GAPCOM vs FLECOM

[eliice]

They are both brand new, but GAPCOM is backed by an older institution. However, FLECOM has had one year to work out the kinks. I don't think GAPCOM has all the professors hired to teach at this point.

FLECOM has PBL curriculum, clinical experience by shadowing, clerkships require travel.

GAPCOM has traditional curriculum (mock PCOM), clinical experience via STAN, clerkships in CORE locations.

Does anyone have insights/opinions of these schools?

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[mandar]

They are both brand new, but GAPCOM is backed by an older institution. However, FLECOM has had one year to work out the kinks. I don't think GAPCOM has all the professors hired to teach at this point.

FLECOM has PBL curriculum, clinical experience by shadowing, clerkships require travel.

GAPCOM has traditional curriculum (mock PCOM), clinical experience via STAN, clerkships in CORE locations.

Does anyone have insights/opinions of these schools?

I don't know about FLECOM as I didn't applied to FLECOM. But I was accepted to GAPCOM and was really impressed by the school. The basic science curriculum at GAPCOM is going to be run by Dr. Watson ( who use to teach at OSUCOM till last year). He is one of the best basic science professors in osteopathic world ( You can confirm this by emailing any MS3 OR MS4 OSUCOM students on SDN). The DO community of Georgia is one of the best among southern states (You may want to check out this website: http://www.oisonline.org ) The Osteopathic Institute of the South is based in Atlanta and this will help GAPCOM to set up clinical rotations in few of the best hospitals of Atlanta ( e.g. Atlanta Medical Center) and of course what will this lead to: more residency spots for DO's in Atlanta and Georgia as a whole. So my personal opinion will be to go for GAPCOM but in defense of FLECOM, I don't know much more FLECOM.

 

[Elmer]

They are both brand new, but GAPCOM is backed by an older institution. However, FLECOM has had one year to work out the kinks. I don't think GAPCOM has all the professors hired to teach at this point.

FLECOM has PBL curriculum, clinical experience by shadowing, clerkships require travel.

GAPCOM has traditional curriculum (mock PCOM), clinical experience via STAN, clerkships in CORE locations.

Does anyone have insights/opinions of these schools?

Both seem nice, but it really depends on you. LECOM-FL also has the requirement of business style dress. I don't know about your study habits, but I like to study at school/library.
PBL teaching is interesting if you don't like lectures. Plus you will definitely get more time with the faculty for Q/A.
You mentioned rotations being away. I think they have the majority of clerkships in the North - Pennsylvania. This may be a consideration if you wanted to stay South. Maybe a current LECOM-FL student can give you more details?

 

[BMW19]

I can only comment on what I see on this forum about the Mother schools. Again, I am not trying to start a war. It seems overall that PCOM-philly students are happier and feel more pride in their school than LECOM-Erie. This is just a sense that I get from these forums. LECOM students seem to be dissatisfied with # of things about their admin. Thats all I can tell from reading posts.

BTW I am a little biased

BMW-

They are both brand new, but GAPCOM is backed by an older institution. However, FLECOM has had one year to work out the kinks. I don't think GAPCOM has all the professors hired to teach at this point.

FLECOM has PBL curriculum, clinical experience by shadowing, clerkships require travel.

GAPCOM has traditional curriculum (mock PCOM), clinical experience via STAN, clerkships in CORE locations.

Does anyone have insights/opinions of these schools?

 

[(nicedream)]

Both seem nice, but it really depends on you. LECOM-FL also has the requirement of business style dress. I don't know about your study habits, but I like to study at school/library.
PBL teaching is interesting if you don't like lectures. Plus you will definitely get more time with the faculty for Q/A.
You mentioned rotations being away. I think they have the majority of clerkships in the North - Pennsylvania. This may be a consideration if you wanted to stay South. Maybe a current LECOM-FL student can give you more details?

There's about 80 hospitals for clerkships in PA, FL, MI, OH, NY, NJ, and GA. I might have forgotten a state or two. PA may hold the most affiliated hospitals, but you certainly could do your clerkships in FL if you so choose. I will say, however, that the sites in FL are community hospitals and not teaching centers. You can get a very good clinical education, but to get the best one you would need to travel.
Really, in answer to the original question, it comes down to two things. First, PBL vs. Lecture. This is a big deal. Would you prefer learning things through clinical case studies - working on cases in small groups with a professor and coming up with the important issues to then study on your own time? Or would you prefer the traditional lecture format? Second thing is location - central Georgia or coastal Florida? It's all a matter of personal preference. I will also say, however, that there were some kinks the first year at LECOM-FL which should be worked out by next year. PCOM-GA will likely have similar kinks in their first year, so you might avoid that by attending LECOM-FL.

 

[eliice]

There's about 80 hospitals for clerkships in PA, FL, MI, OH, NY, NJ, and GA. I might have forgotten a state or two. PA may hold the most affiliated hospitals, but you certainly could do your clerkships in FL if you so choose. I will say, however, that the sites in FL are community hospitals and not teaching centers. You can get a very good clinical education, but to get the best one you would need to travel.
Really, in answer to the original question, it comes down to two things. First, PBL vs. Lecture. This is a big deal. Would you prefer learning things through clinical case studies - working on cases in small groups with a professor and coming up with the important issues to then study on your own time? Or would you prefer the traditional lecture format? Second thing is location - central Georgia or coastal Florida? It's all a matter of personal preference. I will also say, however, that there were some kinks the first year at LECOM-FL which should be worked out by next year. PCOM-GA will likely have similar kinks in their first year, so you might avoid that by attending LECOM-FL.

Ok, thank you all for the information.

 

[eliice]

I don't know about FLECOM as I didn't applied to FLECOM. But I was accepted to GAPCOM and was really impressed by the school. The basic science curriculum at GAPCOM is going to be run by Dr. Watson ( who use to teach at OSUCOM till last year). He is one of the best basic science professors in osteopathic world ( You can confirm this by emailing any MS3 OR MS4 OSUCOM students on SDN). The DO community of Georgia is one of the best among southern states (You may want to check out this website: http://www.oisonline.org ) The Osteopathic Institute of the South is based in Atlanta and this will help GAPCOM to set up clinical rotations in few of the best hospitals of Atlanta ( e.g. Atlanta Medical Center) and of course what will this lead to: more residency spots for DO's in Atlanta and Georgia as a whole. So my personal opinion will be to go for GAPCOM but in defense of FLECOM, I don't know much more FLECOM.

I saw Dr. Watson while there and he seemed nice. Any word on new faculty members?