The Oregon Hearing Aid Specialist license, issued by the Oregon Health Authority’s Health Licensing Office (HLO) with the Advisory Council on Hearing Aids, under Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 694, authorizes the holder to deal in hearing aids in Oregon. Three examinations stand behind it, and all three must be passed: the International Hearing Society written examination, the state-prepared Oregon laws and rules exam, and the state-prepared practical exam. The route to them runs through a registered traineeship and a supervised training program, then a temporary license. The PassProfessor Oregon Hearing Aid Specialist program prepares candidates for that examination set. The companion exam guide at /oregon-hearing-instrument-specialist-exam-guide/ works through the same verified facts in greater depth.
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What this credential certifies
A licensed Oregon Hearing Aid Specialist tests hearing for the purpose of fitting hearing aids, takes earmold impressions, selects, fits, and verifies hearing aids, and counsels the people who will wear them. The work joins clinical measurement to a physical craft: audiometric testing performed accurately and posted correctly, masking applied when the two ears would otherwise be confused, an impression that captures the ear safely and completely, and a fitting verified against the wearer’s actual hearing.
The license is Oregon’s full, independent credential for this work. It is not a diagnostic or medical credential: the specialist’s examined territory is measurement, fitting, and lawful dealing in hearing aids, under the standards of practice in the Oregon Administrative Rules. Oregon tests the occupation three separate ways — general professional knowledge, Oregon law, and performed skill — and a preparation that answers only one of the three is incomplete by design.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Oregon Hearing Aid Specialist, the Health Licensing Office license for dealing in hearing aids in Oregon |
| Licensing authority | Oregon Health Authority, Health Licensing Office (HLO), with the Advisory Council on Hearing Aids; Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 694 and Oregon Administrative Rules Chapter 331, Divisions 630–680 |
| Examination | Three examinations, all required: (1) the International Hearing Society (IHS) Written International Licensing Examination (ILE) — 80 scored and 25 non-scored pilot multiple-choice questions, two hours; (2) the state-prepared written Oregon laws and rules exam — 20 multiple-choice questions, 30 minutes; (3) the state-prepared practical exam, in four sections covering audiometric posting, testing and masking, earmold impressions, hearing aid fitting and selection, and hearing aid verification |
| Passing standard | Oregon laws and rules exam: a score of 70 percent or higher, as published by the Health Licensing Office. No percentage pass mark for the ILE or the practical exam is published on the Office sources verified for this page, and none is printed |
| Examination fees | Fees established by the Office in rule: Oregon laws and rules exam $50, written exam $150, practical exam $175 |
| Training | Hearing Aid Specialist Training (HAST) program: 520 hours of practical training under the direct supervision of a Registered Trainee Supervisor, plus completion of the IHS Distance Learning Program for Professionals in Hearing Health Sciences |
| Route | Trainee Registration → HAST training → Temporary License → the three examinations → Hearing Aid Specialist license (one-year term) |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Oregon Health Authority, the Health Licensing Office, the Advisory Council on Hearing Aids, or the International Hearing Society |
Not the license: the Trainee Registration and the Temporary License
Oregon runs this credential as a staged route, and the stages are routinely confused. The Trainee Registration is the entry document: it authorizes the holder to obtain experience and training under the direct supervision of a qualified trainee supervisor — direct supervision meaning the supervisor is in view of the procedures the trainee performs. The registration is valid for one year, cannot be renewed, and becomes invalid once the training program is completed; a Declaration of Responsibility signed by the supervisor must reach the Office before training begins. The Temporary License comes after the training: an individual who has completed the 520 hours and the IHS Distance Learning Program may apply for a temporary license, which authorizes practice under the indirect supervision of a licensed specialist while the holder completes the examinations. It is valid for one year, may be renewed once, and becomes invalid upon passage of the three examinations. Only the Hearing Aid Specialist License itself is the independent credential. Preparation aimed at the examinations belongs in the second half of that sequence — after the training has built the underlying skills, and alongside the supervised practice the temporary license permits.
What the examination covers
Oregon examines in three distinct registers, and a complete preparation addresses each on its own terms.
The written examination — the ILE. The International Licensing Examination, offered by the International Hearing Society, is the general professional-knowledge paper for the occupation. It consists of 80 scored and 25 non-scored pilot multiple-choice questions — pilot items IHS is collecting data on, indistinguishable from scored items — with two hours to complete it, separated into ten competency areas based on the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for safe and effective practice. Applicants must obtain authorization from the Health Licensing Office before registering through IHS, the exam is offered at authorized testing centers throughout Oregon, and official results are sent directly by IHS to the Office, which notifies candidates of a pass or fail based on overall examination performance.
