**LECOM-Erie WARNING!!**

[Ghady]

---

Members do not see this ad.

xxxxxxxxxxx

 

[Rig654]

My favorite thing about pharmacy school is drinking water bottles in class.

 

[State Pharm]

At LECOM (like almost all schools), our final year is spent entirely on APPE rotations. These are rotations that can be arranged pretty much anywhere in the country. However, starting with the class of 2012 they are REQUIRING that at least one of our rotations is preceptored by LECOM faculty. Know what this means? If anyone wants to move back home or out of the area for their final year, they have to worry about coming back to Erie for six weeks to fulfill this pointless requirement. They didn't have this requirement when I initially applied and there was no fair warning of it! I can't believe how much of a scam this is. On top of it all, there's no way that we can select the specific time of year we have this Erie rotation, it's all a randomized assignment.

So now we've established that LECOM is the same as pretty muchevery other pharmacy school in the United States. Ok, can't wait for more....

HOW IN THE HECK CAN THEY EXPECT US TO FIND HOUSING FOR JUST SIX WEEKS?!?! Every landlord I've talked to will not rent for this short of a time period!

There are a plethora of landlords that will allow you to extend your lease for an extra month at the end if you give them enough advanced notice. Although, based upon the way you've gone about this, the likelihood that you calmly called and requested this are about the same as the chances LECOM will change their policy to accommodate one student.

And since there's only a weekend between the beginning of many subsequent rotations, how can we move our stuff across country?!

www.ryder.com

Oh and we have this horrible dress code: shirt, tie, dress pants, dress shoes for guys, the girls dress code I'm not sure of but I've known several girls who got in trouble for "short" skirts.

As a grown up and a soon to be professional, it's nearly shocking that this is even on a list of concerns. You're not 18 years old in your Freshman year. The school has an image to uphold, and I don't think sweats and your boyfriend's sweatshirt will suffice.

Surely that's what you'll be wearing when you're employed, though.

Food and beverage is banned everywhere in the school, except the cafeteria. So whenever you have six straight hours of class/lab, plan on starving.

Or plan on eating before class.

The school's internet server blocks many websites, even Facebook is blocked. (Their filter even blocks anything it considers "arts & entertainment").

How do you survive? Do tell.

So just remember this cuz it's all fact, go ahead and speak with anyone at LECOM and they'll vouch for what I've said. Do yourself a favor and don't end up with the same regrets I'm having.

I'll remember it cuz I ain't goin'

 

[UnhappyAtLECOM]

--

 

[Amiodaronelecom]

Wow

 

[Pharmgasm]

At LECOM (like almost all schools), our final year is spent entirely on APPE rotations. These are rotations that can be arranged pretty much anywhere in the country. However, starting with the class of 2012 they are REQUIRING that at least one of our rotations is preceptored by LECOM faculty. Know what this means? If anyone wants to move back home or out of the area for their final year, they have to worry about coming back to Erie for six weeks to fulfill this pointless requirement. They didn't have this requirement when I initially applied and there was no fair warning of it! I can't believe how much of a scam this is. On top of it all, there's no way that we can select the specific time of year we have this Erie rotation, it's all a randomized assignment.

This is a fair argument. Sadly, it's your only one. Keep in mind that LECOM is an accredited school, not Amway.

HOW IN THE HECK CAN THEY EXPECT US TO FIND HOUSING FOR JUST SIX WEEKS?!?! Every landlord I've talked to will not rent for this short of a time period! Furthermore, if you move to somewhere out of the area (like Texas or California), you'll have to either drive your car back, ship it back, or get a rental car...or else you won't have your own transportation! And since there's only a weekend between the beginning of many subsequent rotations, how can we move our stuff across country?!

Nobody said you had to do your rotations in Sri Lanka. It's a year's worth of traveling that doesn't necessarily have to transcend a small radius of distance. There's a strategy that someone once came up with for situations like this. It might have been Jesus or Conan the Barbarian. It's called "planning ahead". It is an inconvenient loophole they created, I'll agree with you there, but if and when you decide to use the problem-solving sector of your brain, I'm sure you can figure out a solution.

Oh and we have this horrible dress code: shirt, tie, dress pants, dress shoes for guys, the girls dress code I'm not sure of but I've known several girls who got in trouble for "short" skirts.

I can't find a single ounce of sense in this argument. I understand that you want to show off your poverty Airwalks and ride your Pantera skateboard around the classroom, but this is the real world. Please realize that Hot Topic doesn't have a pharmacy, and nearly every career in the world requires you to dress as if you weren't a rebel without a cause with twelve inch gauges in your ears, a.k.a., a douche. Although, I do agree with you that women shouldn't get reprimanded for dressing like streetwalkers. You earned a point with that comment.

