A Review on LECOM Erie Pharmacy

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I am working as a pharmacist now after graduating from LECOM Erie a few months ago. Before choosing to attend the school, I had read lots of negative posts on SDN about it and had always planned to leave a review about it giving the positives and negatives for other pre-pharms. So, here's my review.....

Positives
The tuition and living expenses in Erie are dirt cheap. It is a condensed 3-year program and you only really have to spend the first 2 years in Erie. You can do rotations in other states. Many kids from NYC say Erie is boring, but I thought it was a pretty nice medium-sized city and a great area to go to school. It is a great scene in the summer. People come from miles around to party at the water front and the bar scene is awesome. There is a park called Presque Isle, which is this massive plateua that goes out on the lake Erie, and it is absolutely beautiful. If you are into hiking, fishing, biking, or jogging, or just chilling at the beach and getting a tan, you will love Presque Isle. There is no school housing, but there are lots of apartment complexes near the school so you can walk instead of driving.

Negatives
There is a paradox at LECOM that is kind of annoying...It is really not a high quality education, but at the same time the school is ultra worried about their "image" and make the students follow all kinds of rules as if it were an ivy league school. When you look up "degree mill" in the dictionary, you see a picture of LECOM. The school is run like a business... they admit as many students as they possibly can to collect their tuition money, but don't have much space. All the classes are taught in the same, cramped classroom. There is really no campus, just this small, awkward little building. There are like 150 students in each graduating class and you have to strain to get into your seat. I'm a 5'6'' girl and many times I had to hold my backpack above my head while the other people in my row uncomfortably scooted in to get to my seat in the middle of the row. There is a dress code. Guys have to wear ties and khakis. It is slightly less annoying for girls than guys because they can get away with more. But here's the paradox again...if I'm gonna be hearded like a cow and put into an uncomfortably cramped cattle car with 150 other cows, they could at least let me wear some comfortable sweats, right? Conditions are so cramped that they were having issues with some overweight students with body odor problems stinking the place up. People around them were coughing and complaining. It was just ridiculous. You can't eat or drink in lecture hall either, and there are surveillance cameras everywhere.

The administration is absolutely nuts. They don't treat people like human beings. There was this guy in my class who told the school psychologist, Dr. Kovacs, that he smokes marijuana sometimes to deal with stress. You would think that what you tell a school psychologist is confidential, right? Well apparently not at LECOM. He told the Dean of the Pharmacy School, and they wouldn't let him attend classes again until he went down to Pittsburgh to get evaluated by a "substance abuse specialist". Then, after he got evaluated, the school made him get random urine tests and go to substance abuse counseling sessions until he graduated. This really happened. All because he opened his mouth and told the school psychologist the truth. It's the paradox again.... they don't really care about their students, they're just trying to remove liability from their business. Be very paranoid at LECOM...it's for your own good. The Italian lady who runs the school is always sending out threatening emails telling students not to do things or to be professional. One would think she is ego tripping.

In all fairness, I did have many instructors that I really liked, who were quality, and did care about the students. However, LECOM is kind of like the minor leagues for professors. They get their first jobs at LECOM and then try to leave as soon as possible to better paying, more prestigious schools. There is a massive amount of turnover. There are new faces every year and this lead to disorganization. Perhaps this is the trend at many new pharmacy schools, I'm not sure. Starting my 2nd year, they were still rushing to hire people to fill the spots of people who had left with a week to go until classes started. We got syllabuses with no instructor names.

You have to sit in assigned seats and they will randomly take role. If you are marked absent, you could get 5% taken off of your grade in a class. There was a group of students in the class behind me who skipped class after St. Patrick's day, and they had to meet with the Dean of the school like 5 times to "negotiate" what their punishment would be. It kind of reminds me of attending a military school in the 1930's. After 2 years, about half of the class had been called into the Dean's office at least once for something very stupid, like not sitting in their assigned seat. The school made a business partnership with a local coffee shop, and immediately removed all of the candy machines from the school in hopes that students would spend more money at the coffee shop. How convenient for the students.

