LECOM-Erie Overview for those curious

[deleted245139]

well, fairly sure both sides have been represented to perspective students who may read this. Regardless of half-full vs half-empty, the glass has the same amount of water in it. GL to all prospective students reading this, and GL to my disgruntled classmates. Med School is a long road... I'm going to continue having a good time with it.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SurfinginPA]

^ Regardless of your perspective irJanus - that animation makes me laugh everytime LOL. Its the simple things I guess. Thanks

 

[deleted245139]

haha it is man, and it cracks me up too no worries! at the end of the day we're on the same team.

 

[sylvanthus]

I assume you aren't in a PBL pathway, as that is the entire point of a PBL pathway, I teach myself. I teach myself because I am learning for the sake of the knowledge itself, not coming in and trying to learn from someone else talking at me... The school isn't responsible for making you learn, you have to want to do it. If you don't want to do it, no amount of effort on their part will get you to where you need to be. I chose PBL for this reason, I want to learn it and learn it well. In context so it makes sense, and learn it forever, not just to spew it out on one test and forget it and then have to study my ass of to relearn it for the Comlex... Either way, I am paying them for the privilege of being there, not for them to hold my hand...

Im a 3rd year and I am not at this school. You are also assuming I don't teach myself and don't want to do it. I got over a 700 on the COMLEX. I assure you I am quite self-motivated. Also, remember you are just beginning, talk to me in a couple years after you have taken your first step exam and see how motivated you are to do it all on your own while you see how in debt you are for this "provilege."

 

[smgilles]

Student Type #2 checking in here - I try extra hard on rotations because I came from a school that I felt actively worked against my education. That made me work extra hard in the pre-clinical years, and makes me feel like I have something to prove on the wards. There are crappy LECOM students too, but I see a lot more people doing what I do, so I think that overall we do earn a good reputation, and deserve it. My experience at LECOM (SH, and Erie by proxy) was that it provides a crappy education and that it is run by some truly vile people, however, it produces (paradoxically maybe) very good student physicians... I will be a great doctor who graduated from LECOM. I'm not sure what that means in the long run, but it is what it is.

Type #2 here as well. I wanted to put in my dean's letter, "succeeded despite LECOM's best efforts." My favorite part was not being allowed to see the dean's letter and when an interviewer on residency interviews showed it to me it was 3-pages about how great LECOM is.

 

[Mbeas]

I assume you aren't in a PBL pathway, as that is the entire point of a PBL pathway, I teach myself. I teach myself because I am learning for the sake of the knowledge itself, not coming in and trying to learn from someone else talking at me... The school isn't responsible for making you learn, you have to want to do it. If you don't want to do it, no amount of effort on their part will get you to where you need to be. I chose PBL for this reason, I want to learn it and learn it well. In context so it makes sense, and learn it forever, not just to spew it out on one test and forget it and then have to study my ass of to relearn it for the Comlex... Either way, I am paying them for the privilege of being there, not for them to hold my hand...

This was one of my biggest gripes about Bradenton. PBL sounds like an awesome way of learning, but what are you paying 30k per year for? You aren't "taught" anything (except anatomy, which I think is lecture based). From what I understand, the faculty only monitors the PBL sessions, and only jumps in when necessary. I just don't know how the tuition is justified. Yes, you get a degree and can practice medicine, but for 30k per year I'd expect a bit more. This is the model of a business, not a school.

Furthermore, apparently YOU set up your rotations and from what I was told at my interview, you will have to travel quite a bit. They spin this logic and say that other schools "spoonfeed" you and that "hold your hand" to make it sound condescending, but the reality is that med school is stressful enough; I'll take help where I can get it.

But, I have to admit, the board scores at Bradenton speak for themselves and PBL does work...no doubt about it. I just can't justify the tuition when YOU are doing most of the work. And it's not like either LECOM offers many amenities...I guess that's why their tuition is less than other med schools.

inb4illegallysmoothflamesme

 

[illegallysmooth]

This was one of my biggest gripes about Bradenton. PBL sounds like an awesome way of learning, but what are you paying 30k per year for? You aren't "taught" anything (except anatomy, which I think is lecture based). From what I understand, the faculty only monitors the PBL sessions, and only jumps in when necessary. I just don't know how the tuition is justified. Yes, you get a degree and can practice medicine, but for 30k per year I'd expect a bit more. This is the model of a business, not a school.

Furthermore, apparently YOU set up your rotations and from what I was told at my interview, you will have to travel quite a bit. They spin this logic and say that other schools "spoonfeed" you and that "hold your hand" to make it sound condescending, but the reality is that med school is stressful enough; I'll take help where I can get it.