Food and beverage is banned everywhere in the school, except the cafeteria. So whenever you have six straight hours of class/lab, plan on starving.

I've already assumed to this point that you don't have the appetite or discipline of a bodybuilder or world-class athlete, so you must be a fatass with the metabolism of Jabba the Hut or William Taft. Fasting for six hours could be good for your health. You could also try eating before you leave for the day instead of wasting time deciding which obnoxiously colored pair of skinny jeans you're going to saddle into after class.

The school's internet server blocks many websites, even Facebook is blocked. (Their filter even blocks anything it considers "arts & entertainment").

I assume you're trying to access your friends new band page on Myspace in order to listen to songs that have been viewed no more than 17 times total, mainly because nobody likes to hear screaming queers banging on mom's old pots to lyrics about the politics of ex-girlfriends. LECOM most likely blocks these sites because they want to educate you in the matters of pharmacy. Put down the Alkaline Trio sheet music and pay attention. Handing someone a bottle of oxycontin and prescribing one by mouth 15 times a day because you were too busy sending Farmville gifts in school probably won't secure your future as a pharmacist.

So just remember this cuz it's all fact, go ahead and speak with anyone at LECOM and they'll vouch for what I've said. Do yourself a favor and don't end up with the same regrets I'm having.

You belong on Twitter, because nobody cares what you have to say.

 

[SHC1984]

Is this true? For 66K I would gladly wear a shirt and tie everyday. If it's only 2 years of classes there, can't you just bear it? Most of the year you could wear a coat over your shirt and tie, right? Cheaper tuition might make me happy@LECOM.

I am glad my school doesn't have a dress code and we are allow to eat anywhere we want to...but the tuition is also 30K a year for 4 years.

Lecom is 22K a year for 3 years...that's half the price.

I think its worth it to save over 60K in student debt to just deal with the dress code. You will graduate with 60K debt (my friend that went to Lecom graduated with 50K debt) while most people will graduate with 100K debt. So be GRATEFUL and stop complaining!!!

I always recommend Lecom at Erie to people that are looking to save money. You can't get any cheaper than Lecom.

 

[Dave4468]

...and nearly every career in the world requires you to dress as if you weren't a rebel without a cause with twelve inch gauges in your ears, a.k.a., a douche.

What is with all the unnecessary stereotyping?

There's a strategy that someone once came up with for situations like this. It might have been Jesus or Conan the Barbarian. It's called "planning ahead".

But don't plan too far ahead right? I believe the complaint was that the school may change its policy at a moments notice. Even though they promised something very important to a lot of applicants who chose to attend LECOM Eerie, they still ended up changing it up in their policy later on.

LECOM most likely blocks these sites because they want to educate you in the matters of pharmacy. Put down the Alkaline Trio sheet music and pay attention.

Sounds like high school to me. Just my opinion.

You belong on Twitter, because nobody cares what you have to say.

😕 If you did not care what he had to say, you wouldn't have wasted your time posting in this thread. And obv applicants to this school are going to be concerned to what current students are saying.

 

[nditebeck]

This is a fair argument. Sadly, it's your only one. Keep in mind that LECOM is an accredited school, not Amway.



Nobody said you had to do your rotations in Sri Lanka. It's a year's worth of traveling that doesn't necessarily have to transcend a small radius of distance. There's a strategy that someone once came up with for situations like this. It might have been Jesus or Conan the Barbarian. It's called "planning ahead". It is an inconvenient loophole they created, I'll agree with you there, but if and when you decide to use the problem-solving sector of your brain, I'm sure you can figure out a solution.



I can't find a single ounce of sense in this argument. I understand that you want to show off your poverty Airwalks and ride your Pantera skateboard around the classroom, but this is the real world. Please realize that Hot Topic doesn't have a pharmacy, and nearly every career in the world requires you to dress as if you weren't a rebel without a cause with twelve inch gauges in your ears, a.k.a., a douche. Although, I do agree with you that women shouldn't get reprimanded for dressing like streetwalkers. You earned a point with that comment.



I've already assumed to this point that you don't have the appetite or discipline of a bodybuilder or world-class athlete, so you must be a fatass with the metabolism of Jabba the Hut or William Taft. Fasting for six hours could be good for your health. You could also try eating before you leave for the day instead of wasting time deciding which obnoxiously colored pair of skinny jeans you're going to saddle into after class.



I assume you're trying to access your friends new band page on Myspace in order to listen to songs that have been viewed no more than 17 times total, mainly because nobody likes to hear screaming queers banging on mom's old pots to lyrics about the politics of ex-girlfriends. LECOM most likely blocks these sites because they want to educate you in the matters of pharmacy. Put down the Alkaline Trio sheet music and pay attention. Handing someone a bottle of oxycontin and prescribing one by mouth 15 times a day because you were too busy sending Farmville gifts in school probably won't secure your future as a pharmacist.



