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The 2026-2027 DO School Specific Threads are now available in the School Specific Discussions forum. The 2025-2026 discussions are now available in the prior year discussions forum.
LECOM Erie vs. Bradenton?
LECOM hands down. Absolutely no competition.
It’s more reputable, has an amazing matchlist, not a bad price, and the students are trained well. It’s an established medical school, and its curriculum reflects that. If you want to land a residency in Philly or another major city in the Northeast, LECOM has the connections to get you here
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AnatomyGrey12
Erie. Bradenton has serious issues.
Curious why people don't suggest Bradenton? It had PBL, which means you don't have to spend 8 hours a day in lecture with mandatory attendance and no water. You can study on your own time and then spend rest of day relaxing, rather than a lecture room. Bradenton has a great match list as-well.
Pre-clinical is fine. IIRC they do very well. Their third year has been a mess for years and will likely only get worse with new schools opening.
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AnatomyGrey12
People losing sites at the last minute, not being in the same place for 3rd year, having to set up your own rotations often.... There are many reasons. It's a cluster
To add to the above, with new schools opening in Florida and the southeast, it’s likely only to get worse. As it stands now, many students are ending up in PA anyway for third year anyway due to lack of sites. Those from FL get second pick over the students from PA. It should really close down tbh.
Damn. I actually liked Lecom B for the PBL and tuition. The school closest to me, NYCOM, has tuition set at 60k, high annual resident fees, and a mandatory 5k insurance.
It’s insane about DO school prices and how they push you for primary care specialties that pay the least.
It’s insane about DO school prices and how they push you for primary care specialties that pay the least.
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If you like LECOM B for PBL, you might also consider LECOM Seton Hill campus, which is pure PBL. That is an offshoot of LECOM Erie, so you can interview either at Erie or Seton Hill.
All LECOM campuses offer PBL.
At this point, the real question is what schools don’t offer PBL?
Even if one were to find a good youtube video of PBL, it wouldn't necessarily reflect how PBL's are implemented in most medical schools. I don't go to LECOM, so I'm not sure how it's done there, but PBL is a teaching methodology that is widely disliked by medical students. Most students seem to consider it an inefficient use of time. The schools that are pioneering med-ed research might be implementing it effectively, but I think it would be wise to avoid it if possible.... Which brings up another problem. Every year, more and more schools are adding PBL/TBL/Etc to their curriculum, so it seems like its almost impossible to avoid.
That being said, there's always a few students who love PBL/TBL! So who knows. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky few who learn something from these sessions.
I went to LECOM-B and the clinical years can be a mess but if you’re somewhat savvy and willing to roll with the punches can come out just fine. My class (years ago) did really well on the boards as a whole and had strong matches. Now years later in a Cadio sub-speciality I can say that it likely wouldn’t have mattered which med school I went to within reason. I had reasons I wanted to stay in a certain geographical area and I didn’t mind the PBL curriculum.
I haven’t been to the Erie campus so can’t comment on that one or their styles. It’s the original so certainly more established and probably more known up in the Northeast.
I haven’t been to the Erie campus so can’t comment on that one or their styles. It’s the original so certainly more established and probably more known up in the Northeast.
I wish I had PBL. I could cut out the middle man of these power point slides, stop listening to lectures for random test hints, and just focus on the material. Seems like more of a time investment upfront but much more efficient to cut out the BS lecturers though. YMMV
premedlife31
New Member
Can you talk about life in Erie? What is it like living there? I am a student who has been accepted into the incoming LECOm class of 2019 in the medical school. I just want to know if its a good fit for me in terms of life outside medical school. If you can talk about the medical education that would be great too! I am basing my decision off academics and whether I will like the environment there.
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2019?!?!?!
premedlife31
New Member
Yeah I am actually doing a 4/4 program, I have provisional acceptance right now. I just have to deposit essentially
premedlife31
New Member
yup
What’s a 4/4 program?
premedlife31
New Member
So in high school, you can apply to a combined 3/4 or 4/4 BS/DO program and essentially they keep a seat for you in LECOM!