LECOM doesn't pay for rotations. You have to schedule them on your own and often times they're very hard to get because the school doesn't have any of their own hospitals (besides Millcreek...see below). Hospitals in other cities have obligations to local state schools. In general, it's not a very good school to go to if you're trying to get a residency. It's not very prestigious and part of getting matched for a residency is making contacts with preceptors at quality rotations. The school just doesn't have the resources, reputation, or connections to give you a good chance of matching to a residency in the ultra competitive environment. Many of my friends who initially wanted to do clinical had great grades but still didn't get matched to a residency and are now working retail. The one hospital that is affiliated with LECOM in Erie is called Millcreek and is IMHO a crap hole. I don't even consider it to be a real hospital and would never take anyone in my family there. There are only like 15 beds and there are literally 2 confused student doctors for every patient. The general attitude among students is to avoid rotations at Millcreek like the plague.

Well, there you have it, my review . Despite the fact that my negatives section was much longer than the positives, I am working as a pharmacist now and I did get an education at a reasonable price, and I guess I have LECOM to thank for that. Just be aware that if you choose a more expensive, 4 year program, the extra money you pay may ultimately make your pharmacy school experience better. You get what you pay for. Best of luck with interview and choosing a school!!!!

I really like how "positive" is miniscule compared to "negative."

But really, the most important part is "I am working as a pharmacist now after graduating from LECOM Erie a few months ago"

That sounds absolutely miserable.

Oh yeah, one more thing.... LECOM is known to contact SDN and try to get any negative posts about the school taken off. So, I hope this one stays for a while because the title is not blatantly negative. It really is a genuine review and maybe they will actually leave it up .

Originally Posted by pharmachika87

I am working as a pharmacist now after graduating from LECOM Erie a few months ago. Before choosing to attend the school, I had read lots of negative posts on SDN about it and had always planned to leave a review about it giving the positives and negatives for other pre-pharms. So, here's my review.....

Positives
The tuition and living expenses in Erie are dirt cheap. It is a condensed 3-year program and you only really have to spend the first 2 years in Erie. You can do rotations in other states. Many kids from NYC say Erie is boring, but I thought it was a pretty nice medium-sized city and a great area to go to school. It is a great scene in the summer. People come from miles around to party at the water front and the bar scene is awesome. There is a park called Presque Isle, which is this massive plateua that goes out on the lake Erie, and it is absolutely beautiful. If you are into hiking, fishing, biking, or jogging, or just chilling at the beach and getting a tan, you will love Presque Isle. There is no school housing, but there are lots of apartment complexes near the school so you can walk instead of driving.

Negatives
There is a paradox at LECOM that is kind of annoying...It is really not a high quality education, but at the same time the school is ultra worried about their "image" and make the students follow all kinds of rules as if it were an ivy league school. When you look up "degree mill" in the dictionary, you see a picture of LECOM. The school is run like a business... they admit as many students as they possibly can to collect their tuition money, but don't have much space. All the classes are taught in the same, cramped classroom. There is really no campus, just this small, awkward little building. There are like 150 students in each graduating class and you have to strain to get into your seat. I'm a 5'6'' girl and many times I had to hold my backpack above my head while the other people in my row uncomfortably scooted in to get to my seat in the middle of the row. There is a dress code. Guys have to wear ties and khakis. It is slightly less annoying for girls than guys because they can get away with more. But here's the paradox again...if I'm gonna be hearded like a cow and put into an uncomfortably cramped cattle car with 150 other cows, they could at least let me wear some comfortable sweats, right? Conditions are so cramped that they were having issues with some overweight students with body odor problems stinking the place up. People around them were coughing and complaining. It was just ridiculous. You can't eat or drink in lecture hall either, and there are surveillance cameras everywhere.

The administration is absolutely nuts. They don't treat people like human beings. There was this guy in my class who told the school psychologist, Dr. Kovacs, that he smokes marijuana sometimes to deal with stress. You would think that what you tell a school psychologist is confidential, right? Well apparently not at LECOM. He told the Dean of the Pharmacy School, and they wouldn't let him attend classes again until he went down to Pittsburgh to get evaluated by a "substance abuse specialist". Then, after he got evaluated, the school made him get random urine tests and go to substance abuse counseling sessions until he graduated. This really happened. All because he opened his mouth and told the school psychologist the truth. It's the paradox again.... they don't really care about their students, they're just trying to remove liability from their business. Be very paranoid at LECOM...it's for your own good. The Italian lady who runs the school is always sending out threatening emails telling students not to do things or to be professional. One would think she is ego tripping.

