PACDO Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 For those who are seriously considering APAP, LECOM, or med school in general, feel free to message me. Always happy to help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyVetDude Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 (edited) On 2/2/2017 at 9:19 AM, ApolloPA said: Hi everyone Current PA student here looking at LECOM's bridge program. I've talked to a current student there who told me that many of the bridge program students in the current class regret their decision to go this route. I know there's a couple alumni from the program on these forums, just wondering if there's anyone else who has some experience/opinion on the program. Thank you! Josh The primary care track would cause grief for some people, especially women who are looking to have children and work less in the future. Moreover, you would have $600,000 to $1,000,000 total loss of income, by the time you are done with med school and residency. Also with a compound interest adding up on student loan as soon as you finish med school, it could take up to 8 to 12 years of doing full-time work to even. Definitely not worth it for women wanting kids or old farts that want to retire within 15 years Edited November 4, 2018 by ArmyVetDude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moboo Posted November 30, 2019 Share Posted November 30, 2019 Hey guys, I've been currently practicing as a PA for 3 years and at my 2 year mark I decided to finally pursue medicine. At first PA school made sense because the VA was willing to pay for it but not for medical school. Also, I had to support my family so pursuing PA school gave me the opportunity to practice medicine while having great income. However, after practicing a few years, I have saved up enough money where I don't have to take out much loan and my wife is on board in supporting me in pursuing this dream to become a physician. I have finished all the prerequisites (gen chem, bio, physics, o chem, etc.) and will take the MCAT in April. My GPA is not that competitive for an MD school but it would be for DO. This LECOM PA to DO program sounds like a great deal for me and I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on this program? Maybe someone on here knows someone that went through the entire program or currently in this program can provide some details about it. Any information helps. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MediMike Posted November 30, 2019 Share Posted November 30, 2019 A little more detailed search will reveal quite a few threads on LECOM, the +/-, people who have gone through, where they matched etc Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAtoMD Posted December 1, 2019 Share Posted December 1, 2019 On 11/30/2019 at 1:54 AM, Moboo said: Hey guys, I've been currently practicing as a PA for 3 years and at my 2 year mark I decided to finally pursue medicine. At first PA school made sense because the VA was willing to pay for it but not for medical school. Also, I had to support my family so pursuing PA school gave me the opportunity to practice medicine while having great income. However, after practicing a few years, I have saved up enough money where I don't have to take out much loan and my wife is on board in supporting me in pursuing this dream to become a physician. I have finished all the prerequisites (gen chem, bio, physics, o chem, etc.) and will take the MCAT in April. My GPA is not that competitive for an MD school but it would be for DO. This LECOM PA to DO program sounds like a great deal for me and I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on this program? Maybe someone on here knows someone that went through the entire program or currently in this program can provide some details about it. Any information helps. Thank you. I've spoken with current students and someone who just interviewed with them and they didn't have great things to say. I still find it to be very attractive for students like you. The one less year is attractive as well as no MCAT. I self studied to a competitive MCAT score and if your GPA is above 3.0 you could find a seat at a MD school if you apply broad enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVTSPA Posted December 1, 2019 Share Posted December 1, 2019 Current 3rd year APAP student here. If you already took all the prerequisites and are about to take the MCAT, stick to that plan and apply to both MD and DO schools. Currently being in the midst of residency interviews, the weight of almost any MD school is greater than any DO school. All the residency programs became governed by the ACGME (think MD accreditation for residencies) this year so a MD degree and the USMLE has become much more important. The DO bias is real and you need to score 10 points higher on the USMLE exams (Step exams) than whatever is competitive for that specialty to be considered equal to a MD candidate at a lot of places. Ten points higher is an appreciable increase btw. Unless, of course, you are pursuing a very non-competitive specialty or going through the military match of which you can just stick with the COMLEX in most cases. The headaches of the LECOM APAP program are not worth it if you have an opportunity to go to any MD school. Plus, things are getting worse since Kaufman is no longer in charge. The new director of the program is consistently offering a "4 year option" to anyone for any reason. What's the point of a 3 year program if the director is offering you a switch to a 4 year program because you had a question about something? Also, you used to have some lee-way with substituting rotations for other rotations so you can get audition rotations for residency in (pretty important) but that is now a thing of the past. The emphasis is strongly for primary care even if you are in an undeclared spot. Feel free to review my previous posts for more details regarding the hoops you need to jump through as an APAP! Basically, the reasons to do APAP, in my opinion are as follows: 1. Financial - the MD and other DO schools are too expensive and finances are extremely important. LECOM has some of the cheapest medical school tuition in the country. This certainly comes at a cost! (See previous posts) 2. Primary care - if your goal is primary care, this is a wonderful option as you are strongly encouraged throughout your medical school career to do primary care. Primary care means IM, FM, pediatrics, and OB/GYN at this institution, just to be clear 3. MCAT and other Pre-reqs - If you haven't taken all the stuff you need to apply to other schools and can't be bothered with it, this is a great option. I knew I didn't want to take all the pre-reqs or the MCAT and wouldn't be taking them if I didn't get into the APAP program (personal choice). It would have added another 2-3 years to the whole process for me and I didn't want to wait that long If you meet one or more of these criteria and are willing to put up with the hoops you have to jump through, this is a good option. Otherwise, you should pursue a MD school preferably or another DO school if you have the option. Again, MD is the way to go and saves you much effort during school and when applying to residency so you can get the specialty of your choice in the location of your choice. With all that being said, I still strongly appreciate the opportunity I was given as I wouldn't be in medical school otherwise at such an affordable tuition without taking most of the pre-reqs for other schools. But boy, are there a lot of unnecessary obstacles that are put in place on the journey through the program! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAtoMD Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 1 hour ago, CVTSPA said: The new director of the program is consistently offering a "4 year option" to anyone for any reason. What's the point of a 3 year program if the director is offering you a switch to a 4 year program because you had a question about something? Also, you used to have some lee-way with substituting rotations for other rotations so you can get audition rotations for residency in (pretty important) but that is now a thing of the past. This is exactly what I have heard recently too about the program. The three year DO is what makes the program attractive for PAs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltawave Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 I read that a physics class, organic chem, and MCAT are still required on their website... Is that just for show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAtoMD Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 28 minutes ago, deltawave said: I read that a physics class, organic chem, and MCAT are still required on their website... Is that just for show? APAP website 1 semester of physics and OCHEM are required. MCAT can be accepted but if your college GPA and college admissions tests are high enough you can waive the MCAT. Same goes with their regular admissions too I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfw6er Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 BTW, they'll accept really old MCAT scores. I took the MCAT in '95 and they accepted the score. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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