Also, I agree with your status WTF!! I stopped watching FIFA when Nigeria got eliminated
Also, I agree with your status WTF!! I stopped watching FIFA when Nigeria got eliminated
Ugh dont remind me it hurts too much!
Doktopus
New Member
Interviewed at LECOM-Erie and Bradenton. Accepted into Bradenton but went elsewhere.
As far as I understand it, LECOM PBL consists of (Disclaimer: I apologize if this turns out to be fake news. Any LECOMers please corroborate!)
I could see how this could work but was really unsure if I could live with reading those textbooks, and I wasn't sure what would happen if my group simply didn't assign the correct readings. I'm sure it would have fine since their first time pass rates are great, but that uncertainty coupled with the fact that it was in the middle of nowhere Bradenton, and coupled with the fact that there was no 24/7 library or study space really turned me off. Also, the fact that they were kind of uncertain about what would happen during 3rd/4th year rotations, although one of the professors assured us they were working on it and making it better.
Also, FL people are weird. It's just my opinion but they are weird.
P.S. LECOM-Erie has ALL of the programs. They have a bigger campus and a full on stand alone wellness/health center, gazebo, as well as half of a coffee shop which was interesting. The people seemed nicer as well. (They liked me better than Bradenton too; but, I suppose, not enough to let me in)
As far as I understand it, LECOM PBL consists of (Disclaimer: I apologize if this turns out to be fake news. Any LECOMers please corroborate!)
1. You are given a problem/case. As a group, you decide what readings you must complete under faculty guidance.
2. You read everything, and work with your group. This seems like the bulk of what you do. When I went to the LECOM-B cafeteria it was FILLED with people reading full on textbooks, and toting around those portable cases full of books, and having those desk stands so that they can read 2-3 textbooks at the same time.
3. Once you've completed your readings by the next session, you go over questions in a session with a faculty person. He/she's not supposed to give you the answers, but guide you to the right direction (not completely sure how this works)
4. This continues until you get closer to your exam. Your group will actually decide what you will be tested on and the professor/course director? will create an exam based on what you said
2. You read everything, and work with your group. This seems like the bulk of what you do. When I went to the LECOM-B cafeteria it was FILLED with people reading full on textbooks, and toting around those portable cases full of books, and having those desk stands so that they can read 2-3 textbooks at the same time.
3. Once you've completed your readings by the next session, you go over questions in a session with a faculty person. He/she's not supposed to give you the answers, but guide you to the right direction (not completely sure how this works)
4. This continues until you get closer to your exam. Your group will actually decide what you will be tested on and the professor/course director? will create an exam based on what you said
I could see how this could work but was really unsure if I could live with reading those textbooks, and I wasn't sure what would happen if my group simply didn't assign the correct readings. I'm sure it would have fine since their first time pass rates are great, but that uncertainty coupled with the fact that it was in the middle of nowhere Bradenton, and coupled with the fact that there was no 24/7 library or study space really turned me off. Also, the fact that they were kind of uncertain about what would happen during 3rd/4th year rotations, although one of the professors assured us they were working on it and making it better.
Also, FL people are weird. It's just my opinion but they are weird.
P.S. LECOM-Erie has ALL of the programs. They have a bigger campus and a full on stand alone wellness/health center, gazebo, as well as half of a coffee shop which was interesting. The people seemed nicer as well. (They liked me better than Bradenton too; but, I suppose, not enough to let me in)
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premedlife31
New Member
Thank you so much for all that information! Does anyone know if LECOM does cadaver dissection or has a cadaver lab?
I don't know about the Erie campus of LECOM-Erie, but at the Seton Hill campus they use prosections (pre-dissected samples) for anatomy lab, students don't do the dissections first year. It was my understanding that it was part of the PBL curriculum that the use prosections, and they only offered PBL at Seton Hill campus.
