WesternU or LECOM-FL?

[njaqua]

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I have been giving this tremendous amounts of thought. I thought I'd propose the question of choosing between WesternU and LECOM-FL. Both locations have nice, warm, sunny weather. PBL at LECOM. mp3's of lectures at Western. Residency matches and rotations seem better at Western. Cost of living is considerably less in Bradenton/Sarasota area than, say, Chino Hills, CA. FL is close to Carribean islands, FL Keys, etc.

Any thoughts? Just want to see if I'm missing anything and anyone's own impression of the two schools. So if you're bored, let me know what you think.

Thanks!

 

[FS-Pro]

I'd say that Western has a better reputation than LECOM-Bradenton. The LECOM in florida is fairly new I believe, so that doesn't help its cause.

 

[DiverDoc]

I am the same way. I love to scuba dive so Lecom-FL is a school that i am interested in, however I am afraid ill be too relaxed in FL and would find it hard to study if it was nice out all the time...

-Scott

 

[Redneck]

Hurricanes

 

[DarkWingDuck]

earthquakes

 

[FS-Pro]

earthquakes

I'm guessing you haven't spent much time in southern Cali, earthquakes are not very bad and are very rare. I'v lived hear for 18 years and have felt maybe 4-5, none of which were scary.

 

[njaqua]

I'm guessing you haven't spent much time in southern Cali, earthquakes are not very bad and are very rare. I'v lived hear for 18 years and have felt maybe 4-5, none of which were scary.

Anyone want to step up and say which is the better school? I definately get the impression it's Western, but I don't want to offend anyone at LECOM. I'm just worried about the clinicals (having to travel to PA, for instance) and the residency placement.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Anyone want to step up and say which is the better school? I definately get the impression it's Western, but I don't want to offend anyone at LECOM. I'm just worried about the clinicals (having to travel to PA, for instance) and the residency placement.

You're right, Western is probably the "better" school in that it's more established, has strong clinicals in southern California and has lots of grads in residencies all over. Also, they release their match list, so you know for a fact where you can go from Western. I guess the problem with LECOM-Fl is that no one from there has started clinicals, right? LECOM seems to have a lot of clinical affiliations, but it's conceivable that the ones in Florida are weaker. Also, LECOM never releases its match list, and I would be personally hesitant to go there if I wanted to go into something really competitive just because of this.

PBL's a huge plus, though, and I could see where you might actually get a better education at LECOM because of it and might even wind up doing better on the boards. Western's board performance is traditionally not so hot, even though they do seem to be making lots of academic improvements, so I'm sure that will change.

 

[atrovariousg]

I'm guessing you haven't spent much time in southern Cali, earthquakes are not very bad and are very rare. I'v lived hear for 18 years and have felt maybe 4-5, none of which were scary.

Did you just say scary? Was that with a lisp by chance?

 

[allendo]

You're right, Western is probably the "better" school in that it's more established, has strong clinicals in southern California and has lots of grads in residencies all over. Also, they release their match list, so you know for a fact where you can go from Western. I guess the problem with LECOM-Fl is that no one from there has started clinicals, right? LECOM seems to have a lot of clinical affiliations, but it's conceivable that the ones in Florida are weaker. Also, LECOM never releases its match list, and I would be personally hesitant to go there if I wanted to go into something really competitive just because of this.

PBL's a huge plus, though, and I could see where you might actually get a better education at LECOM because of it and might even wind up doing better on the boards. Western's board performance is traditionally not so hot, even though they do seem to be making lots of academic improvements, so I'm sure that will change.

Most of the florida students will rotate in florida, and the ones in Pa will stay up north. LECOM erie has a good rep and produces good students who do great on rotations.

 

[njaqua]

Most of the florida students will rotate in florida, and the ones in Pa will stay up north. LECOM erie has a good rep and produces good students who do great on rotations.

LECOM Erie has a great rep, but Bradenton is a new school with relatively limited hospital affiliations (in Florida) and no residency match lists. When I interviewed at Bradenton they informed us that they can't guarantee Florida rotations. You may have to travel to PA, MI, and other places to rotate.

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

Western's board performance is traditionally not so hot, even though they do seem to be making lots of academic improvements, so I'm sure that will change.