But, I have to admit, the board scores at Bradenton speak for themselves and PBL does work...no doubt about it. I just can't justify the tuition when YOU are doing most of the work. And it's not like either LECOM offers many amenities...I guess that's why their tuition is less than other med schools.

inb4illegallysmoothflamesme

LOL. Nah it's cool. Everything you said is true. It just works for me, A LOT better than my lecture programs in undergrad and grad school did. Different strokes for different folks

 

[Mbeas]

LOL. Nah it's cool. Everything you said is true. It just works for me, A LOT better than my lecture programs in undergrad and grad school did. Different strokes for different folks

You're so classy...I love it

 

[SurfinginPA]

Type #2 here as well. I wanted to put in my dean's letter, "succeeded despite LECOM's best efforts." My favorite part was not being allowed to see the dean's letter and when an interviewer on residency interviews showed it to me it was 3-pages about how great LECOM is.

Hahaha - that is exactly what I would expect from LECOM. While, I will say I would appreciate that the letter hopefully would not have any negative remarks in it. Did it have like 1 or 2 paragraphs on you and then 2.5 pages on the amazingness (sarcastic) that is LECOM. Haha too funny. Just the epitome of what I would expect.

 

[Loudster]

- Someone here finds it amusing to crap on the floor of the bathroom the past 3 years here...unbelievable but true

I thought of the mystery pooper when I watched this
[youtube]gjwofYhUJEM[/youtube]

 

[FutureDoc01]

This is great! They "have speaken" to us about the phantom pooper.

I thought of the mystery pooper when I watched this
[youtube]gjwofYhUJEM[/youtube]

 

[bleeker10]

Say I am "venting" that is fine. Your wrong but whatever makes you feel you can analyze me - go right ahead. Oh my gosh did I generalize and say a "few" doctors and then said "multiple" - LOL last time I checked a few is multiple...do I need to count them and tell the exact # to you...3 (3 would be...multiple). I was just trying to show a point that while the majority is not biased - it DOES exist.

Right because everyone knows that n=3 is a statistically large enough sample size. You are arguing semantics and technicalities. Would you trust a study that had 3 patients? Nope I know I wouldn't.

Even the best schools may have students that give the school a bad name. I'm thinking of a certain person who was the chief resident of psychiatry at Mass Gen and had his own band pitching Teamocil. One day he had a bad idea for a hybrid profession and put it on his business card which prompted the authorities to put an end to it. Eventually he decided to be an actor who's greatest roll was Mrs. Fingerbottom.

Also, Janus is a bastard and he should get a haircut.

 

[bleeker10]

This was one of my biggest gripes about Bradenton. PBL sounds like an awesome way of learning, but what are you paying 30k per year for? You aren't "taught" anything (except anatomy, which I think is lecture based). From what I understand, the faculty only monitors the PBL sessions, and only jumps in when necessary. I just don't know how the tuition is justified. Yes, you get a degree and can practice medicine, but for 30k per year I'd expect a bit more. This is the model of a business, not a school.

But, I have to admit, the board scores at Bradenton speak for themselves and PBL does work...no doubt about it. I just can't justify the tuition when YOU are doing most of the work. And it's not like either LECOM offers many amenities...I guess that's why their tuition is less than other med schools.

inb4illegallysmoothflamesme

Just wanted to point out that there are MD schools that use PBL. Cornell comes to mind. I also interviewed at an MD school which was a hybrid of lecture with PBL sessions. Cornell's tuition is $48736. That's almost 20k more than LECOM ($29235). Is 20k worth the reputation and other intangibles of Cornell plus the cost of living in NYC? I'll leave that for others to decide. It's a moot point to me since I'm HPSP.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Im a 3rd year and I am not at this school. You are also assuming I don't teach myself and don't want to do it. I got over a 700 on the COMLEX. I assure you I am quite self-motivated. Also, remember you are just beginning, talk to me in a couple years after you have taken your first step exam and see how motivated you are to do it all on your own while you see how in debt you are for this "privilege."

I totally get that it blows that any of us have to spend money to do this. I guess my thought is that I can't do it myself, even if I wanted to, because the feds say I have to go to an accredited program... otherwise, I would have already done exactly that... I'm sure at the end I'm going to be so ecstatic that it's done that I'll be jumping up in down...

This was one of my biggest gripes about Bradenton. PBL sounds like an awesome way of learning, but what are you paying 30k per year for? You aren't "taught" anything (except anatomy, which I think is lecture based). From what I understand, the faculty only monitors the PBL sessions, and only jumps in when necessary. I just don't know how the tuition is justified. Yes, you get a degree and can practice medicine, but for 30k per year I'd expect a bit more. This is the model of a business, not a school.