You belong on Twitter, because nobody cares what you have to say.

I think that the fact that you have taken time to respond to every point made by unhappyatlocome gives more legitimacy to the point she/he is making. Some of your arguments are very revealing how how you view and treat students at your institution.
If i were you, i'd rather not say anthing.

 

[Pharmgasm]

I think that the fact that you have taken time to respond to every point made by unhappyatlocome gives more legitimacy to the point she/he is making. Some of your arguments are very revealing how how you view and treat students at your institution.
If i were you, i'd rather not say anthing.

The views of one individual do not represent the views of the populace. That disclaimer is posted on nearly everything written in an opinionated tongue. To further nullify your post, the points stated in my post were deflecting the attacks that unhappyatlecom, not unhappyatlocome, made towards the institution. The only solid point he made was concerning the rotation process that LECOM has established. The rest was bashing the standard procedure of becoming a professional.

Please recheck the grammar and spelling in your post and ask yourself again how legitimate your rebuttal was before making accusations on mine.

 

[Pharmgasm]

😕 If you did not care what he had to say, you wouldn't have wasted your time posting in this thread. And obv applicants to this school are going to be concerned to what current students are saying.

My time is precious, you're right. I couldn't have said it better myself.

I was simply replying to the idiotic statements of the original poster in finely weaved diction that poked fun at said idiocy. I would hope that future LECOM applicants would not base their decision on the opinionated content of this thread, whether it be my statements or those of the original poster.

When you eradicate the barriers that prevent you from understanding that pharmacists aren't typically permitted to wear spiked dog collars, black lipstick, and v-neck band t-shirts when precisely serving pills from behind the counter, I'm confident you'll see where I'm coming from. It's a serious career with serious implications that generates serious income, not an indie rock show. Open your mascaraed eyes.

 

[State Pharm]

I think that the fact that you have taken time to respond to every point made by unhappyatlocome gives more legitimacy to the point she/he is making. Some of your arguments are very revealing how how you view and treat students at your institution.
If i were you, i'd rather not say anthing.

I'm trying to figure out how someone replying to a post on a (not so) anonymous message board transforms hilarious crying in to legitimate points. Elaborate.

And to Mr. unhappyatlecom, I never brought in to question your sexuality. The mere fact that you instantly thought that reveals a little more about your maturity(which most of us assume to be an infant on a scale of infant to Mike Tomlin). I wrongly assumed you were female.

 

[pharm B]

Discuss the school all you guys want, but remember to keep it civil. You can come here to defend your school, or tell other students why you don't like it, but do not personally attack each other.

 

[1444]

Sounds like high school to me. Just my opinion.

You're going to be really upset when you find out that working in a real pharmacy is also "like high school" where you cant even open a browser window on the computer, let alone stare at meatspin and TMZ all day.

 

[ewKinematics]

Sounds awful, but hey, if I were you, I'd be happy to be in pharmacy school. A few years of pain and then you'll be done! Chin up. 👍

 

[UnhappyAtLECOM]

--

 

[UnhappyAtLECOM]

--

 

[State Pharm]

Agreed. Which is why I have not returned any of the insults people have posted. Thank you for allowing a fair platform for us to exercise our 1st amendment rights.

The 1st Amendment in no way, shape, or form protects your "right" to post on a privately owned message board.

Just sayin'

 

[nditebeck]

The views of one individual do not represent the views of the populace. That disclaimer is posted on nearly everything written in an opinionated tongue. To further nullify your post, the points stated in my post were deflecting the attacks that unhappyatlecom, not unhappyatlocome, made towards the institution. The only solid point he made was concerning the rotation process that LECOM has established. The rest was bashing the standard procedure of becoming a professional.

Please recheck the grammar and spelling in your post and ask yourself again how legitimate your rebuttal was before making accusations on mine.

If the only issue you had with my post was an "e" them you must have some big time problems. I can sure find more than one typo on your post on here.You are really so full of yourself. I don't think this school would not even want some one like you to go out and defend them beacuse you are not good at it. Stoping ruining the reputaion of this school, dude!. You ain't doing them any good.

 

[IwantPharmD]

If the only issue you had with my post was an "e" them you must have some big time problems. I can sure find more than one typo on your post on here.You are really so full of yourself. I don't think this school would not even want some one like you to go out and defend them beacuse you are not good at it. Stoping ruining the reputaion of this school, dude!. You ain't doing them any good.

Why does peeps constantlee attak grammer when they does not agree wit some1's opinonions?

 

[Lubeckd]

Why does peeps constantlee attak grammer when they does not agree wit some1's opinonions?

