I'll tell you my story -- because I like telling stories and I'm long-winded (long-fingered, rather, seeing as I'm typing)...
I had a rather difficult time trying to find someone to shadow for some reason (that may have something to do with the fact that I was also looking for a doctor who might consider hiring me for an optician-type position -- and I told them that; albeit I was willing to work for minimum wage). I started by going through the phone-book, one name at a time. When I got through it and found nobody was interested, I decided on an alternate method. Essentially, what I did was get the email addresses of about 30 doctors in my area via the internet. It doesn't really matter who you shadow, so go wild. Make sure to have a resume handy for faxing.
The first doctor to respond wasn't sure if he could give me a position, but he'd let me shadow at his group practice (note: you may want to shadow more than one doctor in a variety of practice settings; ie, group, solo, etc. Schools like to see that you've seen the differences between the modes of practice). I spent a total of about 10 hours with him -- split up into 2-3 hour sessions per day.
After that, I received a response from one doctor who worked at a Target (solo/corporate-setting). She actually told me she was in the process of opening a new office, and she could use an assistant. So I did about 15-20 hours of observation at her Target office (also in 2-3 hour/day sessions) and that landed me a job with her in the new office. (Some schools require that you have 30 or so hours of unpaid observation, so make sure you find out that info. from the school's application requisites pages -- links to all the schools are available on
www.opted.org)
So now I work 35 hrs/week -- YAY!! -- often I'm the only one at the office, because the doctor splits her time between the new office and Target -- and I handle basically everything except that actual exams, from insurances, to frame-neutralizing, etc. All this, mind you, is at a brand-new and growing office. Schools were PARTICULARLY impressed by the fact that I've been part of the practice since its birth, because I really have a pretty good insight into what it takes to get a business going -- so that may be something you'll want to consider (finding a doctor with a brand new office I mean).
On a side note, I didn't really have to use this tip, but I hear it's useful. Offer to take the doctor out to lunch to just talk optometry -- their thoughts on the field, their experiences, etc. -- it's a good way to build a relationship with them (which is important come time to ask them for a letter of rec).