Furthermore, apparently YOU set up your rotations and from what I was told at my interview, you will have to travel quite a bit. They spin this logic and say that other schools "spoonfeed" you and that "hold your hand" to make it sound condescending, but the reality is that med school is stressful enough; I'll take help where I can get it.

But, I have to admit, the board scores at Bradenton speak for themselves and PBL does work...no doubt about it. I just can't justify the tuition when YOU are doing most of the work. And it's not like either LECOM offers many amenities...I guess that's why their tuition is less than other med schools.

inb4illegallysmoothflamesme

I don't mind about setting up the rotations because more than most schools, I can do them in some other place (hopefully)... I'd really like to be able to go back to CO and spend the time there... Even if it's only some of them, it is worth my time and money... I agree about the cost for PBL stuff, I have to think some people are making BIG (HUGE/GINORMOUS) bucks off of us... not sure what to tell you other than supply vs demand...

 

[smgilles]

Hahaha - that is exactly what I would expect from LECOM. While, I will say I would appreciate that the letter hopefully would not have any negative remarks in it. Did it have like 1 or 2 paragraphs on you and then 2.5 pages on the amazingness (sarcastic) that is LECOM. Haha too funny. Just the epitome of what I would expect.

That's exactly what it was! Best part is you get to write 3 sentences for your own dean's letter and still not allowed to read it. You will fill out a sheet explaining what specialty you are applying too, your previous education, any research, and then 3 adjectives that describe you. You would think a dean would bother to get to know their students, but I guess that is difficult when you are the largest diploma mill - I mean "medical" school in the US.

I wouldn't go to LECOM again if the world was flooded with piss and the school was located in a tree.

Like I said - go if you have no other choice and succeed despite the school and never mention its name again. Otherwise buyer beware!

 

[SurfinginPA]

That's exactly what it was! Best part is you get to write 3 sentences for your own dean's letter and still not allowed to read it. You will fill out a sheet explaining what specialty you are applying too, your previous education, any research, and then 3 adjectives that describe you. You would think a dean would bother to get to know their students, but I guess that is difficult when you are the largest diploma mill - I mean "medical" school in the US.

I wouldn't go to LECOM again if the world was flooded with piss and the school was located in a tree.

Like I said - go if you have no other choice and succeed despite the school and never mention its name again. Otherwise buyer beware!

Why would the Dean want to get to know the students? That is just silly. At LECOM it is all about pumping out "foot soldiers" of medicine and expanding LECOM. Why invest in your students when you can expand the LECOM "campus". They just bought LORD corporation right next door - my first thought...how are they going to secure all that space. Wouldn't be surprised if they hired their own LECOM police force, put up barbed wire and motion sensors.

Anyways, its just unfortunate and sad that LECOM has that approach. If they actually listened to their students and made adjustments then I think the school would be a lot more popular and sought after rather than for most (notice I say most, not all)...it is a last resort or backup or only choosing it for the low cost.

 

[deleted245139]

I believe the land purchase for next door is for the upcoming dental school

 

[deleted245139]

interesting take on what most of us consider a prominent medical school...
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=11900162#post11900162

not discrediting people on here, nor their experiences, but like I said... the grass isn't greener

 

[El Dooderino]

interesting take on what most of us consider a prominent medical school...
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=11900162#post11900162

not discrediting people on here, nor their experiences, but like I said... the grass isn't greener

you link to an 11 year old blog post...really?

 

[SurfinginPA]

I believe some of it is for the dental school but also for "research" is what I have heard as well.

 

[deleted245139]

you link to an 11 year old blog post...really?

You're astute
it's anecdotal ... food for thought. I didn't bump it. it's one of the more recent threads on the allo section. The take away message was... each school has it's issues, and some (as demonstrated) can be much worse than others. If that's not recent enough for you, feel free to hunt down something different.

 

[deleted245139]

I believe some of it is for the dental school but also for "research" is what I have heard as well.

research... hm. That wouldn't be a bad thing. I think that school needs to do whatever they can to keep on Dr. Kuleza. He keeps 90% of their programs breathing.

 

[SurfinginPA]

Its not a bad thing - definitely agree about Dr. Kulesza. I just wish they would use all that money they have and invest it back into some of their current students instead of taking away funding like they did this year. They took away funding now for school groups/societies to attend meetings...they will no longer pay for them to go to meetings. It is just poor decisions like that, that infuriate a lot of people at LECOM.