Yeah why, seriously, it has nothing to do with the topic at hand; respect everyone's opinions. 👍

 

[IwantPharmD]

I wanna hear more from UnhappyatLECOM. I personally would be pissed about that new rotation with a faculty member and I only live about 6 hours from the school. I couldn't imagine living across the country and figuring out how to uproot myself for 2 weeks- what a pain especially if I wasn't told of that. It would have been a courtsey of the school to implement it for the new class so everyone who enrolled knew what was up. Yes LECOM didn't have to, but it would have been nice way to keep everything peachy.

I also cringe at the dress code. Anyone who thinks it shouldn't be a hude deal should lay off. I visited tons of professional schools and it's so not necessary to wear a shirt and tie for class and being at the library. When your with pateints and doing rotations then sure thing. And just because I don't want to wear a shirt and tie that doesn't mean I want to wear sweat pants and a bud light shirt. No need to fly to the other end of the dress spectrum.

But here's the thing, I think the dress code and that stupid 2 week faculty rotation might be worht it for the cheaper tuition. Is it really 22K a year for three years? I thought it would be way more because don't you have to pay extra for the summer classes and the year round aspect of it. UnhappyatLECOM, can you talk more about the tuition and everyone's attitude about it?

 

[nditebeck]

Why does peeps constantlee attak grammer when they does not agree wit some1's opinonions?

That's because they do not have anything good to say, Its obvious. You can see how he runs to extreme to counter any argument. I don't kow why he can't just shut up.

 

[235750]

Couple years ago I interviewed at LECOM-Erie for their DO program and I noticed a lot of the same things the OP did. Needless to say, I think myself fortunate I did not need to matriculate there

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=584706

 

[235750]

I don't think I was fair in my last short post, so I'd like to explain myself a bit.

First of all, LECOM produces outstanding healthcare professionals, both physicians and pharmacists alike. I have not heard anyone complain about sub-par education at LECOM either in the form of lectures or clinical rotations. I know many graduates who are very good at what they do

My complaint was that the overall atmosphere is paternalistic and patronizing. True enough, many jobs essentially 'own' you in a similar fashion (the military scholarship people seemed comfortable at LECOM), but a scholastic environment is supposed to be different. For me I need a place that cultivates creativity, and for that I need to be comfortable. I'm not talking about the dress code which was never an issue for me. The administration at LECOM treats its student body like children which I never understood. Read the link in my last post for more details

I think the title of this thread is inflammatory and inappropriate, but that said I do think it is important to consider the livability of a prospective school. There are people who thrive under the conditions at LECOM, but like I said, it is not for me.

Best of luck to all LECOM people

 

[pharm B]

It was interesting to read about the tour guide and the front entrance to the school. "No students allowed." That would pretty much write off that school for me, since you're supposed to be in a professional program (especially in DO school). How professionally are you viewed if you have signs dictating where you can and cannot stand?

The next step would be painting lines on the floor for you to follow like they do in kindergartens.

 

[Dave4468]

I don't think I was fair in my last short post, so I'd like to explain myself a bit.

First of all, LECOM produces outstanding healthcare professionals, both physicians and pharmacists alike. I have not heard anyone complain about sub-par education at LECOM either in the form of lectures or clinical rotations. I know many graduates who are very good at what they do

My complaint was that the overall atmosphere is paternalistic and patronizing. True enough, many jobs essentially 'own' you in a similar fashion (the military scholarship people seemed comfortable at LECOM), but a scholastic environment is supposed to be different. For me I need a place that cultivates creativity, and for that I need to be comfortable. I'm not talking about the dress code which was never an issue for me. The administration at LECOM treats its student body like children which I never understood. Read the link in my last post for more details

I think the title of this thread is inflammatory and inappropriate, but that said I do think it is important to consider the livability of a prospective school. There are people who thrive under the conditions at LECOM, but like I said, it is not for me.

Best of luck to all LECOM people

thanks for all of the input.

I just got an interview invite from LECOM Eerie like 5min ago. 🙂

I don't want to go to a school just because it's fast and cheap. I care about the quality of the education as well and what the school is like. It seems some people view LECOM Eerie as the McDonald's of pharmacy schools and are fine with that.

 

[nditebeck]

thanks for all of the input.

I just got an interview invite from LECOM Eerie like 5min ago. 🙂

I don't want to go to a school just because it's fast and cheap. I care about the quality of the education as well and what the school is like. It seems some people view LECOM Eerie as the McDonald's of pharmacy schools and are fine with that.

Where is Pharmgasm. Now we are having a substantaive discussion and he has vanished.
We need more input from you !