In all fairness, I did have many instructors that I really liked, who were quality, and did care about the students. However, LECOM is kind of like the minor leagues for professors. They get their first jobs at LECOM and then try to leave as soon as possible to better paying, more prestigious schools. There is a massive amount of turnover. There are new faces every year and this lead to disorganization. Perhaps this is the trend at many new pharmacy schools, I'm not sure. Starting my 2nd year, they were still rushing to hire people to fill the spots of people who had left with a week to go until classes started. We got syllabuses with no instructor names.

You have to sit in assigned seats and they will randomly take role. If you are marked absent, you could get 5% taken off of your grade in a class. There was a group of students in the class behind me who skipped class after St. Patrick's day, and they had to meet with the Dean of the school like 5 times to "negotiate" what their punishment would be. It kind of reminds me of attending a military school in the 1930's. After 2 years, about half of the class had been called into the Dean's office at least once for something very stupid, like not sitting in their assigned seat. The school made a business partnership with a local coffee shop, and immediately removed all of the candy machines from the school in hopes that students would spend more money at the coffee shop. How convenient for the students.

LECOM doesn't pay for rotations. You have to schedule them on your own and often times they're very hard to get because the school doesn't have any of their own hospitals (besides Millcreek...see below). Hospitals in other cities have obligations to local state schools. In general, it's not a very good school to go to if you're trying to get a residency. It's not very prestigious and part of getting matched for a residency is making contacts with preceptors at quality rotations. The school just doesn't have the resources, reputation, or connections to give you a good chance of matching to a residency in the ultra competitive environment. Many of my friends who initially wanted to do clinical had great grades but still didn't get matched to a residency and are now working retail. The one hospital that is affiliated with LECOM in Erie is called Millcreek and is IMHO a crap hole. I don't even consider it to be a real hospital and would never take anyone in my family there. There are only like 15 beds and there are literally 2 confused student doctors for every patient. The general attitude among students is to avoid rotations at Millcreek like the plague.

Well, there you have it, my review . Despite the fact that my negatives section was much longer than the positives, I am working as a pharmacist now and I did get an education at a reasonable price, and I guess I have LECOM to thank for that. Just be aware that if you choose a more expensive, 4 year program, the extra money you pay may ultimately make your pharmacy school experience better. You get what you pay for. Best of luck with interview and choosing a school!!!!

Originally Posted by pharmachika87

Oh yeah, one more thing.... LECOM is known to contact SDN and try to get any negative posts about the school taken off. So, I hope this one stays for a while because the title is not blatantly negative. It really is a genuine review and maybe they will actually leave it up .

Can a mod chime in on this?

I didn't know this happened.

When I was at LECOM, I forwarded the below email via my private mail to a friend at another school so they could laugh about it. Here's an example of the emails students are constantly geting from the Italian lady who runs the school (with an iron fist). I intentionally did not include her name at the end of the email because I don't think you're allowed to do that on here and the post would surely be deleted.

NOTICE:

As a reminder, proper decorum and dress, including appropriate footwear/shoes are required at all LECOM properties. Under no circumstances should shoes be removed or feet propped on a table in any area at LECOM, the Wellness Center or Coffee Culture. In the event you are identified as an offender to this policy, your access to the area will be immediately restricted.

Here's one that my friend who still goes there sent me. It's from some other weirdo in the administration. LOL, now I remember why I loved this school!

Subject: WATER

As we all know by now, food and beverages are not permitted in the classroom and this does include water. Yesterday, there was a report made by the maintenance department that water was spilled in the classroom. Please, if anyone knows anything about this please let me know. Most important is that no food or beverages are brought into the classroom.

Are you sure it's not Stalin's granddaughter running this school? May be she took on an Italian name to confuse you...

Originally Posted by pharmachika87

I am working as a pharmacist now after graduating from LECOM Erie a few months ago. Before choosing to attend the school, I had read lots of negative posts on SDN about it and had always planned to leave a review about it giving the positives and negatives for other pre-pharms. So, here's my review.....