 

[bleeker10]

Its not a bad thing - definitely agree about Dr. Kulesza. I just wish they would use all that money they have and invest it back into some of their current students instead of taking away funding like they did this year. They took away funding now for school groups/societies to attend meetings...they will no longer pay for them to go to meetings. It is just poor decisions like that, that infuriate a lot of people at LECOM.

There's a different reason for that happening. LECOM just didn't willy nilly end funding. There was an incident at an event, which had funding from LECOM, that occurred during my first year. Things got out of hand at the event and LECOM pulled the plug on funding. So don't necessarily blame LECOM. Most of the blame goes to my class.

I really hope Kulesza gets paid well for the amount of work and time he puts forth. He pretty much runs anatomy and neuroanatomy, an active research lab, the post-bacc program and he finds time to run a crap ton of miles each day. He's the Chuck Norris of LECOM. I think he's a bionic man. I also think the micro profs are awesome and are an intangible LECOM needs to make sure it doesn't lose (along with Kulesza of course).

 

[Nymphicus]

Just wanted to point out that there are MD schools that use PBL. Cornell comes to mind. I also interviewed at an MD school which was a hybrid of lecture with PBL sessions. Cornell's tuition is $48736. That's almost 20k more than LECOM ($29235). Is 20k worth the reputation and other intangibles of Cornell plus the cost of living in NYC? I'll leave that for others to decide. It's a moot point to me since I'm HPSP.

I think you might find half of LECOM missing if you were able to offer the chance to attend Cornell over LECOM for 20k.

 

[El Dooderino]

Just wanted to point out that there are MD schools that use PBL. Cornell comes to mind. I also interviewed at an MD school which was a hybrid of lecture with PBL sessions. Cornell's tuition is $48736. That's almost 20k more than LECOM ($29235). Is 20k worth the reputation and other intangibles of Cornell plus the cost of living in NYC? I'll leave that for others to decide. It's a moot point to me since I'm HPSP.

I'd take a wild guess and say virtually every lecom student would choose Cornell in this situation

 

[deleted245139]

not 'if Cornell was 20k'... he was pointing out Cornell is 20k more expensive. he's asking if paying 20k MORE in tuition (and THEN factor in living expenses) is worth it.

 

[El Dooderino]

not 'if Cornell was 20k'... he was pointing out Cornell is 20k more expensive. he's asking if paying 20k MORE in tuition (and THEN factor in living expenses) is worth it.

we understand, I think it's also pretty obvious what the answer is

 

[illegallysmooth]

I'd take a wild guess and say virtually every lecom student would choose Cornell in this situation

I highly doubt going to Cornell over LECOM would really affect my career, as I'm not interested in academia and research. Secondly, I lived in NY state all my life and wanted to move to a warmer climate (Bradenton). Third, I already had substantial debt from my stupid decision to attend the University of Rochester instead of taking a free ride at SUNY Buffalo, and then attend a masters program after that.

There's a very good chance I would not choose Cornell over LECOM for these reasons.

 

[bleeker10]

I'll admit it's not a great comparison. It's almost apples to oranges. The point I was trying to make was if people won't pay 30k for PBL at LECOM because they are pretty much teaching themself, would you choose to do the same at Cornell (or any other school with PBL) for 20k more just for the reputation and amenities?

My other question is would people pay 20k more per year to attend PCOM or DMU which are perceived on SDN to be two of the best DO schools? I realize I'm not accurate on the tuition difference at DMU or PCOM. It's more hypothetical but I'm wondering at what point is cost the most important deciding factor? This is partly to encourage discussion but also partly to get future applicants to think about factors such as this.

 

[bleeker10]

we understand, I think it's also pretty obvious what the answer is

I wouldn't choose Cornell for two reasons: one is PBL and the second is I don't want to be in NYC

 

[deleted245139]

I wouldn't choose Cornell for two reasons: one is PBL and the second is I don't want to be in NYC

two reasons i WOULD choose it. go Big Red!
also... i do NOT need a hair cut

 

[bleeker10]

haha it is man, and it cracks me up too no worries! at the end of the day we're on the same team.

I dunno about you but I'm on team "not a father's day" haha.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

I wouldn't choose Cornell for two reasons: one is PBL and the second is I don't want to be in NYC

I wouldn't go because it's in NYC... and I've heard horrible things about PCOM... DMU, I would go to over Erie for location and for reputation...

 

[Dharma]

(Interjection: Shocked to see that people actually DON'T want to be in NYC. Seriously. I say that without an ounce of sarcasm. 5-boroughs over anywhere else any day).

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

(Interjection: Shocked to see that people actually DON'T want to be in NYC. Seriously. I say that without an ounce of sarcasm. 5-boroughs over anywhere else any day).