 

[UnhappyAtLECOM]

At the request of a couple diplomatic and respectable instructors I have chosen to take a break in posting in this thread

 

[Ghady]

There has been alot of speculations about who i am and who am not. I just wanna say that I am not be who think I am. This is a forum where you can choose any user name you want. If I chose a username "DrBellRinger", nobody in their right mind would suppose that i am Dr BellRinger. I chose the username I have because I am a fan of Mahatma Ghandi a renowned philosopher of Pakistani or Indian origin. , so please everybody leave the poor guy alone. I am impressed, however, at how he is handling all the eye pointing.

That having been said, the main reason I am making a post at this moment is to encourage "unhappyatlecom" to please delete this thread". I'm sure none of us envisaged that it was going to be getting this much attention. Apparently it is not what I posted earlier that it upsetting the authorities, because it had long since deleted it from on here...Infact, I deleted it the moment it was made mention of* because the truth is that I have no intentions of hurting the school or anybody. This is supposed to be that insular place where u vent and all. But, "unhapppyatlecom", i think the stuff today was because this thread is still open and I kindly beg you to please close this thread down and lets move on. We are not trying call into question the veracity of your facts and opinions. The fact remains that they are still "opinions" which other people may or may not disagree with. So please, and please and please again, close down this thread.

If not for anything, please close it because the authorities are working with us. Close it because of "good faith and fairness" They have reached out to you, I say, shake that hand in peace and lets work together.

Thanks.

 

[SHC1984]

There has been alot of speculations about who i am and who am not. I just wanna say that I am not be who think I am. This is a forum where you can choose any user name you want. If I chose a username "DrBellRinger", nobody in their right mind would suppose that i am Dr BellRinger. I chose the username I have because I am a fan of Mahatma Ghandi a renowned philosopher of Pakistani or Indian origin. , so please everybody leave the poor guy alone. I am impressed, however, at how he is handling all the eye pointing.

That having been said, the main reason I am making a post at this moment is to encourage "unhappyatlecom" to please delete this thread". I'm sure none of us envisaged that it was going to be getting this much attention. Apparently it is not what I posted earlier that it upsetting the authorities, because it had long since deleted it from on here...Infact, I deleted it the moment it was made mention of* because the truth is that I have no intentions of hurting the school or anybody. This is supposed to be that insular place where u vent and all. But, "unhapppyatlecom", i think the stuff today was because this thread is still open and I kindly beg you to please close this thread down and lets move on. We are not trying call into question the veracity of your facts and opinions. The fact remains that they are still "opinions" which other people may or may not disagree with. So please, and please and please again, close down this thread.

If not for anything, please close it because the authorities are working with us. Close it because of "good faith and fairness" They have reached out to you, I say, shake that hand in peace and lets work together.

Thanks.

R you telling me that the Dean of Lecom or someone from Lecom actually reads SDN and is piss off about this thread? R they going to punish you guys for posting on here? I didn't even know people take internet crap that seriously. I hardly care or even put to mind what is said on here...can't believe a professor or dean will.

Oh and no one can close threads except for Mods like BananaFace.

 

[nditebeck]

R you telling me that the Dean of Lecom or someone from Lecom actually reads SDN and is piss off about this thread? R they going to punish you guys for posting on here? I didn't even know people take internet crap that seriously. I hardly care or even put to mind what is said on here...can't believe a professor or dean will.

You may not take it that seriously but remember that almost all propective Pharmacy students are on SDN. Negative info on this forum about lecom can deter good students can can help maintain the good name of LOCOM. And who ever was posting those comments was not in anyway helping the school's image. Its normal that every school has problems but the essential thing is that the authorities listen to students problems even if they are not going to take any action or they may disagree. And the manner in which you responded, was not in that light. That said, let close this discussion and move on. Love LECOM!!!!!

 

[dislikeLECOM]

