51Âþ»­

A woman who balanced bringing up her young son with studying for an Audiology Degree at 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) has won a prestigious national award.

Lindsey Tutaj so impressed during a work placement that was part of her BSc degree course that she has been presented with the British Academy of Audiology’s Lisa Bayliss Award.

Audiology lecturer Jeff Davies with Lindsey Tutaj.

The award, presented in memory of a 20-year-old student audiologist who died in 1992 while working at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, is given to someone who is judged to have performed the best during their BSc placement.

Lindsey graduated from 51Âþ»­ last July and is now working at Burton Hospitals NHS Trust as a qualified audiologist, helping people who have hearing problems.

“The course at 51Âþ»­ pushed me further than I ever thought I was capable of,” she said.

But it wasn’t easy for the 27-year-old, who started her degree in 2013 and lives in Nottingham with her husband Jimmy and son Arion, who is six.      

“Studying audiology at 51Âþ»­ required a lot of hard work and dedication and I gave my all to my studies,” she said.

“Luckily, my husband was extremely supportive during my time at university, which made things a lot easier for me.

“However, as he works seven days a week, it made it even more important that I effectively managed my time as efficiently as possible as I only had evenings to study and I had to spend every spare minute I had on my uni work.

“I believe that if I can do it then anyone can as long as they are willing to put the effort in.” 

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Lindsey did her final year placement training at Nottingham Audiology Services and chose a tough topic for her dissertation, based on a challenging scoping review linked to tinnitus research.

So good was her work that she was asked to present it at a large international tinnitus conference, alongside globally renowned experts.

In nominating her for the award, 51Âþ»­ Audiology lecturer Jeff Davies said: “She stood out as a truly remarkable student, having to balance her studies alongside her busy home life as a young mother.

“Not only did she manage to achieve this, she excelled beyond all expectations.”

Another 51Âþ»­ Audiology graduate, Layla Mohamed, who is now working at the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, was also shortlisted for the Lisa Bayliss Award because of her outstanding placement work.