Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

Describe your leadership style. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

From where did you first learn about osteopathic medicine?

Tell me something about yourself that may not be on your file.

None of them stand out in my mind as being very interesting...

Describe a conflict you were involved in, and how you resolved it.

Read all of the recent SDN entries and realized that the questions asked seem to be very repetitive, went over my application and my research, read LECOM website, read about osteopathic medicine on AACOM website

The friendliness of the students and admissions staff, how impeccably CLEAN and SAFE LECOM seems (even the anatomy lab didn't smell!), how professionally the school is run - from the dress code to the punctuality of the interview day, the reasonably low tuition (compared to some other schools) and affordable living cost in Erie, and the surplus of options as to which pathway to take to pursue a medical education based on your own particular learning style (LDP, PBL, ISP). Also, there is a decent amount of shopping in Erie, which was surprising to me.

First of all, the 6+ inches of "lake-effect" snow that fell the night before my interview, making it all the more difficult to travel there! I guess this was to give me the complete "dreary Erie" experience. Towards the end of the interview, it got so bad out that we couldn't see further than ~5 feet out the window, and everyone was worried as to how they would get home. As for the school, they don't have wireless internet like the Bradenton campus yet, and no immediate plans to acquire it. No food anywhere in the building except for the cafeteria, which also serves as the "student lounge" and a multi-purpose room for speakers sometimes. It wasn't very comfortable, just standard tables and chairs, so it's hard to imagine being able to "lounge" there. But they do have Starbucks coffee.

That I would do so well in the interview so I shouldn't worry so much. EVERY question I was asked can be found on this website, just read the postings and make notes of the most commonly asked questions.

I became more concerned about the bad weather on the morning of my interview than the interview itself, which in retrospect may have been a good thing because it got my mind off being nervous. I decided to go there and just be myself, because I've determined that's who I'm best at being, and that would allow them to get the correct first impression of me aside from what's on paper. I arrived 10 minutes early and met Elaine the admissions counselor, who gave me my name badge and told me to go wait in a room for the other interviewees to arrive. Once all 10 of us were there (5 other people cancelled) we went on a tour of the school (only one building) with a second-year student who was in the ISP pathway. After the half-hour tour, we were taken to the conference room and Elaine spoke to us about the school and Erie in general. She also gave us an article to read about bone marrow testing for breast cancer patients, which she explained we may be asked about during the interview. Promptly 45min later, the interviews began and we were each called out one-by-one by three different panels of 3 interviewers each. I was called out second, and had an eclectic panel of a lawyer(?)- man, an MD-internist - woman, and a PhD-physiology teacher - man. I was taken to a little white room with a table and four chairs, which kind of made me feel like I was being questioned for murder or something. But the interviewers made me feel comfortable and explained that I shouldn't be concerned that they will be writing everything I say down, because they need to show my responses to the admissions committee. They also told me they had a list of questions which they proceeded to ask me one at a time, taking turns. All of the questions were personality-based and had nothing to do with my file, so I felt the opportunity to explain myself to them, and give them an idea about the type of person I am and who I want to become, which may not have fully come across on paper. After most of the questions were answered, the lawyer ran down a list of expectations at LECOM; such as the dress code (men - shirt and tie, women - business casual), and the fact that one of LECOM's aims is to create primary care physicians. Finally, they asked me to summarize the article I read, and then I was done. Back in the conference room, we heard presentations about financial aid, viewed a video promoting the city of Erie, and spoke to the wife of a fourth-year student to gain the spouse's perspective. After everyone finished interviewing, we went for lunch in the cafeteria with two second-year students in the PBL program and were able to ask them questions. Finally, we finished and were able to fully concern ourselves as to how we were getting home in all that snow. Oh yeah, one of the students said they hadn't seen the sun in three weeks.