I can’t stand being silent any longer.
I was not happy that I was told that I could finish out my third year of rotation ANYWHERE of my choosing, as long as I could arrange for it. Well they changed that on us. You can find posting about this whole ordeal in an earlier thread in this forum. Many of the said things are true. I sent an E-mail to the dean, Dr. Hershey Bell, about the issue and patiently waited for a responds. What is the result? The student government informs us that the dean is going to take a different approach to the situation to settle the unhappy students about the change in game play. It is a half ass fix, but they’re trying. Now comes the good part.
The school is VERY unhappy about the previous postings. So unhappy that the dean, Dr. Hershey Bell, has a “talk” with / TO us about how we need to be “professional” and that the posting on this forum do not meet the definition. He went on to say that (and this is a quote from him) “if one of you is unprofessional, I consider all of you to be unprofessional.” I can make a blanket statement too, like “All black people are lazy” “All fat people eat too much” “All Muslims are terrorists”. So let me get this straight, if a Dr. who graduated with you Dr. Bell, makes a blatant careless mistake, you too should be reprimanded for it because you need to stop every class mate and colleague from acting unprofessional? Even if you don’t know who the person is? Hmmm…..doesn’t quite sound right. All respect I had for you Dr. Bell, is now gone.👎
Not only that he continued with a threat, if the person who had made the negative posting does not remove their comments from the thread THE ENTIRE CLASS will be responsible for it. WHAT??!!?! There are just over 140 students in our class and if only ONE student acts “unprofessional” then all of us will be punished for it?! That is what…0.7% of the class? PLUS when I signed up for Student Dr. network I read THIS under #13 in the terms and conditions “Once you've posted on the site, it's there forever. We do not delete posts except in extreme cases. Even if we can remove a post that you regret posting, they are often permanently cataloged in sites like Google or the Internet Archive.”
In the defense of LECOM, I do find the thread about the change in rotations to be done prematurely. I do agree with some things that have been said, BUT! Give the school a chance to rectify the situation! As far as the dress code and no food and water….WAAAA! You agreed to that when you came to the school and they were up front about it. I do, however, have an issue when they change the agreement after we signed on. BUT NOW because of the fact YOU jumped the gun I have to deal with it and we don’t know who you are. Not cool….NOT… COOL!
This thread is here because I will NOT be bullied into silence. You need to know what you are getting into at this school. I was not too upset about what was going on, and had full faith that things would be taken care of. If I am going to be punished for something that SOMEONE ELSE has done, I find THAT to be “unprofessional”.
I ask EVERY student at LECOM to verify what I have said. PLEASE correct anything that I have taken out of context.

 

[Samus2008]

ohhhhh myyyyy goddddd. What is going on at LECOM!? Arent you worried about your posts being traced back to you since you said you emailed the dean? I find this whole thing very alarming. I don't even know what to say. I still want to go to LECOM (applying next cycle). The dress code and food rules are unfortunate, but the tuition more than makes up for it for me. The whole 6 week think about moving back to ERIE SUCKS, but going to LECOM would save me sooooo much money that If I had to I would live in a 'motel 6' for 6 weeks like the welfare people/crooks do (jk). Yes I'm sure their furniture and bed sucks, but Ill be able to drive my clothes there and just deal with it. Please keep us informed what is going on there! Thanks.

 

[kidkay]

Another post...what's going on? 😕

 

[owlegrad]

I can’t stand being silent any longer.
I was not happy that I was told that I could finish out my third year of rotation ANYWHERE of my choosing, as long as I could arrange for it. Well they changed that on us. You can find posting about this whole ordeal in an earlier thread in this forum. Many of the said things are true. I sent an E-mail to the dean, Dr. Hershey Bell, about the issue and patiently waited for a responds. What is the result? The student government informs us that the dean is going to take a different approach to the situation to settle the unhappy students about the change in game play. It is a half ass fix, but they’re trying. Now comes the good part.
The school is VERY unhappy about the previous postings. So unhappy that the dean, Dr. Hershey Bell, has a “talk” with / TO us about how we need to be “professional” and that the posting on this forum do not meet the definition. He went on to say that (and this is a quote from him) “if one of you is unprofessional, I consider all of you to be unprofessional.” I can make a blanket statement too, like “All black people are lazy” “All fat people eat too much” “All Muslims are terrorists”. So let me get this straight, if a Dr. who graduated with you Dr. Bell, makes a blatant careless mistake, you too should be reprimanded for it because you need to stop every class mate and colleague from acting unprofessional? Even if you don’t know who the person is? Hmmm…..doesn’t quite sound right. All respect I had for you Dr. Bell, is now gone.👎
Not only that he continued with a threat, if the person who had made the negative posting does not remove their comments from the thread THE ENTIRE CLASS will be responsible for it. WHAT??!!?! There are just over 140 students in our class and if only ONE student acts “unprofessional” then all of us will be punished for it?! That is what…0.7% of the class? PLUS when I signed up for Student Dr. network I read THIS under #13 in the terms and conditions “Once you've posted on the site, it's there forever. We do not delete posts except in extreme cases. Even if we can remove a post that you regret posting, they are often permanently cataloged in sites like Google or the Internet Archive.”
In the defense of LECOM, I do find the thread about the change in rotations to be done prematurely. I do agree with some things that have been said, BUT! Give the school a chance to rectify the situation! As far as the dress code and no food and water….WAAAA! You agreed to that when you came to the school and they were up front about it. I do, however, have an issue when they change the agreement after we signed on. BUT NOW because of the fact YOU jumped the gun I have to deal with it and we don’t know who you are. Not cool….NOT… COOL!
This thread is here because I will NOT be bullied into silence. You need to know what you are getting into at this school. I was not too upset about what was going on, and had full faith that things would be taken care of. If I am going to be punished for something that SOMEONE ELSE has done, I find THAT to be “unprofessional”.
I ask EVERY student at LECOM to verify what I have said. PLEASE correct anything that I have taken out of context.

