The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, the nation’s largest medical college, will now guarantee five seats at each of its three campuses to Hillsdale College students every year.
LECOM offers partnerships to 50 schools throughout the nation. Students who attend these schools can apply to the program their freshman or sophomore year of undergraduate studies. If accepted, and if they maintain a certain GPA and receive above a 25 on their MCAT, the student will have a guaranteed spot in one of LECOM’s medical schools.
“The advantage is that students don’t have to go through the grueling admissions process,” said Christopher Hamilton, Hillsdale’s pre-professional adviser and associate professor of chemistry.
LECOM receives 11,000 applications each year for its 530 seats, said Pierre Bellicini, director of marketing and communications at LECOM. U.S. News and World Report ranked LECOM as 52nd best school in the nation for primary care physicians.
Other osteopathic schools of universities with comparable MCAT rankings are Michigan State University, Oklahoma State University and Ohio University.
LECOM has three schools: medical, pharmaceutical, and dental. Hamilton said that seats at the medical school will be the most competitive, because more students apply to medical school then to dental or pharmaceutical school each year.
Applying for a seat at LECOM means that a student must commit to a medical school program as an underclassman. As a result, Hamilton said he will look for students who are motivated and dedicated to studying osteopathic medicine.
LECOM is an osteopathic college, which differs from a typical medical school. Osteopathic medicine focuses on a holistic approach to medicine, delving into a patient’s lifestyle to propose a cure, rather than pinpointing specific issues. A student at LECOM graduates as a doctor of osteopathic medicine, rather than as a medical doctor.
“There are three different groups of pre-med students,” Hamilton said. “There are some that definitely want to get their M.D., some that definitely want their D.O., and some that are fine with either.”
He said that many prefer the philosophy behind osteopathic medicine, but if a student wants to go into a field such as neurology, they are more likely to pursue a doctorate of medicine.
LECOM also allows incoming freshmen to apply – before they start classes.
“It’s basically making a decision when you are a senior in high school what medical school you are going to attend,” Bellicini said.
Because the partnership is so new, Hamilton wants to wait to accept freshmen until after the program has been firmly established on campus. However, he is working with the admissions office to make this a possibility in the future.
Luke Mugge, senior and president of the Pre-Professional Society, thinks that the partnership with LECOM will benefit pre-med students.
“Given Hillsdale’s core and their mind, body, and soul philosophy, students already have the mindset that osteopathic doctors should have,” he said. “We are graduating students that LECOM is really interested in.”
Hillsdale has wanted this program on campus for some time, Hamilton said. Because Adrian College has a partnership with them, LECOM would not grant one to Hillsdale because of a location policy – they try not to make agreements with colleges in the same region, Hamilton said.
This summer, while attending a medical conference, Hamilton met with Debbie Bisbee, LECOM’s Admissions Recruiter. Bisbee was so impressed with Hillsdale’s pre-med program, that she decided to lift the location restriction, Hamilton said.
“Hillsdale has a very strong department for pre-med students,” she said. “It will give them a very good background to prepare them for medical school. Their advisors are great too.”
