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Please help with any info on school and what the interview is like. I have the interview on 17 Oct.
LECOM interview
- Thread starter Docgeorge
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Hi,
I'm an MSI at LECOM, so I can help you with interview questions you may have. The interview day is pretty relaxed. You and the other interviewees are gathered in the conference room where someone from admissions discusses the school, Erie, the curriculum, etc. During this process, the interviewers will call you out to be interviewed. Also, you are asked to give preference of your learning pathway desire (after they're explained in detail of course).
My interview lasted about 25 minutes and I was interviewed by 3 people-the education specialist (Dr. Stano), the virology/pharm professor (Dr. Nassiri) and an allopathic peds doc (Dr. Lockwood). The questions were specific for your application which was nice since they bothered to read a little about you. They asked about LECOM's mission statement, what learning pathway I was interested in and why, if I would mind the dress code/attendance policy. Dr. Nassiri asked what a virus was since I had taken a virology course. That was the only weird question I got.
During that day you are taken on a tour first thing, and are given an article to read that is clinically relevant. It is a short article and mine was actually interesting. During the interview they ask you just to summarize the article (that's it!). Later on, a MSI came to talk to us for about 20 minutes. There wasn't anything after that (just the video on Erie to end the day). You are out by Noon.
As for LECOM...there are lots of positives and some negatives.
Positives-brand new building and facilities; systems-based curriculum; preceptorship experience beginning in second semester; LOTS of rotation sites (60+, all over the country); the Ferretti's (the family that essentially runs the school) have lots of connections; Erie is a great place (not too big, not too small); we're associated with our own community hospital and health system (Millcreek Health System); 3 learning pathways (lecture, PBL, and Independent study); we're still young, so changes aren't so hard to make
Negatives-the administration is a bit too strict on certain rules (professional dress on morning of OMM lab); limited # of cadavers (13); large class size (~240); we haven't gotten professors' notes for the anatomy part of the curriculum which has been a pain (this is supposed to change once we get to phase II of the curriculum, etc)
Any school is going to have positives and negatives. It's a personal decision why you choose a school.
Other people have said in the past on SDN that LECOM students were unfriendly and that worried me when I was applying...IT IS TOTALLY UNTRUE. Our class is extremely supportive of one another and we are constantly sending e-mails to the class with study guides or helpful websites, etc. It's a great bond that we all share.
Good luck. Grab a student on interview day and talk to them. Or I can always meet up with you if I am free.
~NJDO
I'm an MSI at LECOM, so I can help you with interview questions you may have. The interview day is pretty relaxed. You and the other interviewees are gathered in the conference room where someone from admissions discusses the school, Erie, the curriculum, etc. During this process, the interviewers will call you out to be interviewed. Also, you are asked to give preference of your learning pathway desire (after they're explained in detail of course).
My interview lasted about 25 minutes and I was interviewed by 3 people-the education specialist (Dr. Stano), the virology/pharm professor (Dr. Nassiri) and an allopathic peds doc (Dr. Lockwood). The questions were specific for your application which was nice since they bothered to read a little about you. They asked about LECOM's mission statement, what learning pathway I was interested in and why, if I would mind the dress code/attendance policy. Dr. Nassiri asked what a virus was since I had taken a virology course. That was the only weird question I got.
During that day you are taken on a tour first thing, and are given an article to read that is clinically relevant. It is a short article and mine was actually interesting. During the interview they ask you just to summarize the article (that's it!). Later on, a MSI came to talk to us for about 20 minutes. There wasn't anything after that (just the video on Erie to end the day). You are out by Noon.
As for LECOM...there are lots of positives and some negatives.
Positives-brand new building and facilities; systems-based curriculum; preceptorship experience beginning in second semester; LOTS of rotation sites (60+, all over the country); the Ferretti's (the family that essentially runs the school) have lots of connections; Erie is a great place (not too big, not too small); we're associated with our own community hospital and health system (Millcreek Health System); 3 learning pathways (lecture, PBL, and Independent study); we're still young, so changes aren't so hard to make
Negatives-the administration is a bit too strict on certain rules (professional dress on morning of OMM lab); limited # of cadavers (13); large class size (~240); we haven't gotten professors' notes for the anatomy part of the curriculum which has been a pain (this is supposed to change once we get to phase II of the curriculum, etc)
Any school is going to have positives and negatives. It's a personal decision why you choose a school.
