LECOM - Choosing students for PBL path.

[TANSTAAFL]

Hey there.

Are there any current soon-to-be PBL students from LECOM who could share what they know about how students are selected for the PBL pathway?

Is PBL competitive to get into? Does the admissions committee have criteria for the selection?

Any ideas about what type of student they're looking for?
I spent most of my graduate studies (albeit in an entirely different field) working in small group seminars and I find the format perfect for the way I learn. And when I've been the teacher, one of the things that I've noticed is that students become to feel responsible to each other for knowing the material and making an active contribution when the group is small. It's a completely different dynamic.

On the whole small groups feel more like a classroom of colleagues than anything else. But. . .

How do you feel about the lack of a full-on cadaver Gross Anatomy section?

Any input is appreciated.

T

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[Kateb4]

At Erie, there are only 40 slots I believe for PBL, and they were full by the time I interviewed there in October. In Bradenton and Seton Hill I believe they are all PBL because the program has been shown to be soo successful.

From what I understand, their selection criteria is based on your ability to work well in a small group and to do independant study. So, if you have worked like that in the past you should have no problem.

As far as the anatomy, we do a full cadaver dissection. However it is done in groups. We have 4 cadavers for our class, and the dissections are done by one of the anatomists who dissects and teaches the group while dissecting. I took anatomy in the past with prosected cadavers, and I feel that I did learn more watching the dissections. It may be nicer if we were able to dissect on our own, but we do anatomy in 13 weeks, which leaves very little time for the work. All in all, I wish we had more time for the anatomy here, but it worked out fine for most of us.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[howard100]

hey Kateb4, I was under the impression that LECOM-Bradenton students had prosected cadavers. Am I wrong? Do you actually get to watch while the disection occurs?

To answer the OP, I'm a "soon to be", and I can say that much of my interview was about how I deal with small groups, conflicts, and the like. From what I've read on SDN and talked to PBL students, your ability to deal with small groups and independent learning is a huge part in being selected for the PBL pathway. And don't try to BS the interviewers in an attempt to just get into a med school; it will come back to bite you in the ....

 

[Kateb4]

At LECOM-B our cadavers are prepared over the summer (de-fatting, etc.) and they are superficially dissected to certain levels of musculature. We don't get to see that part. However all dissections after the musculature we do get to see, and most occurs in class. The anatomists that we have are very willing to show us anything we are interested in, so you can come in and watch any dissection that they may do when we are not in class also, the lab is open all the time and we are able to have as much one on one time with the bodies as we wanted, even on the weekends.

 

[samroid68]

I interviewed at Erie the first week of October. The interviewers didn't directly ask me any questions to see if I was a good candidate for pbl. I did mention that pbl was my preferred pathway somehow and that got the discussion started on what kind of learner I was. But since Erie accepts you to the school in general, and not just one pathway they don't really "select" you for pbl in the interview. After the interviews they give a list of all the pathways (it included pbl at seton hill) and you number them according to your preference. I picked pbl at erie as my first choice and was accepted to that pathway.

Since Bradenton is only a pbl school they do grill you during the interview to find out if you are a good candidate for pbl. If you look at the interview feedback you'll see the list of questions that are common.

I really think the interviewers' comment sheet at both campuses was the same exact thing because I did have a few common questions and it looked very similar from what I could see of it. At Erie it was more like a discussion and they didn't really refer to the sheet much. There was room for discussion at Bradenton too, but they really made sure they hit all the questions.

As for anatomy, I don't mind the prosected cadavers at Bradenton, but was unsure about the new format of anatomy for pbl students at erie and seton hill. I'm not sure but I think they dont use cadavers at all. That's one of the many reasons I choose bradenton over erie. Hope this helped!

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Thanks all. Much appreciated. You've given me a good sense of it.