Ok my son is interested in optometry. Is 15yo eligible to job shadow? how many hours per year are expected? Ideas for other related ECs?
Optometry school is a four year graduate program after your bachelor’s degree. Shadowing in high school will help him find out if the profession is something he is interested in but the graduate programs usually look at what a student does while in college.
Do you live in a state with an optometry school? If so, I would have him reach out to their admissions office. Another resource is ASCO which has pre-req and shadowing recommendations for the different schools.
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It’s not a matter of if he can. I’ve had HS students shadow me before. He won’t likely be able to use those hours towards an optometry school shadowing requirement though. That’s probably immaterial for him at the moment anyway.
I would also suggest he try to shadow optometrists in different work environments. There is significant variation. After my residency I worked for over 20 years in a high volume, heavily medical, ophthalmology practice. After getting burned out, I opened an intentionally low volume, high end, boutique optical. They are completely different, but both enjoyable in their own way.
I’ve had multiple patients and shadowing students become optometrists. Feel free to PM me with any questions.
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I did, for just part of a day, to see if I thought I would like it. But not as an EC.
My daughter’s boyfriend who considered optometry as an undergrad worked at Eyemart fitting glasses etc. Maybe your son could find part time work at something in the field.
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