I hope you are having a wonderful week 10! I hope you all feel prepared for finals! Here are some volunteering/shadowing/job opportunities for summer.
VOLUNTEERING:
UCI Eye Mobile for Children - Orange County
Jennifer Espinoza, Eye Mobile Coordinator, is looking for pre-optometry students to volunteer with the eye mobile to give free vision screenings, eye exams, and glasses to underserved children across Orange County.
I volunteered for 2 great quarters and definitely recommend volunteering, too! You can choose to volunteer on the eye mobile that goes to schools around Orange County, at their office at the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, or both. You decide how many hours you would like to volunteer (at least once a week) and 10 hours a week is recommended to ask for a letter of recommendation. You can ask to start volunteering in Summer or Fall.
Jennifer will ask for your schedule later on and she is very flexible and understanding. Jennifer and Diana are wonderful to work with and helping the kids is so rewarding. You will be able to experience helping kids through optometry which is a unique opportunity to learn if you would like to be a pediatric optometrist and show optometry schools your dedication to becoming a well-rounded applicant.
If you are interested in volunteering, please email your
- unofficial transcript (at least 2.5 GPA)
- negative TB shot results
to Jennifer Espinoza at [email protected]
Volunteering Information:
UC Irvine Eye Mobile for Children
Jennifer Espinoza (Eye Mobile Coordinator)
850 Health Sciences Road
Irvine, CA 92697
(949)824-2020
https://ophthalmology.uci.edu/community/eye-mobile
SHADOWING (kind of):
Southern California School of Optometry presents the Specialty Spotlight Series! They provide a series of hour-long videos exploring 7 specialties: Cornea Contact Lens, Comanaging with Ophthalmology, Primary Care and Ocular Disease, Low Vision Rehabilitation, Pediatrics, and Vision Therapy.
Maeve, a student at SCCO, hosts the series where she presents what the specialty is, lets an SCCO faculty member in the specialty present about their career, and then holds an information interview with the faculty to answer all of our questions. The videos are a really helpful introduction to the specialties and are like shadowing 7 different specialties from home but still being able to hear about the optometrists' journeys, a day in their lives, how they feel about their specialty, and advice for students. This might count as shadowing, but either way, this is a very helpful resource for learning what you would like to do in optometry, making you knowledgeable of the field as a whole, and is something SCCO would love to see in your application/interview.
If you are interested in watching the videos, the link is https://www.ketchum.edu/optometry/sccovideo and the Spotlight Series is in the Live Event Recordings.
CREDITS FOR WORKING:
If you have a job, you can earn 2-4 units per quarter! This is a great way to complete units or reach full-time status without having to enroll in more classes. Students from all majors can receive credit for internship sites (including the optometry office you work at). There are only a few self-reflection assignments about your experience. This opportunity is from Nick Tang!
In order to qualify an internship to count toward Uni Studies 193, it should meet the following criteria:
1. You must secure the internship first and complete other steps before you can enroll in the course.
2. The internship must qualify and be registered on UCI Handshake (https://career.uci.edu/handshake/).
3. If it is not registered on UCI Handshake, then please have the employer complete the Internship Description Template (When you reach out, they will send they form)
If you are interested, please email [email protected] to determine if your job qualifies for Uni Stu 193 Internship (2-4 Units). If you have any other questions, please text Nick at (909)647-6999.
GOOD LUCK ON FINALS! I am so proud of everyone for getting out of their comfort zones and applying for these opportunities! It makes me so happy every time I hear you get a position! You all deserve success and are worthy of amazing job/volunteering/shadowing experiences. Please keep taking advantage of these opportunities because you are exactly what these offices/organizations want. Thank you for a wonderful year as Outreach Chair! :)
Best,
Emma Le (U See Eyes Outreach Chair '23-'24)