The thing about Western/COMP is, that it matriculates a lot of strong students with good numbers and many from big name universities(IVYs, Berkeley, UCLA..etc). I know that as a fact in my own class. I believe the school feels comfortable with a majority of strong students to back up the average stats, then it accepts many students with more "questionable" numbers but with unique experiences. Sometimes those students don't shine as bright later on the boards either, but many of them will move on to become great doctors anyways. That's why the board pass rate has been typically about 5% below national average(this year it's 89%), yet the school is able to place many graduates in competitive residencies and many at large university/commercial based programs(Stanford, USC, UCI, Kaiser....etc) unlike many DO schools that place graduates in community hospitals. A lot of our students get really high board scores, and for the ones that don't pass the 1st time, it really doesn't matter because they'll just take it again and end up as successful docs anyways. To me, I think board pass rate is over-rated because I see schools supposedly with above average pass-rates and then I look at where their graduates go and then I wonder if everyone passed just barely.

 

[FS-Pro]

Did you just say scary? Was that with a lisp by chance?

Get a life.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

The thing about Western/COMP is, that it matriculates a lot of strong students with good numbers and many from big name universities(IVYs, Berkeley, UCLA..etc). I know that as a fact in my own class. I believe the school feels comfortable with a majority of strong students to back up the average stats, then it accepts many students with more "questionable" numbers but with unique experiences. Sometimes those students don't shine as bright later in the boards either, but many of them will move on to become great doctors anyways. That's why the board pass rate has been typically about 5% below national average(this year it's 89%), yet the school is able to place many graduates in competitive residencies and many at large university/commercial based programs(Stanford, USC, UCI, Kaiser....etc) unlike many DO schools that place graduates in community hospitals. A lot of our students get really high board scores, and for the ones that don't pass the 1st time, it really doesn't matter because they'll just take it again and end up as successful docs anyways. To me, I think board pass rate is over-rated because I see schools supposedly with above average pass-rates and then I look at where their graduates go and then I wonder if everyone passed just barely.

I don't think this is a valid argument although I'd like it to be. All osteopathic medical schools let in students with "questionable numbers with unique experiences" but the ones I know of are at or above the average board score. As a matter of fact, we have one of the highest average statistics of all DO schools (27 MCAT, 3.5 GPA) so there is more to our lower board scores than the few questionable marticulants each year. Many schools with lower average statistics of matriculants have higher board passing rates. I believe that is what the new dean is trying to change at Western.

In response to the OP - I can't explain how helpful the lectures on mp3 are. You should just go with your gut when deciding on what schools. I am happy with my choice at COMP.

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

I don't think this is a valid argument although I'd like it to be. All osteopathic medical schools let in students with "questionable numbers with unique experiences" but the ones I know of are at or above the average board score.

Yeah I'm sure there are all types of people that pass or fail. I'm not sure if Dean Adams gave you 1st years what he told us, but he gave a special presentation to the 2nd years on boards performance with pie charts and powerpoint and all that, and he mentioned that the people that didn't pass were exactly the "questionable" ones and people in the bottom of the class rank. So it's not like you've been a strong student and all of a sudden "bam" you don't know what hit you and you fail, then you might blame the school for your failure. So at the end of the presentation, Dean Adams cautioned "you know who you are" to work extra hard.

But like I said, pass-rate is overrated, because they all end up eventually passing(even if it takes the 3rd time) and become great doctors. What I would be more interested to know is the average board score of each school to truly reflect the quality of a school's education, if people are so inclined at looking at boards as an indicator.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

Yeah I'm sure there are all types of people that pass or fail. I'm not sure if Dean Adams gave you 1st years what he told us, but he gave a special presentation to the 2nd years on boards performance with pie charts and powerpoint and all that, and he mentioned that the people that didn't pass were exactly the "questionable" ones and people in the bottom of the class rank. So it's not like you've been a strong student and all of a sudden "bam" you don't know what hit you and you fail, then you might blame the school for your failure. So at the end of the presentation, Dean Adams cautioned "you know who you are" to work extra hard.

But like I said, pass-rate is overrated, because they all end up eventually passing(even if it takes the 3rd time) and become great doctors. What I would be more interested to know is the average board score of each school to truly reflect the quality of a school's education, if people are so inclined at looking at boards as an indicator.

Yeah we got that presentation. I agree that the whole board scores factor shouldn't be a major one when choosing a school (especially COMP b/c we're only away from the average by a few %) There are so many more important factors (where you do your rotations, near your family if that's an option, etc.). I think schools that are boasting huge board results are teaching for boards - and just that. I don't know if that's quality education or not - but I'm very happy with the education I am getting at COMP. Hey Jina, was Neuro really that bad?

 

[TheFish005]

Neuro makes your brain hurt.

 

[DRSTEPHI27]

im a lecom-erie girl and would have to say....that i would pick going to florida. i know a lot of the professors down there and their teaching is top notch. i know someone from westernu and he has said that if he had to do it over again...he woudl do lecom- bradenton. even though its a new school...you have great people running it and as a fellow pbl student...i think there is no better way to learn and actually have a life as a first and second year med school.
Go to Florida and best of luck.