Other people have said in the past on SDN that LECOM students were unfriendly and that worried me when I was applying...IT IS TOTALLY UNTRUE. Our class is extremely supportive of one another and we are constantly sending e-mails to the class with study guides or helpful websites, etc. It's a great bond that we all share.
Good luck. Grab a student on interview day and talk to them. Or I can always meet up with you if I am free.
~NJDO
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Thanks a whole bunch NJDO, I really appriciate it. How is it that they only have 13 cadavers, how many students per cadaver? Thanks again for the info, maby I'll see you there.
How did your interview invite arrive? Snail mail?
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doctortobee-my lecom interview offer came by mail about 2 weeks ago,,,sent my 2nd to them mid-july sometime. i think they offered oct 7th which was about the very beginning of normal interviews for them (that's what admissions told me),,,unfortunately i cannot attend that date b/c i had already purchased airline tix for tucom interview the same day,,,so i had to reschedule for nov 4th. hope it works out for you. let us know. best of luck. take care.
docgeorge, congrats and good luck.
njdo,,,thanks sooo much for the info...surely it will be helpful with our interviews and in making decisions. thanks again, good luck to you this year. keep us updated on how your year is going!
docgeorge, congrats and good luck.
njdo,,,thanks sooo much for the info...surely it will be helpful with our interviews and in making decisions. thanks again, good luck to you this year. keep us updated on how your year is going!
Will they interview you without the DO letter of rec? They said I am in their competitive range to get an interview.
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Ok...about the 13 cadavers...
It is somewhat confusing the way that they run it, and it does have its good and bad points. Let me explain.
The class is divided into 4 groups (A, B, C, D). Now, mind you, this is the entire class during anatomy (the lecture class will be smaller once anatomy is over with and PBL and ISP students go on their own). Each group is assigned two dissection regions (out of 8 total). Group A started out dissecting the back using the 13 cadavers (4/5 people per cadaver). They work hard for the back dissecting, but then the other groups (B, C, D) will come in and prosect for a few hours each week. In other words, they observe what group A dissected and roam around the room to view different bodies. Once the back dissection was over, group B dissected next (the thorax), while A, C, and D prosected. We are now on the second round of dissection, where group A is up again doing the head. They assigned us one "hard" and one "easy" dissection. So, I did neck (hard) and will be doing pelvis and perineum (easy).
Good points: the other groups don't waste time having to pick through fat, fascia, etc. and can just go in and look and leave (a huge time saver); there are only 13 bodies-you get to know the structures on certain bodies (eg. Tank 1 may have a good right recurrent laryngeal nerve that is taggable)
Bad points: there are only 13 bodies to look at, and it gets crowded before a test when everyone is trying to see the structures on all the bodies; prosections sometimes just don't cut it (no pun intended)-5 people is a bit too much per group (4 is fine)
This is the first year they're doing it this way. There are more students so they had to account for it somehow. The nice thing is that we'll complete anatomy in 3 months of intense work. The bad thing is that we're being rushed through it, and not being lectured on major topics (more work for us). HOWEVER, we have a very light schedule compared to last year and more time to read and study. I don't care for it too much, but it's a personal thing.
Feel free to throw any other questions my way. Take it easy.
NJDO
PS...
Curriculum until late October=Gross, Histo, Embryo, and OMM
After these are over=Biochem, Immuno, Micro, Pharm, Physio, OMM
Next semester=Start systems (derm, neuro, etc.) and preceptorships (and OMM of course)
Small courses like health care management and spirituality are also thrown in as well.
It is somewhat confusing the way that they run it, and it does have its good and bad points. Let me explain.
The class is divided into 4 groups (A, B, C, D). Now, mind you, this is the entire class during anatomy (the lecture class will be smaller once anatomy is over with and PBL and ISP students go on their own). Each group is assigned two dissection regions (out of 8 total). Group A started out dissecting the back using the 13 cadavers (4/5 people per cadaver). They work hard for the back dissecting, but then the other groups (B, C, D) will come in and prosect for a few hours each week. In other words, they observe what group A dissected and roam around the room to view different bodies. Once the back dissection was over, group B dissected next (the thorax), while A, C, and D prosected. We are now on the second round of dissection, where group A is up again doing the head. They assigned us one "hard" and one "easy" dissection. So, I did neck (hard) and will be doing pelvis and perineum (easy).
