It would be fair to observe that Michelle Pokorny loves sounds.
The kind of sounds that tamariki with impaired hearing get to wonder at when they get the right treatment from one of Counties Manukau’s fine audiologists and ENT specialists.
Michelle is an advanced clinical audiologist practitioner, with a 23-year career in helping people with their hearing. She’s a key part of the audiology team working at the Manukau Superclinic and helps manage a big caseload of young patients – many of them with the affliction of glue ear – a major barrier to children in their living and learning.
“I did my PhD in Australia,” says Michelle, “and I was looking at redesigning outpatient services and the ear nose and throat departments, which are incredibly busy services.
“I love the diversity of my roles and the fact that I can really make a difference in the lives of children. Every day is different and you get to really connect with families”
Michelle says a special part of her work is following up tamariki who are fitted with hearing aids – often connecting over a number of years.
“You develop a special relationship with those whaanau – because it’s not just about a quick procedure and a discharge.”
She appreciates the highly collegial working environment at Counties and loves the support she gets with flexible working hours – managing a household with five children and a husband who is also a Counties doctor.
“Innovation and research in this workplace are very important to me – I relish the new technologies and ways of working that are coming on-stream to treat patients more effectively. We are getting much more efficient in seeing patients earlier.”
Michelle feels her future will probably largely revolve around promoting and developing the way audiologists do their jobs.
Michelle Pokorny
Clinical Audiologist Practitioner