LECOM Erie has standard anatomy. However, if you do PBL at Erie, you do not go to the cadaver lab.
To my understanding, at Bradenton, we have pre-dissected cadavers for our first year of anatomy, and people who do well in anatomy are invited to dissect cadavers over the summer for the next class.
I don't attend LECOM, but I go to Erie probably once a month (family). Erie isn't the most exciting place for millennials, but if you look, you can definitely find entertaining things to do. Tend to have a lot of "outdoorsmen" (aka Rednecks) residing in Erie. Lots of families and elderly there as well from what I've seen. Place isn't too "hip" or technologically advanced like other rural areas of western pa. One thing I love about Erie though is that it's very simple (not sure how much I would enjoy this if I lived there though). The area is relatively relaxing and having Presque Isle/Lake right there is beautiful for time off and scenic views. In terms of wealth in Erie ... doesn't seem that great but that's not necessarily a bad thing (low cost of living). Oh yeah, the people there are friendly as can be and everyone loves life from what I've experienced. Erie is its own little world and it's up to you to decide whether you would or wouldn't spend the next X years of your life there. Would I live and work in Erie, no. Would I attend LECOM if I got in, depends. For life in Erie, I don't recommend getting advice from sdn though lol! Hope everything works out for you in the future and congrats on the LECOM acceptance!
premedlife31
New Member
Hey Guys, my friend just went to LECOM-E to visit. This is what they said
"There is a cadaver lab but you only get to use it if you do the LDP pathway. Lecture is usually class from 8-5 for the first two years then rotations while the PBL is twice a week for 3 hours with a faculty and 6 students. It’s all based on articles where you make learning issues then learn about them and have a test every 3 articles. Then the second two years are clinical rotations for both. You do 12 rotations each year for 3 and 4 with a month off each year. The vast majority of students don’t stay during the summer they do mission trips and things like that but you can stay. Research they actually just put 10 million dollars into a new research facility and all faculty are required to do research so there’s a lot of opportunity."
"There is a cadaver lab but you only get to use it if you do the LDP pathway. Lecture is usually class from 8-5 for the first two years then rotations while the PBL is twice a week for 3 hours with a faculty and 6 students. It’s all based on articles where you make learning issues then learn about them and have a test every 3 articles. Then the second two years are clinical rotations for both. You do 12 rotations each year for 3 and 4 with a month off each year. The vast majority of students don’t stay during the summer they do mission trips and things like that but you can stay. Research they actually just put 10 million dollars into a new research facility and all faculty are required to do research so there’s a lot of opportunity."
I was born and raised in Erie, I'm actually there now visiting my mom. I'm a nontrad applicant this year - I left town when I went to undergrad, but have been back regularly since then.
Good
-It's an insanely cheap place to live. I remember going to a bar more than once and not having spent enough to use a credit card. There are drink specials somewhere, every day. Everything else is cheap too.
-Lake Erie is like a freshwater ocean, great beach and fun boating
- If you like the outdoors, the entire middle of PA is a National Park, and is about an hour away
- There is enough of a night life to find things to do. There are two undergrad colleges in town and one just outside. If you're older, there are fun things for family too. Just don't expect to be on the same par as a bigger city
- It's less than two hours from Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo, which are also legit cities with tons of stuff to do.
Bad
- That awesome beach? good for about four months. It get's f'n cold here
- Soo much ****ty weather in the winter It doesn't get super cold, but it snows and the snow stays
- It used to be a manufacturing town, so a lot of the people here are still holding on to that dream. Think Trump country (no offense to those voters - just doesn't appeal to most younger generation)
- The crime has been down the last few years, but from about 8 to 3 years ago, it was getting bad. A lot of gangs moving into the East side. Still, not on par with a real city like NYC or DC, but enough to take notice.
All in all, it's not a terrible place to be for four years. I wouldn't retire here, but I understand why some people do. If the collective town ever lets go of the manufacturing dream and moves on and embraces being a tourist/college town, it has the potential to be nice.
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