How many hours should I be shadowing an optometrist?
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Shadowing
- Thread starter fatima2
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As far as I know, there's no standard number of hours for which you should shadow. Spend enough time doing so to feel you have a reasonable sense of what the profession daily entails, and do so at a variety of practices so you can understand how different (e.g., private practice vs. Wal-Mart) structures are distinct from one another.
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Wow: Thirty hours? I guess that's a week or two (depending on how long you shadow, daily), huh? I suppose they expect you to shadow two or three O.D.s, perhaps for a few days, each. It's not unreasonable, but I feel the demand, for a "minimum requirement," is a bit much.
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i have a question on how to get started with shadowing
is it better to call the office, email them, go in personally? if i call them should i ask for a specific doctor or just ask for anyone available. How should I ask them to shadow them? any feed back?
is it better to call the office, email them, go in personally? if i call them should i ask for a specific doctor or just ask for anyone available. How should I ask them to shadow them? any feed back?
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- Pre-Optometry
In my experience, it worked best for me to call offices and ask for their office manager. This person should be able to help you find days that the doctor is free, and get you started with any paperwork they may require.
When you call I would just explain that you are a student at _____ (wherever you go), that you are interested in optometry, and wanted to know if you could schedule time to shadow Dr. So-and-so. It may also help to mention anyone who referred you to this doctor, or specifically why you are interested in them (like, their specific specialty that interests you, for example).
Good luck! I found shadowing to be very rewarding, and I hope you have a good experience too!
When you call I would just explain that you are a student at _____ (wherever you go), that you are interested in optometry, and wanted to know if you could schedule time to shadow Dr. So-and-so. It may also help to mention anyone who referred you to this doctor, or specifically why you are interested in them (like, their specific specialty that interests you, for example).
Good luck! I found shadowing to be very rewarding, and I hope you have a good experience too!
30 hours isn't really a long time, considering during this time you'll be seeing exactly what being an optometrist entails...i.e. seeing it from a different perspective than being the patient.
Aside from your own personal benefit (if you feel like it's not helpful for that), shadowing experience helps a LOT during interviews, as well as getting personal and raving LORs.
Although CaliOD25's advice is great, going into the office ensures that you won't be ignored (emails and phone calls can be easy to ignore). You can also ask your own OD if you can shadow him or her, or if they know of anyone who might be available.
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I agree that phone calls are easy to ignore. Maybe I just got lucky, but only one of the five places I contacted while shadowing never followed through. I chose not to ask in person because obviously offices can be busy, and I didn't want to put the staff on the spot, potentially making our first encounter awkward for both of us.
In response to the original post, I suppose you must do what you are most comfortable with. If you choose to go the phone route, just know that the offices that may ignore your requests are probably not the ones you want to be shadowing anyway.
