OD Shadow

[darling]

Do you guys think that admission commitee place a strong emphasis on shadowing an O.D. I don't think it is important at all. Do admission committee ask people about shadowing experience?

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[scraders]

unless you worked in an OD office before, i think most admission committees expect you to have some sort of shadowing/optometric experience. it shows that you've done your "research" and that you know what you're getting yourself into. (it's also a good way to get a recommendation from a practicing OD, if you don't know any)

this topic came up during my ICO interview and in other students' interviews at other schools.

someone on this forum recently posted that he has never shadowed an OD before prior to applying, but was still accepted to three schools. i guess it depends on the school that you're looking at.

 

[Ryan_eyeball]

Yeah I was the one that posted this. BUT, I got drilled a lot on why I never shadowed, and partly because I ran into problems with OD's not allowing students to shadow. I never understood the reason, but I explained this in interviews. If you can't get a shadowing position, make a concerted effort to research the profession a lot (i.e. Modes of practice, scope of practice, ethics, location, a little bit of history wouldn't hurt, you'll always get the question: Define Optometry in your own words, or what is an optometrist).

Best of luck.

Ryan