Lecom-erie Info

[eldarion3141]

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I recently went to an open house at LECOM and here is what I found out about the school:

School Facts:
PRIVATE
25K a year (in and out of state)

Curriculum:
No research, just teaching
3 different pathways for learning
Prosected cadavars (you can get the chance to dissect the following summer)
CODA and OPEP courses:
These are the essentials for medicine, courses that show you how to draw blood, read x-rays, teaches you about litigation, how to bill, reading MRI's, H & P, and other basic facts that really prepare you for clinicals)
Patient contact: 3rd year? (not real sure)
COMLEX pass rates: 100%
Practicing physicians come in and talk to the classes about recent cases.

Stats:
2300 applications
800 interviews
244 matriculants

Rotations are in several different states, so you aren't limited to PA.

ERIE:
10 minutes away from a very nice mall (meaning around 70 stores)
every kind of store that you could need, from Staples, to JcPenneys, to Circuit City.
Gets a decent amount of snow there
30 minutes away from the beach (6 different beaches)
2 major hospitals within the city

Technology:
Laptops are required
Plugins for laptops in classrooms, cafeteria, and library
No simulators (like Harvey) mentioned

Living Accomodations:
Nearby, good conditions, and $$ CHEAP $$
around $325-400 a month for a single bedroom

Cost of living:
Low

Extracurriculars:
Lots of sports and clubs
every student organization has to have some kind of community service in order to be funded by the student government.

Faculty:
Just seeing the students and the faculty interact was great, they were joking around about classes and certain subjects. You could really tell that the faculty was easygoing and availabe to the students.

Negatives:
The campus is a single building
the building is like an office building, it comes off as cold and proffesional
There is a dress code from 8-4 (guys: collared shirts and slacks, women: proffesional business attire) [to build professionalism??]
Mandatory attendance for lecture/discussion pathway students.
Gym is crappy... basically:
4 ellipticals, a few treadmills, and a combined weight machine, no free weights (i got the impression that there was an extra room and someone said, "hey! why don't we just put the weight room in here?")

Overall:
I went into the school expecting a mediocre program and i came out with LECOM on my top 10 list. The explanation of the CODA and the OPEP program was a real draw for me, it is really supposed to help you develop as a physician. If you guys have any info like this on the other schools, please put up a post, thanks!

 

[DOtobe]

Unfortunately, I think you were misled on a few of the points you typed. (Only a few, but still.)

First off, and most blatantly false, the COMLEX pass rate is NOT 100%, at least for first-time test takers. LECOM's pass rate over the past few years has been in the 80-90% range. For our class, I think the step 1 pass rate was around 90% and the step 2 pass rate was closer to 80%.

Also, the CODA and OPEP programs are a good introduction to clinical medicine, but you will not be an expert on blood draws, reading X-rays and MRIs, etc. after the course. CODA and OPEP are great because we know how to write SOAP notes when we start rotations (which surprisingly, a lot of students from other schools don't know how to do) and at least have some clinical knowledge. Technically our patient contact starts during our MS-1 year when we spend time with preceptors in their offices through OPEP. The amount of patient contact depends on your preceptor.

On the other points, I think you are right on. Erie is a very cheap place to live, there is enough shopping-wise, and LECOM isn't even a half hour from Presque Isle and the lake (probably only 15 minutes).

And Erie does get a ton of snow... 🙂

 

[eldarion3141]

sorry for the mistake,

Here is what I was told:

"every one of the students that graduates from LECOM has passed both COMLEX I and II"

That is a direct quote from the open house.
Hope that helps to clarify our perspectives

 

[Doctortobee]

We aren't experts in blood draws, but we are taught how to do it and some of our preceptors let us draw for all their patients...

 

[WestcoastMedicine]

I am interviewing at LECOM on December 2nd, any special advice besides reading the interview feedback, my application, and looking at the LECOM website?

 

[eldarion3141]

have you read Gevitz's book on DO's?

That should help a lot

 

[eldarion3141]

what are SOAP notes?

 

[DOtobe]

SOAP notes are the day-to-day notes written in the hospital.

S=subjective (what the patient tells you)
O=objective (physical exam findings, lab results, X-ray reports, etc.)
A=assessment (e.g. 84 y/o female with CHF)
P=plan (e.g. continue Lasix)

And I thought that is where they got the 100% pass rate. If they didn't pass, they couldn't graduate!

 

[sddoc]

Just a quick note on Comlex pass rates. It is my understanding that for the PBL pathway, pass rates for first time test takers are in the 90-95% range. LDP has ben slightly lower, but modifications have been made to make the board review programs for the two pathways more similar.

DO tobe - 7 months to go? Congrats! I'm jealous!!! 🙂