Need info on LECOM.

[EW5817]

I have an interview at LECOM on 2 DEC. and I am trying to find out more specifics on the school curriculum. Also, is the article given to read before the interview always science related or other? Any other particulars about the school would be helpful.

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[Willi]

I interviewed at LECOM last year and was accepted. I also grew up in Erie and have many friends and family there. After my interview and talking to some DOs familiar with the school, I thank God I was accepted somewhere else.

Why? Well, being a public forum, I won't post all of the "dirt" I found out (firsthand, in case anyone accuses me of gossiping). Suffice to say it is a politically unstable school that is trying to establish its reputation among the big dogs by perpetuating a "professional" appearance through superficial means. Yes, I am referring to the dress code and mandatory class attendance policies. But it is so much more than that.

Not many people seem to know this but the year the Pomona school opened its doors for business, approximately half of LECOM's class jumped ship and headed West to be Californians. Seems more than a few students found the educational experience there less than satisfying. There are rumblings through the grapevine that another mass exodus is currently brewing there for the same reasons.

One DO I talked with put it in perfect perspective for me. When I asked if I should consider this school, he asked me "how bad do you want to be a doctor?"

I concede that no matter where you go, you will graduate a doctor and be able to pursue whatever goals you have. As such, I would put a deposit down there if it is your first acceptance and no one else is knocking down your door. As a matter of fact, that is just what I did. It hurt to part with that $1500, but it was a small price to pay to go to a better school.

Wherever you go, I wish you the best of luck. As hard as it was to get (and so far stay) here, I can't imagine doing anything else.

------------------
S. Woodring
KCOM, Class of '03

 

[RAM#48]

To answer the original question - I interviewed there this year and the article I was given was very short and was VERY easy to read. It was not scientific at all, but more ethically related - regarding some students cheating on the USMLE. They simply asked me to recap it. Of course then I got drilled about the honor code. They make a big deal out of it, and I don't understand why. I have abided with MUCH more strict honor codes (boarding school, small college) and none of them tooted their horns like LECOM.

In reply to the above poster: I too was accepted at LECOM, and thank God I got in somewhere else. I would seriously rather take an ass beating than go to school there. If it was the only school I got into I would think long and hard about going there. It was a bad vibe all the way around. Snow, dumpy location in a dumpy city, idiotic dress code, etc.

I have a friend who interviewed there a few years ago and he thinks exactly the same of LECOM as I do. But I went up there and interviewed anyway. So if u read this, go check it out yourself - u may love it.

 

[UHS2002]

The article is ethics oriented. It is not hard, however, make sure you tell the interviewers what THEY want to hear. The one given to me was a newspaper article about cheating on the USMLE. It sounds similar or perhaps the same as RAM#48 received.

LECOM is very formal compared to other schools I interviewed at. They have a strict dress code and a mandatory attendance policy. It was my first interview and I was shell shocked for a while afterwards. It made me think that perhaps I should not go the DO route at all, because the school was such an obvious clash with my personality. That impression changed when I went to interview at other schools, which were a lot more "friendly". So, be prepared to some apparent "coldness", particularly if you are the expansive type.

 

[RDO]

This is interesting. A negative LECOM string and a positive one going on at the same time! See PreMeds (Osteopathic).

 

[Thalamus]

I'm confused. My DO friend graduated from Pomona in the 1980's---they just renamed themselves in 1997. LECOM opened in 1992--and why the 1997 exodus to Pomona and not earlier?
The students I spoke with were very positive about LECOM--what did I miss?

 

[Thalamus]

I am confused here...My DO friend graduated from Pomona in the 1980's. The name was changed in 1997. Why the LECOM exodus to CA. at that point in time, and why only there and not to other schools? LECOM was 1992--the years don't correlate to the descibed events.
Also, I recently interviewed at LECOM and thought it was terrific. Is there more you need to tell us prospective students...i.e. 'political'?

 

[Thalamus]

sorry for the repeat, gang. My computer wasn't showing my previous posts....

To those yet to interview--I found LECOM VERY informal in comparison to my other interviews and the three people that interviewed me were warm, articulate and easy going. In addition, the article summary was one simple question on their part and one detailed answer on mine. Know your stuff and there shouldn't be a problem!

 

[Thalamus]

p.s.--there was no big deal made about the honor and dress code, and every school I have interviewed at has had the same type of honor code and asked specific questions about it.

 

[Thalamus]

p.s.--there was no big deal made about the honor and dress code, and every school I have interviewed at has had the same type of honor code and asked specific questions about it.

 

[dlbruch]

Thalamus, if you click on the pencil/paper icon at the top of your post you can edit/delete duplicate posts.