Saira Hussain

Board Lead for Education
The BAA Board Director for Education provides strategic leadership in this portfolio area, supported by relevant subcommittees. They are responsible for representing the BAA on education matters and advising the Board and wider stakeholders (as required) on education issues. The Director works closely with Higher Education Institutions and other training providers to support and strengthen audiology education. Additionally, they lead the development of a work plan for the Education subcommittees (as outlined below), aligning their activities with BAA’s annual and strategic objectives. The Director may also represent the BAA on external groups as appointed by the Board.

Sub-Committees Overview:

• The Education Team includes three active sub-committees:
  Early Professionals, Work-Based Learning, and Research. The Education team are also working to support the formation of a Hearing Therapy Committee.

Key Objectives:

1. Early Professionals Sub-Committee
   – Contribute Early Professional-focused articles to every edition of the BAA magazine.
   – Continue developing resources for early professionals through the website, magazine, and podcasts.

2. Work-Based Learning Sub-Committee
   – Conduct and share interviews with clinical supervisors about their experiences supporting students, expanding on previous research into trainee perspectives.
   – Support ongoing research into student supervisor experiences.

3. Research Sub-Committee
   – Create research-focused materials for clinicians to be hosted on the e-learning platform.

   Additional Activity:
   – Publish the BAA Scope of Practice document
   – The Education Team will maintain representation at HCPC education meetings to ensure BAA input into the development of regulatory frameworks.

About Saira
Saira graduated with a BSc (Hons) Audiology from the University of Bristol in 2013, and the STP MSc Clinical Science in 2016 from the University of Manchester. Saira is a registered Clinical Scientist and Senior Fellow of Advance HE. She works in Higher Education at Aston University, Birmingham, teaching across the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes offered. Saira also leads Aston’s Audiology Interprofessional Learning (IPL) activities within the College of Health and Life Sciences. Saira is engaged with university pedagogy networks and research, having completed her Masters in Education in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. She has a particular focus on student engagement and learning, paediatric audiology experiences, and lived experience of hearing loss. 

Saira is undertaking a second term as BAA Board Director, where she wants to ensure that students, young professionals, and those underrepresented in the audiology field have a voice and benefit from BAA membership. Outside of audiology, Saira enjoys travelling and completed the ’30 countries by 30’ challenge!