I must say you really proved your dean wrong; clearly you are a very professional student. Sorry you were grouped with that other unprofessional student.

 

[VA77]

This tactic is clearly being used to use the student body to turn on itself and identify the student who is being vocal about school policy. Administration should know the old saying that you cannot put the genie back in the bottle and seek a resolution that protects the rotations and reputation of the college. If these statements are true then I'm aghasted. If you are proud of your program and are implementing good programs and policies then other schools and applicants take notice and vice versa. Best thing they can do is say we're addressing the problem and we'll fix it to ensure LECOM stays and continues to be a leader in pharmacy education. Sounds like they could use some corporate image coaching.

 

[diastole]

Your dean is making your entire class responsible unless that person removes the post? That is just dumb. Here is a lesson for your old school dean: once something is out there, it is out there whether you remove it or not.

Let me demonstrate said lesson. Disgruntled student A did give into the bullying and removed the post. But through the magic of the internet, here it is:

Originally Posted by UnhappyAtLECOM
At LECOM (like almost all schools), our final year is spent entirely on APPE rotations. These are rotations that can be arranged pretty much anywhere in the country. However, starting with the class of 2012 they are REQUIRING that at least one of our rotations is preceptored by LECOM faculty. Know what this means? If anyone wants to move back home or out of the area for their final year, they have to worry about coming back to Erie for six weeks to fulfill this pointless requirement. They didn't have this requirement when I initially applied and there was no fair warning of it! I can't believe how much of a scam this is. On top of it all, there's no way that we can select the specific time of year we have this Erie rotation, it's all a randomized assignment.

HOW IN THE HECK CAN THEY EXPECT US TO FIND HOUSING FOR JUST SIX WEEKS?!?! Every landlord I've talked to will not rent for this short of a time period! Furthermore, if you move to somewhere out of the area (like Texas or California), you'll have to either drive your car back, ship it back, or get a rental car...or else you won't have your own transportation! And since there's only a weekend between the beginning of many subsequent rotations, how can we move our stuff across country?!

Oh and we have this horrible dress code: shirt, tie, dress pants, dress shoes for guys, the girls dress code I'm not sure of but I've known several girls who got in trouble for "short" skirts.

Food and beverage is banned everywhere in the school, except the cafeteria. So whenever you have six straight hours of class/lab, plan on starving.

The school's internet server blocks many websites, even Facebook is blocked. (Their filter even blocks anything it considers "arts & entertainment").


So just remember this cuz it's all fact, go ahead and speak with anyone at LECOM and they'll vouch for what I've said. Do yourself a favor and don't end up with the same regrets I'm having.

You can edit a post but if someone quotes you, it is there forever unless they edit it too. Unfortunately, your dean just brought even more negative attention to your school by that extreme overreaction to a little criticism which would have blown over very quickly otherwise.

 

[VA77]

If LECOM is blocking Facebook maybe they will start blocking SDN and other sites. Sounds like Iran, North Korea, or China to me. Social Networking is a big thing for 20-25 year olds which the last time I checked represent to core of your student body. It doesn't make sense to rock the boat for a trivial thing such as this. I can guess that a professor went to the Dean and complained that students were "distracted" during lecture and "distracting" others. He made a snap decision and here we go. This is when the "professional" discussion should have taken place. I know a school that tried the same thing and they even disconnected the wireless but they didn't think about students using cell phones or a wireless adapter that can be used to connect to the cell company. In other words they tackled the wrong problem and that is "professionalism". Sounds to me that the leadership team at the college isn't on the same page and with new schools coming online every year they are going to have increased competition to recruit the best students so they better be providing an atmosphere and environment that attracts those students.

Also please tell me that the posters that deleted their comments have at least got some concessions on the rotations. Otherwise, they learned that you can be backed down and fear is never a good thing.

 

[tungsten87]

if i wear gym shorts and a t-shirt to school every day does that make me less of a professional?

 

[VA77]

Exactly. Once you click Send or Submit it's there forever. If this spirals out of control, the leadership team has some work cut out for them or maybe the Board will leave this mess for someone else to clean up. I think everyone knows what that means🙄

 

[owlegrad]

if i wear gym shorts and a t-shirt to school every day does that make me less of a professional?

yes

 

[tungsten87]

yes

what would you know? you don't go to class

 

[diastole]

I like to dress casually in school. It doesn't mean I don't have the good sense to dress up when I'm required to do so. Some people are entirely too rigid about making rules over things that just don't matter.

