Volunteering at OD

[cdea]

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Hi all, I am new here and am looking to change careers into the field of optometry. I was wondering for all those who have volunteered at an OD's practice, how did you go about getting to show up in the first place. Did you send a letter or just directly talk to the OD. I come from an information systems background so i have a lot of prereq science classes to take. I hope to get into SCCO by the 2006 year. Thanks everyone...

 

[nmu preopt]

Hi all, I am new here and am looking to change careers into the field of optometry. I was wondering for all those who have volunteered at an OD's practice, how did you go about getting to show up in the first place. Did you send a letter or just directly talk to the OD. I come from an information systems background so i have a lot of prereq science classes to take. I hope to get into SCCO by the 2006 year. Thanks everyone...

cdea
I went around to the offices of optometrists in my town trying to find a paying job. I brought my resume with me hoping that if the ODs saw I was a pre opt student that they would hire me. I go to school in a small town with not much else around. Most of the ODs said that they wanted to hold on to the resume incase they need anyone over the summer. But one said unfortunitally I just hired a girl so I wouldnt be able to pay you but if you wanted to come in a couple days a week for a few hours I could teach you some of the basics of the practice, even show you what i see in the microscope. I got very lucky the ODs name is Dr. Stein and he was so nice to me I really feel like I lucked out. So overall I didnt get a paying position which was what I really wanted but I found another job and it worked out. I put the time into making a resume and spening a day speaking to the Drs. Dont know if I helped but thats what I did and I start in two weeks when finals are over. 😀

 

[caliente]

I volunteered with my OD (I wear glasses)...besides, he was always the one saying I should give optometry some serious thought, so I thought he owed me,

I actually only "volunteered" one day during my winter break. I didn't have time for much else. However, I have been wearing corrective lenses for 15+ years, so that's at least 15 visits to the optometrist. At least I know what occurs during a regular eye exam, lol. My OD also explained to me what all the machines do during my regular checkups (as you can probably tell, my OD is super chatty).

I saw the LOR he wrote me. He makes it sound like I volunteered WAY longer there than I did...he said not to worry about it. In the letter, it doesn't actually say how long I volunteered for (although it does say I have been his patient for a very long time). I don't talk directly about volunteering in his office in my applications; I mostly talk about my experiences as a patient. Hope this won't cause me any troubles when I go to interviews. If it does, my OD says I can just point the finger at him

Bascially, if you wear glasses or have contacts, you should ask your personal OD first. You can always volunteer to work for free. It's always more difficult to turn down free stuff! Good luck...

 

[rpames]

If you are looking to learn about a practice, I would suggest you just say you would like to observe the office. Don't say you are looking for a job as a volunteer. By saying you are looking for a job, the doctor will think they have to find work for you. If you are just observing, they know you are just going to look around. Make sure you point out that you would like to see all aspects of the practice. Meaning that you would like to hang-out with the optician for a while and the receptionist or office manager. By adding that, the doc will know you are going to bug the rest of the staff part of the time. That will take off some of the stress on the doc to entertain you all day.

It is a little more difficult to find a "made-up" position for you in a private office b/c it is a small business, there is not a ton of extra cash that they can just throw at you. It won't hurt to ask, but don't depend on getting the job.

Good luck!

 

[Ben Chudner]

As a practicing OD, I welcome volunteers to observe my clinic. I think if you are up front with the doc, and say that you are interested in a career in optometry most docs will gladly let you observe. I agree that looking for a job is not the best way to go about it, unless you truely meet the qualifications to work in an office.

 

[cdea]

Thanks all for the replies. Sorry if i am confusing people but i am just looking to observe the doc. I have no experience with in the field and know that it is a disadvantage to hire me in this field now. Thanks again.

 

[SuperSara]

When I graduated from university (undergrad) last year, I applied to a company of optometrists, opticians and ophthalmologists here in Canada. I was up-front about wanting to become an optometrist so they knew I would only be staying a year. It has been a wonderful experience and I am so glad that I was offered such an opportunity. I now truly know first hand what it'll be like to work in my future career. It was also a great way to take a year off while still staying on the right track. Another bonus is that it looks great on an application!
So...if you're willing to put in at least a year to be fair, I'd say it's ok to consider applying for jobs in the field of optometry...even if you don't have any experience. It'll be all that much more motivation to learn quickly!

Sara 🙂

Thanks all for the replies. Sorry if i am confusing people but i am just looking to observe the doc. I have no experience with in the field and know that it is a disadvantage to hire me in this field now. Thanks again.

 

[cdea]

So how does the daily job look like for optometrist. One major reason i am looking into this career is i hear the amount of stress from the job is relatively low in terms of the actual work. Not talking about keeping a small practice alive but the patient interaction and work itself is not as stressful.