Advice on shadowing?

[sav0k]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and just recently switched from pre-med to pre-opt and have a few questions I was hoping someone could answer.

I was curious as to what kind of experiences I should be looking for when working at an optometry office? I found a doctor who will let me shadow him, and he also offered me an opportunity to work at his office. But I'm not sure what kind of work to expect because this is my first time working at a clinic. The doctor was nice enough to ask me what kind of work I'd like to do, so I was hoping you guys could advise me on what kind of work experience I should request from the doctor?

Thanks!

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[JMU07]

When I started working for my OD, I was working in his office doing all the pretesting + busywork.. also was trained on the visual field and teaching people how to wear contacts. The summer after, they put me in the optical and I learned SO much more... I didn't think I would, but you really learn a lot there. We had a lab so not only did I learn how to fit all types of glasses but I got to learn how to edge. Of course, if you're actually shadowing you'll learn a ton.. but, I had a lot of fun in the optical.

 

[eyepoker]

It's to your own benefit if you can work in an OD's office, because you actually participate and the things that you learn stick with you more. And the more you learn before you start school, the better I think.

I know that most pre-opt are still in undergrad, but if you can try to find working for an optometrist, and maybe even shadow a few others that do different things--like low vision or visual therapy, this will also strength your app even more, and you have more to say during interviews.

I am guessing that if you only have limited available hours, they may not want to give you too much clinical responsibilities (I could be wrong), but you will probably have to start from learning to do the paper work stuff, which I think is very important bc you can learn how the clinic operates this way, and all the insurance stuffs are important as well. The clinical aspects will come later, but it also depends on how flexible the OD is--if s/he is willing to let you be more hands-on with pts...etc.

 

[alferec]

You should definitely learn all of the pre-testing procedures that the doc's opticians/assistants do (if he/she has any). That can include autorefraction, visual field screenings, non-contact tonometry (the "air puff"), etc. Also get into all of the optical stuff, including glasses fittings, adjustments, etc. Learn what face shapes are best for what type of frame. Get into the fabrication lab (if the doc has one) and learn all about how they make glasses and how they analyze lenses. To add to what eyepoker said, it won't hurt either to learn about the different insurances that are out there. And of course, sit in some of the doctor's exams. Lots of the exam probably won't make sense to you, but it helps to see what the doctor does in the exam room; if you have questions it would be best to write them down then ask after the doc is done with the patient. If the doctor has time, ask him/her how to do the simple initial tests like visual acuities, measuring pupillary distance, cover test, ocular motility, NPC, stereo, color vision. Ask the doc why these tests are important. Hope this helps!