Which "distance" pharmacy school to attend -- LECOM or Creighton?

[PAtoPharm]

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[njac]

I've worked with one Creighton-distance grad who was phenomenal.

She had a lot of difficulty overcoming biases regarding the distance program when she was interviewing for residencies.

I'd go with Creighton vs LECOM if you have to pick one - pick the school with the stronger program and better reputation. You'll already have to explain yourself a thousand times over.

Your truly best bet would probably be your state school - cheaper tuition, local alumni base, and people don't have preconceived notions as to why you selected a distance program.


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[PAtoPharm]

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[owlegrad]

I did a rotation with a Lecom student and my perception of his preparedness was very very low. So it's just anecdotal based on one student but I would avoid Lecom if possible.

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[mustang sally]

Kind of a tough call. On the one hand (after graduating and attempting to pay down large loans), I would say go for your cheapest option. On the other hand, Creighton is likely your best choice.
Maybe it is somewhat dependent on what your career goals are?

 

[PAtoPharm]

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[Chalupa_Batman86]

Stop the kidding in choice C, and run with it. A and B are the inevitable steps to sadness, despair and inability to pay off debt.

 

[PAtoPharm]

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[Caffeine QAM]

Well, the problem is, I actually WAS kidding about the engineering scholarship. Nobody is offering me a scholarship to go anywhere. So between LECOM and Creighton, I'm thinking Creighton is probably the better choice?

Based on experience with those that have come from Creighton's pharmacy program, I have not been terribly impressed. But as mentioned by someone else, there can be still be exceptional high performers - the key word being exception.

 

[PAtoPharm]

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[Caffeine QAM]

I'm surprised to hear that you haven't had better impressions of Creighton's students, since the program itself seems to be pretty high ranked. Even with that being said, do you still think it would be a better idea to attend Creighton's program on the basis of institutional recognizance alone? Or, if I think I know that I want to work retail, should I save upwards of $60k and attend LECOM?

Well, my sample size is like 5, so make of it what you will. One of them was a licensed, practicing, hospital pharmacist who did not know that ciprofloxacin could be used to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa and when a physician asked what the difference between moxifloxacin and ciprofloxacin were, his answer was "it's just another quinolone". Again, I don't know how much of it is a reflection of his person and how much of it is a reflection of the school. I don't doubt though, that there are very good pharmacists trained from Creighton. There's a school here in California that shall remain unnamed that preceptors and students have all said have P4s that don't meet expectations for what a 4th-year should know, yet I know exceptional pharmacists from this school as well.

In the long-term, the name recognition from Creighton might be worth it. If over the lifetime of your career, it helps you land the job that you want in a desireable location (possibly more than once), I would say that it's worth the additional 60k. Of course, you're not only paying for the name-recognition, but the quality of the program as well, which will also play into how competitive a job candidate you are. That said, I know nothing of LECOM - it could well be that they do have a good program. If I were hiring, I certainly would not discount any candidates based on what school they came from unless it was one of those diploma mill joke schools.

 

[CUpharmD2013]

Creighton distance grad here. I highly recommend Creighton's program and the hospital I work at has 4 grads from the distance program. It is actually very competitive and I am surprised to here about Caffeine's experiences (although I do remember some of my classmates not being up to par). Creighton is also way ahead of the game with distance learning and I live in an area somewhat close to LECOM and they are well known as being a diploma mill. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

 

[Doc-Rx]

I think it depends somewhat on your long-term goals. Retail? Residency? Even with residency - to a VERY limited extent it matters where you went to pharmacy school. Creighton may open more networking opportunities b/c it's been around longer. Essentially, these "rankings" are rather arbitrary after the top ten (maybe top 20) schools. One could probably argue you may want to avoid a bottom 20 school as well... But in the middle - it really doesn't matter. Pharmacy school is what you put into it. There will be people way more intelligent than you and people that have you wondering all the way through how they possibly got admitted... And this will be everywhere.


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[PAtoPharm]

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[CUpharmD2013]

You haven't told us your long term goals. If you want to do community, it won't matter where you go to school. Go to the most affordable. If you want to be a clinical specialist and do a residency, Creighton is probably the better bet.

 

[Caffeine QAM]

If you're dedicated enough, you will eventually get job that you want, regardless of which of those two schools you attend. Reputation-wise, Creighton might be more beneficial, but it's up to you to decide whether or not that benefit is worth a $60,000 difference in cost of attendance. I don't know much about LECOM, but if it provides an adequate education and decent rotation sites, I would probably just go with the less expensive option.

 

[PAtoPharm]

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[PAtoPharm]

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[Kelp103]

I'm a distance Creighton student also (so I'm obviously bias). Honestly, to me the worst/hardest part is setting up your own rotations. Creighton does luckily have previous experience with my area, so there are multiple sites I can contact. It completely depends on your area though as I know some of my classmates in California, for example, have had a really hard time getting sites (so many pharmacy schools ). You said your area has several schools, so you may have a hard time regardless. I, personally, want to make sure that all my rotations are in my area since I would prefer not to move after graduation (take rotations as an extended job interview).

I've been told that Creighton will pay sites (if that's how the agreement is drawn up), but I don't know personally. I was told that at my interview by a current student (I believe it, just identifying the source).

I didn't realize there was such a price difference. I did apply to LECOM's distance program (first year it was available), but maybe I blocked the price difference out XD

My only other thought was that Creighton is use to the distance program, so I thought there would be less "hiccups". Also LECOM didn't have anywhere for you to stay in the summer (so you had to use a hotel) and when I talked to them the summer sessions could have been as long as 3 weeks. Creighton has dorms ($20/night, yay) and it's pretty much always 2 weeks (not that the dorm price AT ALL makes up for the tuition difference ). LECOM also (at the time) required synchronous "attendance" so many times a week. To me, one of the benefits of the distance program is that I can set my own schedule and work more (I'm a night owl and works 25+ hours this semester between a retail and hospital job). Things totally could have changed since then though. If you have a flexible work schedule though, or are a morning person, it doesn't really matter. Creighton also has some alum in my area (they have a mentorship program). One if my IPPEs was from a alumnus.

Have you talked to any current LECOM students? My two cents. You can PM me if I can help with any questions.

 

[drhenPharmD]

I did a rotation with a Lecom student and my perception of his preparedness was very very low. So it's just anecdotal based on one student but I would avoid Lecom if possible.

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LECOM - Erie or Bradenton? They are very different programs. I believe the distance program is being ran out of Bradenton (IMO the better campus).