Positives
The tuition and living expenses in Erie are dirt cheap. It is a condensed 3-year program and you only really have to spend the first 2 years in Erie. You can do rotations in other states. Many kids from NYC say Erie is boring, but I thought it was a pretty nice medium-sized city and a great area to go to school. It is a great scene in the summer. People come from miles around to party at the water front and the bar scene is awesome. There is a park called Presque Isle, which is this massive plateua that goes out on the lake Erie, and it is absolutely beautiful. If you are into hiking, fishing, biking, or jogging, or just chilling at the beach and getting a tan, you will love Presque Isle. There is no school housing, but there are lots of apartment complexes near the school so you can walk instead of driving.

Negatives
There is a paradox at LECOM that is kind of annoying...It is really not a high quality education, but at the same time the school is ultra worried about their "image" and make the students follow all kinds of rules as if it were an ivy league school. When you look up "degree mill" in the dictionary, you see a picture of LECOM. The school is run like a business... they admit as many students as they possibly can to collect their tuition money, but don't have much space. All the classes are taught in the same, cramped classroom. There is really no campus, just this small, awkward little building. There are like 150 students in each graduating class and you have to strain to get into your seat. I'm a 5'6'' girl and many times I had to hold my backpack above my head while the other people in my row uncomfortably scooted in to get to my seat in the middle of the row. There is a dress code. Guys have to wear ties and khakis. It is slightly less annoying for girls than guys because they can get away with more. But here's the paradox again...if I'm gonna be hearded like a cow and put into an uncomfortably cramped cattle car with 150 other cows, they could at least let me wear some comfortable sweats, right? Conditions are so cramped that they were having issues with some overweight students with body odor problems stinking the place up. People around them were coughing and complaining. It was just ridiculous. You can't eat or drink in lecture hall either, and there are surveillance cameras everywhere.

The administration is absolutely nuts. They don't treat people like human beings. There was this guy in my class who told the school psychologist, Dr. Kovacs, that he smokes marijuana sometimes to deal with stress. You would think that what you tell a school psychologist is confidential, right? Well apparently not at LECOM. He told the Dean of the Pharmacy School, and they wouldn't let him attend classes again until he went down to Pittsburgh to get evaluated by a "substance abuse specialist". Then, after he got evaluated, the school made him get random urine tests and go to substance abuse counseling sessions until he graduated. This really happened. All because he opened his mouth and told the school psychologist the truth. It's the paradox again.... they don't really care about their students, they're just trying to remove liability from their business. Be very paranoid at LECOM...it's for your own good. The Italian lady who runs the school is always sending out threatening emails telling students not to do things or to be professional. One would think she is ego tripping.

In all fairness, I did have many instructors that I really liked, who were quality, and did care about the students. However, LECOM is kind of like the minor leagues for professors. They get their first jobs at LECOM and then try to leave as soon as possible to better paying, more prestigious schools. There is a massive amount of turnover. There are new faces every year and this lead to disorganization. Perhaps this is the trend at many new pharmacy schools, I'm not sure. Starting my 2nd year, they were still rushing to hire people to fill the spots of people who had left with a week to go until classes started. We got syllabuses with no instructor names.

You have to sit in assigned seats and they will randomly take role. If you are marked absent, you could get 5% taken off of your grade in a class. There was a group of students in the class behind me who skipped class after St. Patrick's day, and they had to meet with the Dean of the school like 5 times to "negotiate" what their punishment would be. It kind of reminds me of attending a military school in the 1930's. After 2 years, about half of the class had been called into the Dean's office at least once for something very stupid, like not sitting in their assigned seat. The school made a business partnership with a local coffee shop, and immediately removed all of the candy machines from the school in hopes that students would spend more money at the coffee shop. How convenient for the students.

