Having a hard time finding a doc to shadow

[hye345]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi all. I have recently been considering optometry as a career choice, and have tried to find a doc to shadow for a day or so. However, after contacting 4 docs (through email) and explaining my situation, none of them have replied back (not even to say 'no'). Am I doing something wrong here, or am I just unlucky in that I have only been contacting the bitter ones so far?

 

[sabrina85]

I was having trouble finding a dentist to shadow a while back. I made some copies of my resume and drove around to every office I saw and talked to the dentist about shadowing or left my resume with the receptionist.

It didn't take very long for me to find someone willing to let me shadow.

 

[RegularGuy]

Try asking in person or over the phone. It's easy to say "no" to an email. More difficult over the phone. Pretty darn hard if the person visits in person and makes a good impression.

Also, try visiting your optometrist that you normally go to. Saying, "Hi, I've been a patient for 3 years, and have always felt that you were a great optometrist. Could I shadow you for a bit?"

Then, when you visit, go to lunch with the optometrist. (I usually pay for it as a nice gesture.) Although you'll ask questions about optometry, try to get to know the person personally. At the end, say, "Wow, I really learned a lot through this visit, but I'm curious to see how other offices are different/similar. Do you know of any other optometrists who might allow me to shadow them?" If they like you, they might refer you to their friends.

Also, ask your friends/family who their optometrists are. Then, call them and say, "Hi, my roommate Colin told me that you've been his optometrist for 2 years and he's always been impressed by your work. Could I shadow you for a few hours?"

This is how I was able to shadow 5 different optometrists.

Oh, and don't forget to send a hand written thank you note shortly after your visit. It's the polite thing to do and will help you if you ever want to visit again or do anything more with the optometrist.

 

[KHE]

Try asking in person or over the phone. It's easy to say "no" to an email. More difficult over the phone. Pretty darn hard if the person visits in person and makes a good impression.

Also, try visiting your optometrist that you normally go to. Saying, "Hi, I've been a patient for 3 years, and have always felt that you were a great optometrist. Could I shadow you for a bit?"

Then, when you visit, go to lunch with the optometrist. (I usually pay for it as a nice gesture.) Although you'll ask questions about optometry, try to get to know the person personally. At the end, say, "Wow, I really learned a lot through this visit, but I'm curious to see how other offices are different/similar. Do you know of any other optometrists who might allow me to shadow them?" If they like you, they might refer you to their friends.

Also, ask your friends/family who their optometrists are. Then, call them and say, "Hi, my roommate Colin told me that you've been his optometrist for 2 years and he's always been impressed by your work. Could I shadow you for a few hours?"

This is how I was able to shadow 5 different optometrists.

Oh, and don't forget to send a hand written thank you note shortly after your visit. It's the polite thing to do and will help you if you ever want to visit again or do anything more with the optometrist.

What I would do is bag the email. Most doctors are brutal when it comes to using electronic means of communication. Your best bet is to stop in person to an office you wish to visit and talk to the office manager. When I was shadowing many many moons ago, I never had a single OD say NO.

PS: As a practicing doctor, I would never allow a student to pay for my lunch. That's far too much of a threat to my ego.

I also think that you will be much better off doing minimal shadowing per se, and spending more time talking with the doctor. You won't get all that much insight into the profession out of watching someone else perform eye exams.

Another thing that works well is contacting the school you are considering attending and asking them for a list of alumni in the area. Then when you contact the doctors, tell them that "Dr. Smith at SCCO suggested I give you a call and ask you about the possibility of coming in and blah blah blah"

 

[RegularGuy]

KHE makes a good point. Be smart about how you approach and what you offer optometrists.

I'm an older, non-traditional student, so the younger optometrists I shadowed were about my age. We had very casual lunches where we talked about everything from poker to bike riding to what it's like when you see your clients in a bar and you're halfway drunk. I could honestly see myself hanging out with some of the doctors I shadowed, so getting their meals didn't seem like a big deal to either of us.

Of course, if you're not able to achieve a similar relationship, then maybe you shouldn't get their meals. If I were a 35 year old optometrist and a 20 year student offered to buy me a meal, I'd feel pretty weird about it.

 

[r_salis]

A really easy way to get an introduction to an OD is to go to your friends' and family's eye appointments. If it seems like an interesting practice, or the OD seems interesting, you can always ask if you can come back to shadow.

 

[alferec]

I talk about how I found a doc to shadow in my website:

http://www.optstudent.com/ugfocus.html#shadowing

Hope this helps!