The laws and rules exam — Oregon’s own paper. The state-prepared written Oregon laws and rules exam consists of 20 multiple-choice questions with a time limit of 30 minutes, and passing requires a score of 70 percent or higher. It covers the regulations for Hearing Aid Specialists in the Advisory Council on Hearing Aids’ Oregon Administrative Rules; the Office publishes a laws and rules examination information bulletin for it, and testing hours at the Office are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Twenty questions in thirty minutes is a short paper with no room for a weak area: each question carries five percent of the score, and the 70 percent standard means a candidate can miss very few.
The practical exam — performed, in four sections. The state-prepared practical examination is used to determine the qualification, fitness, and ability of an applicant to practice as a hearing aid specialist, and it is given by appointment only, with the exam application and all requirements received at the Office 30 days before the scheduled date. Its four sections are timed as follows: Audiometric Posting, Testing and Masking, in three segments — posting, 15 minutes; audiometric testing, 50 minutes; masking, 40 minutes; Earmold Impressions, 20 minutes; Hearing Aid Fitting and Selection, 20 minutes; and Hearing Aid Verification, 15 minutes. Before an individual can apply to take the practical, they must have completed the training program, or meet the alternative statutory training routes the rules name. This is not a paper about skill; it is skill, performed in segments against the clock.
What makes this examination demanding
The first demand is breadth across three unlike instruments. The ILE tests the profession’s shared knowledge at licensing depth; the laws and rules exam tests Oregon’s own administrative rules, a body of material no national preparation covers; and the practical tests the candidate’s hands. A study plan built for one register does not transfer whole to the others, and Oregon requires all three — there is no component a strong performance elsewhere can excuse.
The second demand is the training clock underneath the examinations. The Hearing Aid Specialist Training program must be completed in no less than six months and no more than one year, and its 520 hours are allocated, not general: 60 hours each in audiometric testing, counseling regarding hearing examination, hearing aid selection, and earmold impressions; 180 in hearing aid fitting and follow-up care; 60 in business practices, including ethics and regulations and sanitation and infection control; and 40 elective hours in the clinical categories. The Trainee Registration that carries those hours lasts one year and cannot be renewed, so training, distance learning, and examination preparation must be planned as one timeline.
The third demand is sequence and supervision. Training may not begin before the Office has received the trainee’s Declaration of Responsibility; the temporary license requires a completed Certification of Training; the practical requires its application 30 days ahead; and the ILE requires Office authorization before IHS registration. Each document is a gate on the next sitting.
The route, in order
Step one — register as a trainee. Apply to the Health Licensing Office with proof of age, identification, and secondary education, and complete the Trainee Registration Agreement and Declaration of Responsibility required by ORS 694.065(2), signed by a qualified trainee supervisor — a hearing aid specialist, or an audiologist, licensed and actively practicing for at least four years — who may supervise no more than four trainees at a time. Step two — complete the training: the 520 allocated hours under the supervisor’s direct supervision, in no less than six months and no more than one year, plus the IHS Distance Learning Program, with the Certification of Training completed at the end. Step three — the Temporary License: apply with proof of the completed training, and practice under a licensed specialist’s indirect supervision — the supervisor approves the temporary licensee’s work before a recommended hearing aid is ordered — while completing the examinations. The temporary license is valid for one year and may be renewed once. Step four — pass the three examinations: the ILE, on Office authorization, at an authorized testing center; the Oregon laws and rules exam, to the published 70 percent standard; and the state practical, by appointment, in its four timed sections. Retakes are disciplined rather than open-ended — the laws and rules exam carries a staged waiting schedule that lengthens with repeated failures, and after four unsuccessful practical attempts an applicant must request the Council’s permission to sit again. Step five — the license: apply for the Hearing Aid Specialist License itself, with proof of having passed the examinations within the currency the rules require — on the training pathway, within two years of the application date — together with the application fee, proof of being at least 18 years of age, and a high school diploma or GED certificate. The rules also recognize alternative pathways for applicants whose training or credentials were earned outside the standard route, each of which still requires the three Oregon examinations.
