LECOM D1 almost finished. AMA

Started by Dentalco2020
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Dentalco2020

Full Member
5+ Year Member
When I was deciding between other school and lecom, there weren't too much information regarding school's curriculum, etc. If you have any questions regarding student life, curriculum, how difficult/easy it is, student interaction, clinic, patient pool, etc, ask away.

My GPA was pretty average or slightly below average at 3.48
DAT was 25AA 25TS

Late interview around Feb, and accepted off the waitlist.
 
How soon do students get involved in the clinic? I know some schools are really early like D1 year, some aren't until later in D2.

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Alpha Centauri said:
What made you pick LECOM over other schools, especially with your stats?
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I did get into other schools, but I liked the warm weather here and the tuition was a lot cheaper than other schools I got into. Stats I had didn't mean much because I had gap years lasting more than a few years. That might have put me in disadvantage to a certain degree.
 
predent1122 said:
How soon do students get involved in the clinic? I know some schools are really early like D1 year, some aren't until later in D2.

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First half of D1 year, we were just taking PBL, dental anatomy, gross anatomy, and sim lab(involved some soap carving, denture making, tooth identification etc). Then when the second semester started, two D1's were assigned to 1 D3 student and made a denture together for a real patient. I think it's pretty early compared to other schools who don't get to see patients until the end of second year. After the denture course, we start restorative course and work on typodonts.

We will be done in about 3 months, then 2nd year starts in late May.
 
1. Do you enjoy going to school there?

2. How many hours a week are spent studying?

3. Do you like your classmates? Are people genuinely nice to each other?

Thanks!
 
njw34114 said:
1. Do you enjoy going to school there?

2. How many hours a week are spent studying?

3. Do you like your classmates? Are people genuinely nice to each other?

Thanks!
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1. So far, it's been great. It's a pbl based curriculum, so all your basic science classes, you will study on your own as a part of pbl course. So unlike other schools, you are not gonna be stuck in lecture rooms all day long 5 days a week. You have 2hr pbl sessions 3 times a week, and you do your own readings. You pretty much have to manage your own time to do the readings, but I don't think I know anyone who couldn't manage the workload. Free time = more sports, more exploring, etc. (Note : this is not the case for year 2, it gets a lot busier)

2. If there's no exam coming up that week, I would do light reviews after lectures, if that. A week before exam is when I start to cram and do comprehensive reviews (or catch ups). Even then, you still have lots of free time. I'd say 4-5 hours a day when I have exam/quiz, but 0-2 hours when I don't have exam coming up.

3. Classmates are all pretty cool. Not cutthroat, a lot of students post notes / resources on dropbox so everyone can benefit from it. This MAY change next year because 2021 class will be getting letter grades instead of Pass/Fail like we are. Overall relaxed environment, and staff are very nice too.
 
SmileItsLife said:
How was your GAP year a disadvantage?
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Mainly because I have been doing non-dental related stuff during the gap years. Only started shadowing / volunteering a year before applying, so they could have took that as "this kid is probably just dabbling around again" I really wanted to go to my state school, but my state school is really choosy when it comes to applicants who gets interviewed. I didn't even get invited for an interview.
 
Dentalco2020 said:
1. So far, it's been great. It's a pbl based curriculum, so all your basic science classes, you will study on your own as a part of pbl course. So unlike other schools, you are not gonna be stuck in lecture rooms all day long 5 days a week. You have 2hr pbl sessions 3 times a week, and you do your own readings. You pretty much have to manage your own time to do the readings, but I don't think I know anyone who couldn't manage the workload. Free time = more sports, more exploring, etc. (Note : this is not the case for year 2, it gets a lot busier)

2. If there's no exam coming up that week, I would do light reviews after lectures, if that. A week before exam is when I start to cram and do comprehensive reviews (or catch ups). Even then, you still have lots of free time. I'd say 4-5 hours a day when I have exam/quiz, but 0-2 hours when I don't have exam coming up.

3. Classmates are all pretty cool. Not cutthroat, a lot of students post notes / resources on dropbox so everyone can benefit from it. This MAY change next year because 2021 class will be getting letter grades instead of Pass/Fail like we are. Overall relaxed environment, and staff are very nice too.
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That's cool. I've been teaching myself for 4 years at my UG so I guess I could deal with PBL although it probably isn't for everyone. Looks like LECOM although new has a pretty decent culture and vibe to it from this and other people's similar opinions about the school. Tuition is certainly reasonable as well. Good luck!
 
Dentalco2020 said:
Mainly because I have been doing non-dental related stuff during the gap years. Only started shadowing / volunteering a year before applying, so they could have took that as "this kid is probably just dabbling around again" I really wanted to go to my state school, but my state school is really choosy when it comes to applicants who gets interviewed. I didn't even get invited for an interview.
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What school was that?
 