Good points: the other groups don't waste time having to pick through fat, fascia, etc. and can just go in and look and leave (a huge time saver); there are only 13 bodies-you get to know the structures on certain bodies (eg. Tank 1 may have a good right recurrent laryngeal nerve that is taggable)
Bad points: there are only 13 bodies to look at, and it gets crowded before a test when everyone is trying to see the structures on all the bodies; prosections sometimes just don't cut it (no pun intended)-5 people is a bit too much per group (4 is fine)
This is the first year they're doing it this way. There are more students so they had to account for it somehow. The nice thing is that we'll complete anatomy in 3 months of intense work. The bad thing is that we're being rushed through it, and not being lectured on major topics (more work for us). HOWEVER, we have a very light schedule compared to last year and more time to read and study. I don't care for it too much, but it's a personal thing.
Feel free to throw any other questions my way. Take it easy.
NJDO
PS...
Curriculum until late October=Gross, Histo, Embryo, and OMM
After these are over=Biochem, Immuno, Micro, Pharm, Physio, OMM
Next semester=Start systems (derm, neuro, etc.) and preceptorships (and OMM of course)
Small courses like health care management and spirituality are also thrown in as well.
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I forgot to mention that they were interviewing people last year who's files weren't complete. Whether they continue that this year, I'm not sure. I don't know how they work the acceptance of those people.
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Came by snail mail. They did'nt have my letters of Rec, and wont untill next week. But they were pretty clear that they wanted it before the interview. I dont know if I like that prosection idea. I am an anatomy nut and love anatomy. I really would have prefered to have a full cadaver disection. Oh well I guess that the way the cookie crumbles.
njdo....
Know any good places to stay in Erie while I'm there?
njdo....
Know any good places to stay in Erie while I'm there?
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Docgeorge,
I stayed at the Econo lodge when I interviewed, and stayed there again when I came to look for housing. LECOM should have sent you hotel informtation with your interview packet. Numerous hotels in the area give a nice discount for LECOM students. Most of the hotels are on Peach street which is about a 5-10 minute drive to the school.
NJDO
I stayed at the Econo lodge when I interviewed, and stayed there again when I came to look for housing. LECOM should have sent you hotel informtation with your interview packet. Numerous hotels in the area give a nice discount for LECOM students. Most of the hotels are on Peach street which is about a 5-10 minute drive to the school.
NJDO
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njdo-
They call the pelvis and perineum "easy?" I guess it would be easier if you didn't have a 400-pound woman as your cadaver like I did last year. 😀 I would love to have your class's (sp?) schedule last year - we were in class until 5 most of the time and had histo, physio, biochem, anatomy, embryo, and OMM all at the same time. Then after October we finished histo and physio and started with micro, path, and pharm along with all the others.
As for looking for a place to stay, I stayed at the Microtel on Peach St. when I interviewed at LECOM. As njdo said, there are a ton of places on Peach St. to stay.
When I interviewed my application wasn't complete - they hadn't received my second set of MCAT scores. A few other people in my interview group had incomplete applications as well. I think they will interview without your application being complete but they won't accept you until they have everything.
Good luck to everyone interviewing at LECOM!
They call the pelvis and perineum "easy?" I guess it would be easier if you didn't have a 400-pound woman as your cadaver like I did last year. 😀 I would love to have your class's (sp?) schedule last year - we were in class until 5 most of the time and had histo, physio, biochem, anatomy, embryo, and OMM all at the same time. Then after October we finished histo and physio and started with micro, path, and pharm along with all the others.
As for looking for a place to stay, I stayed at the Microtel on Peach St. when I interviewed at LECOM. As njdo said, there are a ton of places on Peach St. to stay.
When I interviewed my application wasn't complete - they hadn't received my second set of MCAT scores. A few other people in my interview group had incomplete applications as well. I think they will interview without your application being complete but they won't accept you until they have everything.
Good luck to everyone interviewing at LECOM!
