When Patricia Nascimento arrived in New Zealand in 2015, she had more than 15 years of experience as an audiologist behind her.
But she didn’t speak English.
For someone who had built a career around listening, communicating and helping others, suddenly finding herself unable to communicate easily with the people around her was a profound change.
“I went from being an experienced professional to feeling like I had to start again from the beginning,” Patricia says.
Growing up in São Paulo, Brazil, Patricia initially chose to study Speech-Language Therapy. Soon after beginning her studies, however, she discovered audiology.
“I immediately fell in love with the subject, and from that point on, audiology became my focus.”
After graduating, Patricia began working in hearing assessment and diagnosis and later completed a postgraduate qualification in audiology. By then, audiology was firmly established as her profession.
Life, however, was about to take her in a very different direction.
After marrying and having two daughters, Patricia and her husband became increasingly concerned about raising their family in Brazil. In 2015, they made the enormous decision to leave behind their established lives and move to New Zealand.
“It was one of the hardest periods of my life,” she says. “For the first time, I was far away from my family and friends, and I couldn’t communicate easily with the people around me.”
Unable to immediately continue the career she knew, Patricia concentrated on learning English and found work caring for elderly residents at a rest home.
What could have simply been a job while she established herself in New Zealand became an important chapter in her life.
“It was challenging work, but also incredibly rewarding. I developed strong relationships with the residents and their families and learned a lot about patience, compassion and the importance of simply being there for someone.”
Patricia eventually progressed to an assistant manager position and began to wonder whether her career in audiology was permanently behind her.
Then audiology found her again.
While accompanying a rest home resident to Ear Health for earwax removal, Patricia met Dr Søren Thompson. During their conversation, she mentioned that she was an audiologist.
Søren showed her around the clinic and encouraged her to consider returning to the profession.
“That conversation changed my life,” Patricia says.
A few years later, she was once again working as an audiologist.
Returning after a long break meant learning the requirements of practising in New Zealand, familiarising herself with new hearing technology and adapting to different approaches to hearing care. Søren and fellow Ear Health audiologist Ron Trounson supported her through the transition.
“I found myself fascinated all over again by hearing technology and, most importantly, by how we can use it to make a real difference in someone’s everyday life.”
Her years away from audiology also gave Patricia something that couldn’t be learned from a textbook.
Working closely with elderly people reinforced the importance of patience, listening and understanding the individual behind the hearing loss—qualities that now sit at the heart of her approach to audiology.
“Every client is different. Everyone has their own story, their own challenges and their own reasons for wanting to hear better,” she says.
“Hearing loss isn’t simply about not hearing sounds—it can affect relationships, confidence, independence and the ability to participate in everyday life.”
For Patricia, that means understanding what someone wants to regain before considering which technology might help them achieve it.
“A good audiologist needs strong technical knowledge, but a great audiologist also needs to be a good listener,” she says.
“Sometimes the most important thing isn’t the hearing aid itself; it’s understanding what that person wants to get back into their life.”
That might mean following conversations around the dinner table, hearing grandchildren more clearly, enjoying television again or simply feeling more confident talking with others.
Looking back, Patricia’s journey has taken her somewhere she could never have anticipated as a young audiology student in São Paulo.
She left Brazil to build a new future for her family, arrived in New Zealand unable to speak English, established herself in an entirely different career and, through a chance visit to Ear Health, eventually found her way back to the profession she had loved from the beginning.
“Coming back to audiology in New Zealand has given me a new appreciation for the field,” Patricia says.
“And perhaps that’s what keeps me passionate about audiology after all these years: every person I meet gives me another opportunity to make a difference.”
Well done Patricia.