are shadowing hours necessary?

[aosos1]

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Hello, I am currently a sophomore and I was wondering if shadowing hours are necessary. I have only shadowed 2 doctors & they only allowed me to shadow for 1 day each and I worked at an optometrists office as a receptionist for about 2 months & I learned a lot about vision insurance.

 

[evorage]

Shadowing hours can be necessary or optional, just depends on the school. It would be in your best interest to shadow a handful of doctors so you have that experience on your applications.

 

[itsindigo]

Shadowing at a variety of places really helped my competitiveness as an applicant. (private practice, combined optometrist/ophthalmologist practice, commercial practice etc). At a lot of my interviews I was asked what I learned from my shadowing experiences so in my opinion the more the better!!

 

[Snakedoctor1]

Shadow for you, there is a lot you can learn before deciding to dedicate your professional life to a particular profession.

 

[AcademicEyes]

Not necessary, but how else will you demonstrate that you are familiar with optometry and everything the career may entail?