 

[ionou]

Haha. I find this dress code issue quite amusing. Currently, I work for a tutoring center and I'm not allowed to wear a t-shirt with jeans. I don't think I'll teach better in clothing that makes me uncomfortable, but I have to do what is required to get a paycheck. I mean, I know I'm the same person whether or not I'm wearing professional attire and I think it's really pointless in my case.

 

[UnhappyAtLECOM]

Listen up I am very upset that I have to forfeit my 1st Amendment rights.

Now here are some rhetorical questions: Is it unprofessional when Consumer Reports writes a factual report on a very disappointing car? Is it ethical for the car maker to threaten them into redacting their review?

Let's remember, if read what I wrote you will see it is based off facts not opinions. I didn't make any threats, didn't set any ultimatums, didn't use any profane language, no name calling, no lies. In my opinion that is professionalism at its finest. Read the posts from the opposition and you will see who was more diplomatic in their side of the argument.

I deleted my posts off of respect for the ongoing negotiations in canceling the manipulatively instituted APPE requirement. The deletion was done in good faith that they make good on their end of the bargain, and fulfill what was promised when the class of 2012 started here. All I want is for everyone to be happy I am not a rebel.

 

[Dave4468]

I agree that the previous student poster could have handled the situation much better. Posting negatively about the school and the situation BEFORE actually trying to resolve the problem with the administration was unnecessary and possibly disrespectful. Had the poster exhausted all other options to come to a resolution, perhaps his post would have more merit.

However, the way the administration and the dean responded will not achieve much. They made a forgettable and insignificant situation into something much bigger, and worse for the school's image.

As an applicant of LECOM Eerie, I want to say that although I considered what the precious poster had to say, I took everything with a grain of salt. The facts that really mattered to me was that the school took away something they promised, but then later they fixed the situation by giving it back. My opinion of LECOM Eerie did not change throughout that whole thread.

But the situation as it is now, does not look good. I believe that this will hurt the school's image more than anything else although I feel that the situation could still be rectified. To the OP, thank you for posting about the situation, I hope everything gets resolved.

 

[Dave4468]

[deleted: repost...]

 

[dislikeLECOM]

Did I mention the fact they take attendance! They took attendance just before the dean came in. I was in my ASSIGNED SEAT (like a good student), but some students were not. I watched them get up to go talk to the attendance taker, and her reply was "then you should have been in your seat!"
here is an email we got a few weeks ago.
"Good morning everyone
It seems that there are a few students that are ‘playing musical chairs' in the lecture hall. Everyone was given the opportunity to select their seat at the beginning of the semester.
Please stay in these seats."

This is one of the "NICE" emails we get about this. it is usually followed with "disciplinary action will be taken if you do not attend class" At least they asked "PLEASE", this time.
I had no idea that higher education truancy policies until I came to LECOM. BTW you need to fill out an absentee form to get an excused absence. I can post that if you like.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Ah, academia. The only place in the world outside of Bangkok where people pay you to torture them.

And don't you forget that. You are paying them. Don't let them bully you. All of this is a facade of power - and they LOVE to pretend that they can wield it. He can't do anything to your class and he knows it.

This "professionalism" thing is mostly just semantics, anyway. He is defining "professionalism" as doing what you are told and not sharing your opinion with others if it is a negative one. Which is typical from people in academia. They aren't used to being questioned and told that their product is terrible.

Even if they find out who it is, they can't really do anything about it. A good lawyer would decimate whatever crap they tried to give you for stating your opinion on their illegitimate business practices in a public place.

But if the OP is true, it sounds a lot like the dean that used to run HICP. Has the dean hired a bodyguard and begun yelling at you with a bullhorn while driving around in a golf cart yet?

There's a comparison I bet LECOM doesn't want...one that compares their dean to old Hasan from HICP.


.....

Well, Dean, since we know you read this site...and, assuming that all of this is true...how about you stop being an overbearing dictator of your insignificant little academia fiefdom, accept the fact that YOU misrepresented your school to these people, and own up to the problem by telling them that you were wrong and that any criticism toward your school is justified. Trying to bully a bunch of 20 year olds into fearing you and your mighty little wrath is pretty stupid. I would find that much more embarrassing to the reputation of LECOM than the fallout created by a lack of rotation sites.

The issue itself is no big deal. It's not like with a thousand new schools opening up that there isn't a deficit of rotation sites everywhere. Just tell the kids that because your colleagues at the new private schools are competing with LECOM and other schools for rotations, your school is losing some sites. Then tell them they might have to come into Erie to do a rotation or two. And then when they start whining, be a freaking PROFESSIONAL and accept the fact that your institution was unable to deliver on what they promised.