Alpha Centauri said:
That's cool. I've been teaching myself for 4 years at my UG so I guess I could deal with PBL although it probably isn't for everyone. Looks like LECOM although new has a pretty decent culture and vibe to it from this and other people's similar opinions about the school. Tuition is certainly reasonable as well. Good luck!
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yep, as far as tuition is concerned, it is on the cheaper side compared to other private schools. Living expense isn't that bad either if you are willing to commute 10 minutes to school.
 
Hey, are scrubs also worn in lecture, and in pbl sessions?/ when do students not wear scrubs at school?

Also, when do most students take the first board.

Are summer breaks always a week long, and winter breaks always two weeks long? Or does this vary by year.

ty in advance
 
Heavy J said:
Hey, are scrubs also worn in lecture, and in pbl sessions?/ when do students not wear scrubs at school?

Also, when do most students take the first board.

Are summer breaks always a week long, and winter breaks always two weeks long? Or does this vary by year.

ty in advance
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good questions that a lot of people don't think about until they start 🙂

When you are in the sim lab or clinic, scrubs are required.
Other times, you can wear business casual (slacks and dress shirt with tie) or scrubs

But who the heck wants to dress up and stay uncomfortable? Most people wear scrubs all the time (I think everyone)
Only exception is on the weekends . you can wear whatever. During the week, you can also wear anything after 5pm.
Scrubs are comfortable enough you will not want to wear anything other than scrubs. When it's hot, people tend to like to come in flip flops and shorts after 5pm during the week.

Our breaks really suck. Spring/summer break is always like 9-10 days and winter break is 2 weeks.


**missed the board question. We take Part 1 around May of second year.
 
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Heavy J said:
Last thing, How's the patient pool been for the D3s?

TY
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patient pool is pretty decent. I know they say lecom clinics are always slow, etc, etc.
It can be sometimes, but most of the time, D3's have some kind of patient, whether they are a return patient or a new patient.
Patient care coordinator takes care of all the appointments, etc.
 
Tatu78 said:
When did you get off the waitlist after the late Feb interview? Thanks!
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I think I got off after about 2 months. When I got off the waitlist, I already had a deposit at other school, but I still chose lecom because weather was much better and also a little cheaper.
 
Thank you for your answers!

What was your favorite part and least favorite part about your first year? Or about LECOM in general?
 
njw34114 said:
Thank you for your answers!

What was your favorite part and least favorite part about your first year? Or about LECOM in general?
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favorite part = we have a lot of free time (at least in first year) so you still have a life unlike students at other dental schools who are likely to be stuck in lecture hall for most of the day everyday.

Least favorite part = starting out, PBL was god awful because nobody knew what was going on and our PBL facilitator was new as well, so she didn't how that we didn't know much about PBL cases. So it made everything not so smooth. After about 2-3 months, we got the hang of how PBL works. After having been exposed to it for about 6 months, I think it's gotten a lot better, and I actually don't hate it as much now. PBL cases are actually pretty interesting and you get to learn about medical conditions, medications, and tests/diagnostics. After a few months, you will feel a lot better because you recognize most of them when they are presented, except for the new terms that are added time to time.


I like where I am now, only wish there were more things around here that we can do. It's not like we are in the middle of nowhere, but it's not tampa or miami either. Sometimes it can get boring and all you can do is play sports, or go out to eat/drink.
 
Dentalco2020 said:
When I was deciding between other school and lecom, there weren't too much information regarding school's curriculum, etc. If you have any questions regarding student life, curriculum, how difficult/easy it is, student interaction, clinic, patient pool, etc, ask away.

My GPA was pretty average or slightly below average at 3.48
DAT was 25AA 25TS

Late interview around Feb, and accepted off the waitlist.
Click to expand...


Do you have any advice on soap carving?
 
Mwahos1 said:
Do you have any advice on soap carving?
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Everyone is different. Out of so many instruments we get, a lot of people have a few favorite tools they use and how they approach carving is different.
It's actually meant to help you learn anatomy of teeth, and most people pass without too much trouble. It's somewhat soothing to be carving ivory soap in class for 2-3 hours (you can leave early if you are done). I think you will enjoy almost 2 months of carving teeth.

After you are done with carving teeth, you will be learning how to make dentures. (making impressions, models, custom trays, setting teeth, etc) This is also very fun.
 
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Swoops said:
Im just curious, what do the D1's do when they work with a D3 on dentures? Just watch/assist?


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It's really case by case and how confident you are with the denture skills you learned in SIMLAB denture course. If you are pretty confident, you can ask to do most of the things, and D3's will let you do it. If anything, they probably want you to do it as long as you are not terrible at making impressions and making models, etc (you will learn all this in the simlab). Even if you mess up, patients are very understanding and they want us to take time to make them a good set of teeth.
 
How much did dat and ugrad gpa correlate with dental success in d1 among you and or classmates? Any study tips that help the transition into d school?
 
In all honesty, I dont think how well you do on your DAT really correlates how well you do in dental school (even though data says that your D1 year performance correlates positively with DAT TS score and D2 year performance with RC?). There are students with wide variety of DAT scores, and their performance are negligibly different. If any different, it could just be due to how seriously they studied for each exam or because of their background, not bc they were able to successfully cram for DAT and crush it.

