shadowing ophthalmologist?

[shl011]

Hey guys,

So when I visited SCCO, they recommended that we shadow ophthalmologists. I have yet to do that though I have shadowed many optometrists.. I'm still looking for an ophthalmologist who's willing to let me shadow him/her, but I was wondering if I should just submit my application with what I have first, and then later explain in the interview that I have shadowed ophthalmologist (I'm assuming by then I would have done so). Or should I try to shadow them first then submit?

Also, on the application, what do you recommend that I write about my shadowing experience? I mean, I didn't really do anything, but watch, so should I just write what I learned and observed?

THANKS guyssss!

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[KHE]

Hey guys,

So when I visited SCCO, they recommended that we shadow ophthalmologists. I have yet to do that though I have shadowed many optometrists.. I'm still looking for an ophthalmologist who's willing to let me shadow him/her, but I was wondering if I should just submit my application with what I have first, and then later explain in the interview that I have shadowed ophthalmologist (I'm assuming by then I would have done so). Or should I try to shadow them first then submit?

Also, on the application, what do you recommend that I write about my shadowing experience? I mean, I didn't really do anything, but watch, so should I just write what I learned and observed?

THANKS guyssss!

If you're working for an ophthalmologist, there is little point in sitting in the exam room with them.

The whole point of "shadowing" is so that applicants understand what optometry is and so that they're sure that it is OPTOMETRY that they want to pursue. I think your experience has been much better than any type of "shadow" you could have done.

 

[nicmc]

Hey guys,

So when I visited SCCO, they recommended that we shadow ophthalmologists. I have yet to do that though I have shadowed many optometrists.. I'm still looking for an ophthalmologist who's willing to let me shadow him/her, but I was wondering if I should just submit my application with what I have first, and then later explain in the interview that I have shadowed ophthalmologist (I'm assuming by then I would have done so). Or should I try to shadow them first then submit?

Also, on the application, what do you recommend that I write about my shadowing experience? I mean, I didn't really do anything, but watch, so should I just write what I learned and observed?

THANKS guyssss!

I don't think that it could hurt to shadow an ophthalmologist. I shadowed several, but I did not observe surgery. Honestly, it was no different than the optometrists that I shadowed.

You can call the schools and I ask, but I don't think waiting to submit the app is the right thing to do. I mean, seriously, I don't think shadowing an ophthalmologist makes or breaks your application as long as you have shadowed optometrists.

 

[Roffles]

To elaborate on KHE's point, one of the big questions asked is usually a "Why not medicine" sort of question. In the exam room, there may not be a big difference between ophthalmologist and optometrist exams, but surgery is a difference between the two outside of general exams. They typically just want to make sure that you've seen both and can be certain that surgery is not something you want to pursue.