I had a lot of reservations about this school before my interview but after interviewing and meeting the students at LECOM, this turned out into a really great experience. Let me address some of the reservations I had and how they were answered at the interview.
1. The dreaded PBL system: Doesn't seem that bad at all. You are assigned readings from the textbook every week, then you are in a group of 6 people with one facilitator and you guys meet up 3 times a week to brainstorm solutions on the case study questions the facilitator gives you. The facilitator has a Masters in Edu. and is only there as a guide. You still have lecture classes BTW so it's not a full PBL system. Dr. Ward, the director of the PBL program seems very nice and genuine. He emphasizes that that the exam questions are designed to mimic NDBE 1 questions and the first class of students that took their board had a 97% pass rate. I'm not going to lie, I think that there is going to be a learning curve if you've never been exposed to PBL before but the general consensus from the students has been positive.
2. Clinic: The clinic was state of the art and gorgeous. There are 10 "offices" each with 10 operatories so that means each 3rd year student is guaranteed their own chair. It is set up just like a private practice so you can get exposure to that once you go out into the real world. The part I didn't like is how you have to move to either DeFuniak Springs, FL or Erie, PA your 4th year. For your 4th year you'll either get the morning shift 7AM-1PM or afternoon (1PM-7PM). They claim students will rack up 1600 clinical hours their 3rd year and 1800 hours their 4th year which is amazing but then again that's their claim and their first graduating class is still in their first semester of D3. D1s get to create full dentures for the homeless community which is neat since you are thrown in clinicals really early.
3. Specializing & Research: This is not a research school by any stretch of the imagination lol. There are also no specialty residents. The vibe I got is that they are really focusing on creating General Practitioners so if you know for a fact 100% that you want to specialize this might not be the place for you. Also grading is pass/fail, you must get a minimum of 75% to earn a passing mark. Again, probably not the best place for someone who wants to specialize.
4. Student Life: All the students seemed chill and happy, one girl even turned down Temple and NYU for LECOM. I probably asked almost every single D1 I saw how they felt about the PBL system and majority said it was fine. As you can see I was also very worried about PBL. Theres a beach within an arm's reach and the campus itself is very pleasing to the eyes.
All in all, don't knock a school off just because of negative things said on this site. I almost let that happen but I'm really glad I went and saw for myself how the school was.