LECOM doesn't pay for rotations. You have to schedule them on your own and often times they're very hard to get because the school doesn't have any of their own hospitals (besides Millcreek...see below). Hospitals in other cities have obligations to local state schools. In general, it's not a very good school to go to if you're trying to get a residency. It's not very prestigious and part of getting matched for a residency is making contacts with preceptors at quality rotations. The school just doesn't have the resources, reputation, or connections to give you a good chance of matching to a residency in the ultra competitive environment. Many of my friends who initially wanted to do clinical had great grades but still didn't get matched to a residency and are now working retail. The one hospital that is affiliated with LECOM in Erie is called Millcreek and is IMHO a crap hole. I don't even consider it to be a real hospital and would never take anyone in my family there. There are only like 15 beds and there are literally 2 confused student doctors for every patient. The general attitude among students is to avoid rotations at Millcreek like the plague.

Well, there you have it, my review . Despite the fact that my negatives section was much longer than the positives, I am working as a pharmacist now and I did get an education at a reasonable price, and I guess I have LECOM to thank for that. Just be aware that if you choose a more expensive, 4 year program, the extra money you pay may ultimately make your pharmacy school experience better. You get what you pay for. Best of luck with interview and choosing a school!!!!

Interesting....

Thanks for the input.

Originally Posted by pharmachika87

When I was at LECOM, I forwarded the below email via my private mail to a friend at another school so they could laugh about it. Here's an example of the emails students are constantly geting from the Italian lady who runs the school (with an iron fist). I intentionally did not include her name at the end of the email because I don't think you're allowed to do that on here and the post would surely be deleted.

NOTICE:

As a reminder, proper decorum and dress, including appropriate footwear/shoes are required at all LECOM properties. Under no circumstances should shoes be removed or feet propped on a table in any area at LECOM, the Wellness Center or Coffee Culture. In the event you are identified as an offender to this policy, your access to the area will be immediately restricted.

Originally Posted by pharmachika87

Here's one that my friend who still goes there sent me. It's from some other weirdo in the administration. LOL, now I remember why I loved this school!

Subject: WATER

As we all know by now, food and beverages are not permitted in the classroom and this does include water. Yesterday, there was a report made by the maintenance department that water was spilled in the classroom. Please, if anyone knows anything about this please let me know. Most important is that no food or beverages are brought into the classroom.

Originally Posted by pharmachika87

Oh yeah, one more thing.... LECOM is known to contact SDN and try to get any negative posts about the school taken off. So, I hope this one stays for a while because the title is not blatantly negative. It really is a genuine review and maybe they will actually leave it up .

Originally Posted by 30Percent

Can a mod chime in on this?

I didn't know this happened.

We don't remove posts unless there is a TOS violation. We don't remove things that are unfavorable just because schools don't like them.

Thanks for the feedback. The reason I thought this was because the following post from last year titled "**LECOM-Erie WARNING!!**"http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=767449) regarding LECOM misrepresenting student options for rotations was removed. In my opinion, this was a legitimate post. So, why was it removed?

Originally Posted by All4MyDaughter

We don't remove posts unless there is a TOS violation. We don't remove things that are unfavorable just because schools don't like them.

Thanks for the feedback. The reason I thought this was because the following post from last year titled "**LECOM-Erie WARNING!!**"http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=767449) regarding LECOM misrepresenting student options for rotations was removed. In my opinion, this was a legitimate post. So, why was it removed?

Also, could you defined exactly what a TOS violation is?

Originally Posted by pharmachika87

Thanks for the feedback. The reason I thought this was because the following post from last year titled "**LECOM-Erie WARNING!!**"http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=767449) regarding LECOM misrepresenting student options for rotations was removed. In my opinion, this was a legitimate post. So, why was it removed?

That post was edited by the person who posted it, so you would have to ask them.

No water?? Wow.

I thought 20 percent of your school got into residency no?

Haha, wow...that school must be something.

Reading the LECOM med school threads has been interesting. Aren't students restricted in where they're allowed to walk in the building? Best face forward kinda thing. Not my cup o' tea.

I wonder if a similar thing happens at LECOM - Bradenton since I plan to apply there...

I will be applying to LECOM in the future so I am very interested in what you have to say.

I have met two LECOM alumni in our town--one physician and one pharmacist-- and they both really liked the school and encouraged me to apply. I have toured the buildings and can definitely say I have never seen a more beautiful, sparkling-clean campus.