Less than zero desire to live in NYC, most of NY, anywhere in CA, and for the most part, most other very large cities with high crime rates
I's a midwest girl! We like things safe! and I like my access to firearms... which is why NY and Commiefornia are out... Not sure about others' reasons... cost is another one for me for those places

 

[Dharma]

Less than zero desire to live in NYC, most of NY, anywhere in CA, and for the most part, most other very large cities with high crime rates
I's a midwest girl! We like things safe! and I like my access to firearms... which is why NY and Commiefornia are out... Not sure about others' reasons... cost is another one for me for those places

Guess you never lived in NYC bc for the most part, it's pretty darn safe and unless you're the paranoid type, it usually feels pretty darn safe. Plus, there's more culture packed in that small area (and all the awesome and inexpensive food that comes with those cultures) then you could find pretty much anywhere on this planet. And there are plenty of places that are mad chill in the city (mostly outer borough city parks that will leave you saying "this can't be NYC... no way.").

Most people judge NYC from the outside and never get to experience just how great the place is. 42nd St Times Square tourist ish just ain't NYC. If a person's only experience is a bit of the popular digs in Manhattan, they haven't seen 99% of what NYC is all about. As far as prices go, yeah, rents a bit high, but we cook a lot and I've never ate as well or for as cheap. And there's so much exploring to do (especially very affordable eats of various ethnicities and styles) that you can live here for well over a decade and still stumble over something brand new and interesting on the regular. (Ex: lamb burgers at Xi'An Famous Foods in the village...)

IMO, one of the best places on the planet. But I bleed Yankee Blue, so I'm a bit biased...

Okay, sorry for the thread jacking guys.

 

[JeetKuneDo]

I'd love to live in NYC.

 

[hchang9]

Does anyone know if LECOM students can bring a guest to the Wellness Center? My girlfriend is going to be living with me and I want to know if we can work out together.

 

[deleted245139]

membership is free for students only... you'll have two guest passes you can use for her though. Honestly... it's not all that bad. faculty pays full price for membership.

 

[paintballguy]

My girlfriend pays ~$35 per month for the LECOM fitness center. I forget if that is a discount price or not, but it seems cheap enough for the quality of the gym as long as you use it enough.

 

[deleted245139]

the YMCA will run ~$60/mo for a single membership... for what the LECOM gym provides, $35 is a DEAL. that's awesome!

 

[Slane]

My girlfriend pays ~$35 per month for the LECOM fitness center. I forget if that is a discount price or not, but it seems cheap enough for the quality of the gym as long as you use it enough.

It's just the price difference between a single membership (what our loan money pays for, we don't actually get a free membership, which is kinda lame) and a couple's membership.

 

[235788]

This is an interesting thread. When I interviewed at LECOM-E in September 2010, I literally could not wait to get out of there. The whole experience was a nightmare.

The building was gray, drab, and so sterile. I felt like I would be stepping out of line if I touched something and "contaminated" it.

Display cases filled with clowns? I'm sorry but that's just weird.

You can't go into the atrium? What are they freaked out about?

My interview was just dumb. The faculty member was crude, unprofessional, and condescending. I wasn't the only one who felt unsettled. The interviewer wanted to know if we would prescribe Viagra for him so he could get his "pipe" up and going again. Not a bad question if you're a guy... just really uncomfortable for a lot of the girls in there. Especially because he kept making crude references to his genitalia.

The view of Lake Erie from the room was nice though.

The town was so bleak. Dreadful place, in my opinion.

Ironically, I got the "acceptance" phone call from my school of choice driving on the PA turnpike to Erie. Should have turned around right then!

Also got accepted at Bradenton that same month... seems nicer, but PBL was not for me so I turned it down.

This is why people recommend interviewing at as many schools as possible. I am so glad I did.

lolololol what the heck?

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Erie isn't filled with clowns, that's bradenton

 

[Druggernaut]

lolololol what the heck?

Barnum and Bailey or some other circus company donated a bunch of money to help open up Bradenton, so one floor has a bunch of clown stuff. Weird, but I can kind of appreciate it knowing why it's there.

 

[Helen Wheels]

Erie isn't filled with clowns, that's bradenton

I think there might be a few clowns at every one of the LECOM campuses!

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Are they creepy like the ones at Bradenton??

 

[Helen Wheels]

Are they creepy like the ones at Bradenton??

I was being facetious. I meant there are a few goofy people at all of them.

I can vouch for that fact that there are no clown decorations at Seton Hill.

 

[jslo85]

I have yet to see any clowns of any sort at Erie but then again, I don't scrutinize the glass displays in every hallway while I'm walking to and from lecture.