games – go Cavs!
10. She enjoys watching TV and singing showtunes – to herself, of course! You might catch her humming some of her favorites!
Experience
Dr. Curtis is a member of the Concord Township community and a native Lake County resident. Through high school she was heavily involved with music (band, orchestra, choir) and theater. She was also a volunteer at Camp Sue Osborn, a residential camp for youths who are differently abled. She is a Mentor High School graduate.
After graduating with a degree in psychology, she began to explore graduate school options and after reflection upon her interests and strengths, began her graduate program in Audiology in 2015. In her program she focused largely on pediatrics and had experiences in public schools, a school for the deaf, and aural rehabilitative care. She had a summer internship at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts where she spent five weeks with students in the deafblind program (in preschool, primary school, and residential settings). Her doctoral research was related to vestibular dysfunction related to CHARGE syndrome.
She was fortunate to spend her 4th (final) year externship at a VA hospital which serendipitously changed her focus. Though she did not originally intend on working with adults, this externship was a gift as it rounded out Dr. Curtis’s education, allowed her to realize her skills for selection and fitting of hearing aids, and allowed her to realize that she was best suited to be a general practice audiologist providing care to patients of all ages
Her first “real” job was as an audiologist at Central Florida Speech and Hearing Center in Lakeland, Florida. Here she performed and accomplished the following:
- Provided diagnostic and rehabilitative hearing healthcare services for infants through geriatrics including many individuals (both youth and adult) with disabilities
- Coordinated rural hearing screening programs for preschool children through a United Way Grant
- Planned and executed screenings for adult group home programs and charter elementary schools.
In the fall of 2014 she relocated back to northeast Ohio where she spent 3 years employed at University Hospitals of Cleveland. In this position, she:
- Enjoyed participating in the care of medically complex cases and diverse patient populations.
- Found working with the otolaryngology team, particularly the pediatric ENTs, to be of significant on-the-job education
- Grew in her expertise and confidence and found great fulfillment in being a clinical preceptor for audiology doctoral students
- Performed a clinical research study (along with Dr. Kelsey Krueger and Dr. Gail Murray) about utilizing hearing aid trials in the hearing aid selection process. This research was presented both in the United States and Canada and has been utilized for continuing education purposes.
It was during her next position at CVS Hearing Center that she developed the courage to do what had been in her heart for so long – open her own practice! She feels so fortunate to have found her “soulmate” profession and to have learned skills along the way to bring me to this next step on her journey.
Education:
- High School: Mentor High School (class of 2000)
- Undergraduate: Youngstown State University, B.A. in Psychology (class of 2004)
- Graduate: University of Tennessee, Clinical Doctorate in Audiology (Au.D.) (class of 2010)
Clinical Experience:
- 2008 - 3rd Year Summer Internship
- Perkins School for the Blind (deafblind program)
Watertown, MA