Would love to hear more pro/con comments from other LECOM students!

I was the kind of student whose list of things that were instant deal breakers was extremely short. I could tolerate mediocre cafeteria food and wacky professors but no water in class? At all?

Instant deal breaker. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, get a refund on application fee, shred acceptance letter, slam head into wall. No way would I go to a school that bans water during class.

Thanks for your great insight. You touched on the hospital rotations/residency. How about retail rotations? Does the school make an effort for its students to secure the OUT-OF-STATE rotation sites a little easier? Do they have a system in place to facilitate that process? I can't imagine if I have to hunt down the retail rotation sites myself to take me or to do lots of paperwork for me to be able to secure the rotation site in my home state. You take on this will be much appreciated.

Originally Posted by pharmachika87

I am working as a pharmacist now after graduating from LECOM Erie a few months ago. Before choosing to attend the school, I had read lots of negative posts on SDN about it and had always planned to leave a review about it giving the positives and negatives for other pre-pharms. So, here's my review.....

Positives
The tuition and living expenses in Erie are dirt cheap. It is a condensed 3-year program and you only really have to spend the first 2 years in Erie. You can do rotations in other states. Many kids from NYC say Erie is boring, but I thought it was a pretty nice medium-sized city and a great area to go to school. It is a great scene in the summer. People come from miles around to party at the water front and the bar scene is awesome. There is a park called Presque Isle, which is this massive plateua that goes out on the lake Erie, and it is absolutely beautiful. If you are into hiking, fishing, biking, or jogging, or just chilling at the beach and getting a tan, you will love Presque Isle. There is no school housing, but there are lots of apartment complexes near the school so you can walk instead of driving.

Negatives
There is a paradox at LECOM that is kind of annoying...It is really not a high quality education, but at the same time the school is ultra worried about their "image" and make the students follow all kinds of rules as if it were an ivy league school. When you look up "degree mill" in the dictionary, you see a picture of LECOM. The school is run like a business... they admit as many students as they possibly can to collect their tuition money, but don't have much space. All the classes are taught in the same, cramped classroom. There is really no campus, just this small, awkward little building. There are like 150 students in each graduating class and you have to strain to get into your seat. I'm a 5'6'' girl and many times I had to hold my backpack above my head while the other people in my row uncomfortably scooted in to get to my seat in the middle of the row. There is a dress code. Guys have to wear ties and khakis. It is slightly less annoying for girls than guys because they can get away with more. But here's the paradox again...if I'm gonna be hearded like a cow and put into an uncomfortably cramped cattle car with 150 other cows, they could at least let me wear some comfortable sweats, right? Conditions are so cramped that they were having issues with some overweight students with body odor problems stinking the place up. People around them were coughing and complaining. It was just ridiculous. You can't eat or drink in lecture hall either, and there are surveillance cameras everywhere.

The administration is absolutely nuts. They don't treat people like human beings. There was this guy in my class who told the school psychologist, Dr. Kovacs, that he smokes marijuana sometimes to deal with stress. You would think that what you tell a school psychologist is confidential, right? Well apparently not at LECOM. He told the Dean of the Pharmacy School, and they wouldn't let him attend classes again until he went down to Pittsburgh to get evaluated by a "substance abuse specialist". Then, after he got evaluated, the school made him get random urine tests and go to substance abuse counseling sessions until he graduated. This really happened. All because he opened his mouth and told the school psychologist the truth. It's the paradox again.... they don't really care about their students, they're just trying to remove liability from their business. Be very paranoid at LECOM...it's for your own good. The Italian lady who runs the school is always sending out threatening emails telling students not to do things or to be professional. One would think she is ego tripping.

In all fairness, I did have many instructors that I really liked, who were quality, and did care about the students. However, LECOM is kind of like the minor leagues for professors. They get their first jobs at LECOM and then try to leave as soon as possible to better paying, more prestigious schools. There is a massive amount of turnover. There are new faces every year and this lead to disorganization. Perhaps this is the trend at many new pharmacy schools, I'm not sure. Starting my 2nd year, they were still rushing to hire people to fill the spots of people who had left with a week to go until classes started. We got syllabuses with no instructor names.

