LECOM D3 AMA

[srynotsry]

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I'm free for a bit AMA

 

[FanOfCostco]

I'm free for a bit AMA

Demi or t swizzle?

 

[srynotsry]

Demi or t swizzle?

Neither... 😛

 

[FanOfCostco]

Neither... 😛

I guess we can still be friends

 

[Pearl E. White]

Well, how do you like it? Do you feel you are being prepared well enough for life outside of the classroom? Why did you choose Lecom? Do you feel that they look for a certain type of applicant: i.e. heavy volunteer, amazing grades, etc? Pros and cons of attending Lecom?

 

[srynotsry]

Well, how do you like it? Do you feel you are being prepared well enough for life outside of the classroom? Why did you choose Lecom? Do you feel that they look for a certain type of applicant: i.e. heavy volunteer, amazing grades, etc? Pros and cons of attending Lecom?

I do feel that we're well prepared. We get clinical experience starting from our second semester, and have options to assist throughout the next two years as much as we want, in addition to hygiene courses, etc. As for the last 2 years, they're strictly clinical. In our third year, we are in clinic from 9-4 each day. We see a patient from 9-12 and another from 1-4. Most people have busy schedules every day, and don't have a problem with seeing patients.

I chose LECOM because it was most convenient for me in terms of my family life, and because I had friends attending who really seemed to love it.

Rumor has it that they are really ramping up their expectations for applicants. They're trying very hard to be more competitive, so as with any other school, I think they are looking for grades as well as someone who is serious about attending LECOM, not just applying to it as a "safety school".

 

[Incis0r]

I'm free for a bit AMA

If you could go back to your D1/D2 self and give some advice, what would it be?

 

[Pearl E. White]

I do feel that we're well prepared. We get clinical experience starting from our second semester, and have options to assist throughout the next two years as much as we want, in addition to hygiene courses, etc. As for the last 2 years, they're strictly clinical. In our third year, we are in clinic from 9-4 each day. We see a patient from 9-12 and another from 1-4. Most people have busy schedules every day, and don't have a problem with seeing patients.

I chose LECOM because it was most convenient for me in terms of my family life, and because I had friends attending who really seemed to love it.

Rumor has it that they are really ramping up their expectations for applicants. They're trying very hard to be more competitive, so as with any other school, I think they are looking for grades as well as someone who is serious about attending LECOM, not just applying to it as a "safety school".

Is there anything that you do not like about your school (or something that you would change)?

 

[srynotsry]

If you could go back to your D1/D2 self and give some advice, what would it be?

Take it easy and take more time to shadow your D3's/dentists in your area. Being in clinic is 10000X different than being in Sim Lab and working on those mannequins, so I wish I told myself to get as much exposure as I could to how treatment plans could be made for patients based on their Xrays, histories, etc.

 

[srynotsry]

Is there anything that you do not like about your school (or something that you would change)?

Thankfully, everything that I did not like previously, LECOM has been seeming to listen to us about and change things on their own. For example, when I matriculated, anatomy was an 8 week SELF STUDY course, where we had to learn ALL of head and neck anatomy on our own. Now, entering students have lectures, daily homework and quizzes, and just overall guidance on how to study for Head and Neck Anatomy.

I don't like our mandatory attendance policy. I know that that's pretty complain-y, but I do wish the school would let us decide how we learn best rather than forcing us to come to lecture when that might be a waste of time for our personal study techniques.

 

[Stanelz]

What did you wish you would have known prior to starting? What is your schedule like each year? You dont do anything but clinic as a D3/D4? What do you guys do for fun? How did you like PBL? Plans after school? How are the staff honestly? Most challenging classes? Best way to study? What type of clinical things have you done? Are you enjoying your time in Bradenton/at LECOM and would you recommend it? Why or why not?

 

[Pearl E. White]

Do you feel like you have a life outside of class? In other words, do you feel that there is a good balance of work time and free time? Or do you think that is up to the individual? Thanks for all of your responses.

 

[srynotsry]

What did you wish you would have known prior to starting? What is your schedule like each year? You dont do anything but clinic as a D3/D4? What do you guys do for fun? How did you like PBL? Plans after school? How are the staff honestly? Most challenging classes? Best way to study? What type of clinical things have you done? Are you enjoying your time in Bradenton/at LECOM and would you recommend it? Why or why not?

In our D3/D4 year we do have classes in the AM before clinic, as well as our own grand rounds presentations. Bradenton is a pretty nice area. It's just a very pristine upper-middle class suburb, so take that how you will.

PBL was very meh. Now that I'm done with it I do realize that I've learned more than I thought. It's one of those things where you do get out what you put in. It forces you to be motivated, have good time management skills, etc. If you, like me, are used to being spoon-fed information that's gonna be on the exams through PPTs and whatnot, that unfortunately won't happen, but you just gotta make the best of it. Looking back, though, I am happy that I didn't have to sit through a million lectures a day and that in general we had pretty short school days to choose how we want to study/live our lives.

The things we do in clinic depends on the preceptor we're placed with. Some people in my class got to do much more complicated cases, and others were limited by their preceptor who didn't want to put them in a situation that was too advanced for their own level. Either way, though, it seems to balance out in the end. It's a wide variety of basic operative, complete and partial dentures, anterior endo, and fixed prosth.

The staff is pretty chill. Like any school, there are some that make you want to get up for school every day because they're just that kind and sincere and generous with their time and knowledge, and there are some that make you want to

Most challenging classes are definitely PBL and perio. Our perio professor is really awesome and a great teacher, the class itself is just so much info but most people seem to pass.

Overall, I'm happy with my time at LECOM. There are things I would change about my last 3 years, but they're a new-ish school and it's really awesome that they have been changing things for the D1's and D2's based on our whining and recommendation. It just sucks that they didn't do that when I was there, but these things take time. Good luck with your studies!

 

[srynotsry]

Do you feel like you have a life outside of class? In other words, do you feel that there is a good balance of work time and free time? Or do you think that is up to the individual? Thanks for all of your responses.

Yessss. This is 100% true for LECOM especially. Because we have PBL and don't have traditional lectures for the basic sciences, we end up having a ton of free time in our first year and second semester of our second year (which we should ideally use to study for boards). Even when our schedule is packed from second semester of first year to second semester of second year and all of D3 year, we generally do have a lot of time to relax after class. Unlike other schools that have a small or medium-sized exam block every one to two weeks, we just end up having a medium exam block every 3-4 weeks and a big exam block every 5-6 weeks. This means that those of us who are good with time management are moderately studying the entire time and can effectively manage their time and stress, but for procrastinators like me, it means we only have to be stressed out about studying like once a month so it works out for everyone