The schedule changes yearly, but if you get a hold of a schedule from this year, next year's should be somewhat similar. They add/drop/move lectures and such and adjust things based on course reviews they get. As for books, it really varies widely. Some people swear by not buying books and only studying from the PowerPoints. Some people swear by buying all of the books. I will say that PowerPoints usually work if you have either had the subject before or can really pay attention to all of the lectures and get the extra stuff out of them needed. If you're like me with a short attention span and/or a minimal background in biological sciences, then you might need to buy some of the books. The only book you absolutely won't need is histology. Oh, and try to avoid buying books way ahead of time as well. We have a couple of students that are good at acquiring electronic copies that then spread through the class like a wildfire, especially for the one credit courses like HCM. I've saved hundreds of dollars doing that this year.
I just remember what is was like last year and how much help I got from SDN. Figured I should do my part to return the favor to the next class. Plus, it's a nice break from studying.
We were able to start our memberships at the beginning of July. You'll get an email saying to make an appointment for your fitness test a month or two before then--everybody has to do one, you just do pushups, run a bit, get weighed, et cetera, which takes about fifteen minutes. Then you get your keytag and full access to the place. As for breaking policies, usually the first time for anything is just a warning. Repeated offenses will get added to your record and could potentially hurt you come interview time for residency spots. I've been told that as far as dress code goes, they'll take note of offenses and not tell you about them--then you find out a few years later when your letter for residencies isn't too hot. Food and drink though, security will be all over you if they see it. There are cameras all over the building (except for locker rooms, bathrooms, and the OPP lab), and the security guys love to just sit and watch for something to do. Oh, and they made a huge ordeal out of hats this year too for some reason.
Yeah, most people seem to want to get away from Erie as quickly as possible for as long as possible, plus absolutely nobody wants to rotate at Millcreek (and after spending some time their shadowing yesterday, I now know exactly why...) Staying in and around Erie won't be a problem, but don't expect the rotations to be stellar by any means. Oh, and not to rain all over the house in Edinboro, but Edinboro gets substantially more snow than Erie does situated North of I-90 (the snowbelt is actually considered more the area between I-90 and I-80, not really Erie, although we do still get lake effect snow.) They had feet this winter when we had inches. If you're LDP and have to commute daily, it could be troublesome if you don't have a vehicle that's capable of handling snowy roads. I absolutely hate driving in the snow though, so that's just my two cents on it.
Definitely, unless you have a really strong preference for your vacation months (like a wedding or something big like that.) Or if you go PCSP, you get first dibs on the rotations before the rest of the class, but then the rest of the class pretty much despises you after having to fight for theirs. It's a win/lose for sure, but I see the win as being worth it--I won't see 99% of my class until graduation after rotations start, so whatever.
When I was at MCH, there wasn't any learning going on really. It was a terrible experience, one that left a very bitter taste in my mouth for that place... Hamot got picked up by UPMC, so rotations will likely be changing there, probably not for the better either. The VA is, well, the VA and kind of a last resort for Erie rotations. I've heard great things about Saint Vincent though, and Meadville.
I don't think the hounding began until the actual start of the semester last year. If you're not complete by then, expect lots of emails reminding you to complete everything. You can always send some stuff now with a letter saying the rest is coming later, that's what I did and they were fine with it.
It was for early clinical experience. Maybe it was a bad day, maybe I was with atypical residents and students, but I wasn't impressed. Word of mouth is that Hamot and Meadville are much better local choices. Saint Vincent was good as well, but I don't think they're accepting LECOM students any more.
