Posting this from an alt account as I don't know if I am or not allowed to say anything about stuff from the interview, but I recently interviewed at this school and I must say I was quite impressed!
A lot of people worry about PBL and that's completely fine, it certainly is not for everyone. However, keep in mind their first class passed NDBE I and II with flying colors. PBL will be in groups of 10 with one facilitator that has the only purpose of keeping meetings with your group productive (will not help with learning/concepts). Other interviewees I met that day that had experience with PBL explained to me that it really helped bond with fellow classmates so I'm pretty optomistic about PBL if I choose to go to LECOM. Between meetings, you will be independently studying. If you are a strong independent learner, this curriculum will be awesome for you. I like PBL because I like both a mix of independent learning then reinforcing/clarifying concepts through groupwork. Beats the traditional lecture style because you are learning basic sciences through case-study examples, and personally that would help me recall something better if I had a real example to go off of instead of just a textbook. You still have lecture components in dental component classes such as Restorative (dentures), Perio, Ortho, etc.
Faculty were very nice and happy to answer our questions. Interviewers created a very comfortable environment, so the nerves I was feeling that day was because I naturally get very nervous especially before an interview that determines my future. They asked pretty standard questions that you can find around SDN if you do some research. Interview was 1 hour since it was a group interview and all 6 of us had ample chances to talk.
The students all looked so happy and sat with us for lunch to answer all our questions, they seemed to have a good balance between school and relaxing/having a life outside dental school. They were all very friendly with each other as well, most live in the same apartment areas, some even have season passes to Disney/Universal!
In terms of patients, D3's were honest and told us it had initially been tough to find patients. LECOM has stepped up their advertising and getting things out by word of mouth as D3's seem to have on average about 15 patients each. Patients will be passed down from one year to the other and the patient base will only get bigger. D3's said they've gotten patients simply just by wearing scrubs to the grocery store and striking up conversation in line. Patient base is certainly one of my concerns so I will be keeping that in my thoughts as I think about this school more.
Beautiful school, seriously, it looks like going to school in paradise. Lake in the back with fountains that change color at night, palm trees surrounding the perimeter. The building is brand new, you need your badge to get in and out at all times, lots of security cameras. So many in fact that you can safely leave your stuff anywhere in the building. Looks like each D3 has their own "office" with its own chair, equipment, and they even have their names on the outside of their little offices! D1's assist D3's all first year, really good mentor system. D1's also make dentures all first year for patients.
Bradenton is mostly quiet upper-middle class, but a very clean, safe area it seems. Sarasota is about 20-30 min away where you'll find the beach and nightlife. Temperatures around 55 at night and 75 during the day in winter. I flew in through Tampa but I did not like it that much but didn't have the opportunity to explore it, just seemed crazy busy and congested with traffic. Unfortunately, it didn't help I traveled alone. It was an hour drive from Tampa to Bradenton, I rented a car and there was a $1.75 toll back and forth.
D4's have a choice between going to Erie, PA or Defuniak Spring, FL for the last year of D school. Keep in mind LECOM's mission statement emphasizes community service. Lots of people may be bothered by this but you gotta think about it this way. Not only do you gain invaluable experience for a whole year but you do good working with the underprivileged. Half the class (50/100 students) goes to each and last year nearly everyone got to go to their choice.
Any other questions feel free to PM me, overall I really liked LECOM. They've got a unique way of doing things and they even said it themselves, "we are a weird schoo.l"