On the other hand, I would say how solid your undergrad science education was could make your d1 year a little less painful. If you retained a lot of information from classes like physio, anatomy, biochem, cell bio, etc, then reading lots of chapters for exams will not be as painful.

For example, our PBL exams will test us on about 20-25 chapters. Most of them are physio with some mixes of biochem and dental related textbooks.


Everything I said may not apply to schools that have traditional lecture style curriculum.
 
Dentalco2020 said:
When I was deciding between other school and lecom, there weren't too much information regarding school's curriculum, etc. If you have any questions regarding student life, curriculum, how difficult/easy it is, student interaction, clinic, patient pool, etc, ask away.

My GPA was pretty average or slightly below average at 3.48
DAT was 25AA 25TS

Late interview around Feb, and accepted off the waitlist.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer questions.

I have a family member hoping to get into lecom for 2018. Can you tell me what the interview was like?
 
What do you love most about dental school?

What's your least favorite part about dental school?

Thank you for making this AMA!
 
Incis0r said:
What do you love most about dental school?

What's your least favorite part about dental school?

Thank you for making this AMA!
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love the most - making new friends, learning to be a professional
hate the most - immature students acting like they are still in undergrad. 😀😀
 
Wait are they changing the grading system to letter grades for 2021? Ah. How many people want to specialize after and does LECOM help you out because I thought it was pass/fail.

How much cheaper is your tuition for all four years?
 
dentalpulp said:
Wait are they changing the grading system to letter grades for 2021? Ah. How many people want to specialize after and does LECOM help you out because I thought it was pass/fail.

How much cheaper is your tuition for all four years?
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it is p/f for now, but from 2021 class, it is going to be letter grade system. This may help out students wanting to specialize, as long as they can stay in top 10-20 percent of the class.

For us, we have to do a lot extracurriculars and externships to show them that we are committed to the field that we are trying to specialize.
I think each class is different, but there are good number of people wanting to specialize.
 
Hey I just asked Shannon Phillips about the removal of pass/fail--she said she did not hear anything of the sort?
 
dentalpulp said:
Hey I just asked Shannon Phillips about the removal of pass/fail--she said she did not hear anything of the sort?
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Who's Shannon Phillips? Maybe it's not official yet? That's what I've been hearing. I think IF they go to grading system, I think it's a good thing for students wanting to specialize. If not, well, it's just less effort you have to put in. You really just have to try to fail to not pass.

We only see 2-3 people fail, if that.
But if you find out anything official, let us know.
 
Do you have any tips for upcoming D1s at this school?

Are there any specific apartments that you recommend looking at?

Thanks again!
 
if you have time, read gray's anatomy 8th student edition. Don't memorize every little detail, just familiarize with big concepts.
It will make your anatomy course a lot easier when you get here.

If you still have more time, you can watch youtube videos on dental procedures, dental materials, etc, but you don't have to take nots.
Just having heard it/ saw it in advance makes it a little easier when you take dental related course in your D1 year.


But, none of these are a must. If you want to enjoy your summer off, that's a great choice as well.
 
apartment wise, look into lost creek and creekside. They are about 1 mile away from school.
If you want 1bd, you need to hurry and secure it now. Downside of 1bd is that it's very expensive
I recommend getting a rooomate and get a 2bdr apartment either lost creek or creekside.
 
Hello there,
I'm unfamiliar with the PBL classes. Are you given material to read and then tested on them?
 
In the vital source (electronic textbook program) on your laptop, you will have 10-12 books used for PBL.
You spend about 2-3 PBL sessions going through the case together as a group with a facilitator. After you are done with the case, as a group, you pick 3-4 relevant chapters from the book list.

Popular books are biochem, physio, dental management, microbio, pathology. There are other books, but these are the most popular books that students utilize. Out of these, physio is probably the most used book because chapters are shorter than other books and relatively easy to read.

When you are done with 6-7 cases, you get tested on the cases + the chapters you chose for those cases. About 120-130 questions on the exam.
 
Dentalco2020 said:
In the vital source (electronic textbook program) on your laptop, you will have 10-12 books used for PBL.
You spend about 2-3 PBL sessions going through the case together as a group with a facilitator. After you are done with the case, as a group, you pick 3-4 relevant chapters from the book list.

Popular books are biochem, physio, dental management, microbio, pathology. There are other books, but these are the most popular books that students utilize. Out of these, physio is probably the most used book because chapters are shorter than other books and relatively easy to read.

When you are done with 6-7 cases, you get tested on the cases + the chapters you chose for those cases. About 120-130 questions on the exam.
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Okay, I see. Is it difficult to study for the exams?
 
babytomato said:
Okay, I see. Is it difficult to study for the exams?
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It's not super hard, but due to the number of chapters you have to read, it just takes a lot of time to study for it. It's a good idea to not get behind. (but we all procrastinate)

However, at least during your first year, you will not have too many classes at once, so you will have plenty of time to study for the exam.
D2 year will be a little different with multiple exams crammed into single week.
 
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