You have to sit in assigned seats and they will randomly take role. If you are marked absent, you could get 5% taken off of your grade in a class. There was a group of students in the class behind me who skipped class after St. Patrick's day, and they had to meet with the Dean of the school like 5 times to "negotiate" what their punishment would be. It kind of reminds me of attending a military school in the 1930's. After 2 years, about half of the class had been called into the Dean's office at least once for something very stupid, like not sitting in their assigned seat. The school made a business partnership with a local coffee shop, and immediately removed all of the candy machines from the school in hopes that students would spend more money at the coffee shop. How convenient for the students.

LECOM doesn't pay for rotations. You have to schedule them on your own and often times they're very hard to get because the school doesn't have any of their own hospitals (besides Millcreek...see below). Hospitals in other cities have obligations to local state schools. In general, it's not a very good school to go to if you're trying to get a residency. It's not very prestigious and part of getting matched for a residency is making contacts with preceptors at quality rotations. The school just doesn't have the resources, reputation, or connections to give you a good chance of matching to a residency in the ultra competitive environment. Many of my friends who initially wanted to do clinical had great grades but still didn't get matched to a residency and are now working retail. The one hospital that is affiliated with LECOM in Erie is called Millcreek and is IMHO a crap hole. I don't even consider it to be a real hospital and would never take anyone in my family there. There are only like 15 beds and there are literally 2 confused student doctors for every patient. The general attitude among students is to avoid rotations at Millcreek like the plague.

Well, there you have it, my review . Despite the fact that my negatives section was much longer than the positives, I am working as a pharmacist now and I did get an education at a reasonable price, and I guess I have LECOM to thank for that. Just be aware that if you choose a more expensive, 4 year program, the extra money you pay may ultimately make your pharmacy school experience better. You get what you pay for. Best of luck with interview and choosing a school!!!!

Thanks for your great insight. You touched on the hospital rotations/residency. How about retail rotations? Does the school make an effort for its students to secure the OUT-OF-STATE rotation sites a little easier? Do they have a system in place to facilitate that process? I can't imagine if I have to hunt down the retail rotation sites myself to take me or to do lots of paperwork for me to be able to secure the rotation site in my home state. You take on this will be much appreciated.

I was at LECOM a few months ago (though I didn't attend school there). Faculty seemed quite knowledgable. Saw a student wearing a tux, which seemed strange. I met some APPE students doing rotations with faculty, and what seemed very strange was that the students could not counsel patients while on rotation. Now this is not LECOM's fault because the PA Pharmacy act says "only a pharmacist can counsel", and apparently the PA board cracked down on LECOM because it saw in the syllabi that the students were counseling. Their workaround was to have students relate disease state information to the patient and have the preceptors counsel. I'm not sure why the board is so uptight with LECOM and not the other schools in PA, but it really puzzled me how students can transition into practicing pharmacists without the ability to effectively counsel patients.

As far as residency, LECOM's PGY1 seems like a decent program. They also may have a PGY2 soon. Their residency director is really passionate for the advancement of pharmacy practice. Not sure how well the students match with other programs though.

Originally Posted by pharmachika87

Here's one that my friend who still goes there sent me. It's from some other weirdo in the administration. LOL, now I remember why I loved this school!

Subject: WATER

As we all know by now, food and beverages are not permitted in the classroom and this does include water. Yesterday, there was a report made by the maintenance department that water was spilled in the classroom. Please, if anyone knows anything about this please let me know. Most important is that no food or beverages are brought into the classroom.

Seriously? Not even water? Ridiculous. And what about diabetics or people prone to hypoglycemia who sometimes need a small snack? They just have to sit there with their symptoms of low blood sugar until break?

Hi I was wondering if anyone had their interview yet? If so what kind of questions did they ask, and if anyone knows how many people they generally interview?

I am on rotations now at Lecom-B. All of the classroom stuff was pretty much the same for us years 1-3. Rotation appointments are much better, however. I, and many classmates I've seen, have been on some very good rotations and my personal experience has been quite positive. The worst part of pharmacy school was the first three years. After reading how LECOM-Erie handles rotations, I actually guess we're kind of fortunate considering how many pharmacy schools are near here.