Staying licensed: the working credential
The Oregon license runs on a one-year term and becomes inactive on the last day of the month one year from issuance; renewal requires the renewal application, the renewal fee, and documentation of the required annual continuing education. That continuing education is at least 12 hours every year, obtained through an accredited college or university, an IHS-approved course or program, or an Office pre-approved course or program, addressing subject matter related to dealing in hearing aids — with a two-hour course in safety and infection control once every two years, no carry-forward of excess hours, and documentation kept for two years after renewal against the Office’s audits. A license may sit inactive for up to three years, with continuing education still obtained for each year; beyond three years it is expired and the applicant reapplies under the current requirements. The licensee’s daily practice is governed by the same body of rules the laws and rules exam tested — service-area and infection-control standards, annual calibration of audiometric equipment with a daily biologic check before use, and the testing that must precede a fitting.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Built to the Oregon examination set, component by component. The program is organised on the Office and Council’s three examinations as Oregon publishes them: the ILE’s ten competency areas of professional knowledge; the Oregon laws and rules exam’s territory in the Chapter 331 rules, taught as Oregon law to the published 70 percent standard; and the state practical’s four sections — audiometric posting, testing and masking, earmold impressions, fitting and selection, and verification — prepared as performed, timed skills.
The route, taught as part of the subject. Oregon candidates lose time to sequence more than to content: a Declaration of Responsibility not yet received, a training year that expires with hours unbalanced across the required categories, a practical application filed inside its 30-day deadline. The program teaches the Trainee Registration → training → Temporary License → examinations → license sequence as the Office publishes it, so the candidate’s training, sittings, and applications are planned as one timeline.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Oregon Health Authority, the Health Licensing Office, the Advisory Council on Hearing Aids, or the International Hearing Society. This program is not an Office or IHS course, confers no registration, license, or training hours, and satisfies no part of the HAST program or the IHS Distance Learning Program; the Office alone licenses, and candidates apply, train, and test through the Office and IHS.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Oregon Hearing Aid Specialist program is in the works as PassProfessor expands its catalog of health examination preparation, and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program. No date is promised, because the program will open when it meets the standard described above, not before.
Frequently asked questions
Who issues the Oregon Hearing Aid Specialist license?
The Oregon Health Authority’s Health Licensing Office, with the Advisory Council on Hearing Aids, under Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 694 and Oregon Administrative Rules Chapter 331, Divisions 630–680.
How many examinations must an Oregon candidate pass?
Three, and all three are required: the IHS Written International Licensing Examination (ILE), the state-prepared written Oregon laws and rules exam, and the state-prepared practical exam.
How many questions are on the ILE, and how long does it take?
105 multiple-choice questions in two hours: 80 scored and 25 non-scored pilot questions, which candidates cannot distinguish from the scored items. The examination is separated into ten competency areas.
What score passes the Oregon laws and rules exam?
A score of 70 percent or higher, as published by the Health Licensing Office. The exam itself is 20 multiple-choice questions with a 30-minute time limit.
Is a passing percentage published for the ILE or the Oregon practical exam?
No percentage pass mark for either appears on the Office sources verified for this page, and none is printed here. For the ILE, the Office notifies candidates of a pass or fail based on their overall examination performance, on results sent directly by IHS to the Office.
What training does Oregon require before the Temporary License?
The Hearing Aid Specialist Training program: 520 hours of practical training under a Registered Trainee Supervisor’s direct supervision — allocated across audiometric testing, counseling, hearing aid selection, earmold impressions, fitting and follow-up care, business practices, and electives — completed in no less than six months and no more than one year, plus the IHS Distance Learning Program for Professionals in Hearing Health Sciences.
What does the Oregon practical exam cover, and how is it timed?
Four sections: Audiometric Posting, Testing and Masking in three segments (15, 50, and 40 minutes), Earmold Impressions (20 minutes), Hearing Aid Fitting and Selection (20 minutes), and Hearing Aid Verification (15 minutes). It is given by appointment only, and the application and all requirements must reach the Office 30 days before the scheduled date.
How long is the Oregon license term, and what continuing education applies?
One year. Renewal requires at least 12 hours of continuing education every year from an accredited college or university, an IHS-approved program, or an Office pre-approved program — including a two-hour safety and infection control course once every two years — with no carry-forward of excess hours.
What happens if I do not pass the laws and rules exam?
Oregon’s staged retake schedule applies: retake on the Office’s next business day after each of the first three failed attempts, a seven-calendar-day wait after the fourth, fifth, and sixth, and a case-by-case determination by the Office or Council after the seventh.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Health Licensing Office or IHS?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. The Office alone licenses, and IHS offers the written examination and the Distance Learning Program.
When does enrollment open?
The program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address on this page and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.