When I was looking at LECOM, I saw that they are offering a Primary Care Track starting this fall with students being able to finish their medical education in 3 years versus 4 years (no less education, just less vacation time between terms). This year will be their inauguration of this track and I was curious if you think that more SOM’s will offer this option. With such a need for primary care physicians and family physicians, do you think that this may be come a trend?
Krisss17
There has to be a demand. There also has to be something in it for the school. If they are losing out on 1 year of tuition from x number of students every year then the money has to come from somewhere.
I would say if federal dollars are helping to fund this then more schools will follow suit. Definitely more osteo schools. I don’t see too many allo schools going this route…unless that federal funding is substantial.
I could see the NHSP scholarship changing to only give the scholarship to graduates of programs such as this. This way there is no way the government nor underserved get screwed out of someone changing their mind after having taken the money.
Given that there’s no less education, just shorter breaks, I suspect you just pay four years’ worth of tuition in three years. You’d have less living expenses to borrow, which would be nice. But, man, the breaks (except for summer after first year) are already pretty darn short. I don’t think I’d sign up for it.
I don’t see it. Seems as if they expect you to run a marathon at a sprint. Same cost minus 1 year of living expenses…and you’re contractually limited to only primary care…I won’t be signing up for that one. Crazy was 2 years ago. 
Actually, according to the LECOM website, you are NOT paying for four years…you are only paying for three years, so that is a savings of $25K.
Also, I’m leaning towards primary care and I’m going to be 44 when I start school. I’m just hoping that the LECOM campus in Bradenton will start the program by the time I am ready to start medical school.
When I interviewed at Bradenton I was told the program was (so far) only at Erie campus. Are they serious about adding it to Bradenton? My overall impression of Bradenton is that it’s a work in progress; board scores were on the low side and they were rethinking the curriculum.
It sounds appealing from the point of view of getting it over with more quickly, if you can handle the lack of a long break between MS1 and MS2 (and shorter break MS2 to MS3). It is an exclusive program open to those with high marks and likely to do well. It wasn’t clear to me that you’re contractually limited to primary care afterwards. I would have thought that if you change your mind, you’d be free to get more training after graduation.
The problem is that the majority of folks end up changing their minds midway through medical school regarding specialties…be careful.
Primary care done properly means being a really good doctor with an understanding of many different parts of medicine. It also means being calm in the face of chaos, and maintaining a sense of perspective and balance. I can’t see how you’d accomplish both goals in an accelerated and no-vacations version of med school; but best wishes to those who want to give it a shot.
j
Quoted by ttraub -
When I interviewed at Bradenton I was told the program was (so far) only at Erie campus. Are they serious about adding it to Bradenton? My overall impression of Bradenton is that it’s a work in progress; board scores were on the low side and they were rethinking the curriculum.
It sounds appealing from the point of view of getting it over with more quickly, if you can handle the lack of a long break between MS1 and MS2 (and shorter break MS2 to MS3). It is an exclusive program open to those with high marks and likely to do well. It wasn’t clear to me that you’re contractually limited to primary care afterwards. I would have thought that if you change your mind, you’d be free to get more training after graduation. (end quote)
No, I didn’t say that it was yet at Bradenton. It is only in its pilot year at LECOM-Erie. I figure that they will need to get some kinks out of the way before they try it at Bradenton, as most new programs do have kinks. Since I’ve got two or possibly three years before actually starting, that is fine.
As far as breaks, I’m currently 42 and I work full-time (which will continue as I work towards this goal), so this is a nonclaimer for me.
And Primary care is what I want to do, that is why I am getting into medicine. I love the idea of variety and working with people of all ages. If it was my intention to go into a specialty which would requiry either long residencies or fellowships, well then I totally understand…but again, that is not MY intention.
As mentioned, I’m 42 now…I’ll probably be 45 when I start. A three year program towards this goal versus the traditional four year, would be great.
- Krisss17 Said:
When I was looking at LECOM, I saw that they are offering a Primary Care Track starting this fall with students being able to finish their medical education in 3 years versus 4 years (no less education, just less vacation time between terms). This year will be their inauguration of this track and I was curious if you think that more SOM's will offer this option. With such a need for primary care physicians and family physicians, do you think that this may be come a trend?
Krisss17
Krisss17
I find this option being "odd" on several levels. First the obvious attraction being less debt & a shorter timespan - very big benefits.
However, as someone about to finish & having gone to a med school that was not big on break time - no scheduled time off for Christmas/T-giving after year 2, no "summer breaks" at all & no scheduled off months for residency interview or board study. Believe me, doing it straight through is tough on you! Med school is 2 or 3 orders of magnitude more intense than even the most demanding of Ugrad programs; so breaks to clear your baffles & reconnect with life is phenomenally valuable.
Second, I find it very curious that a medical school would profess to have a primary care track. Med school is med school, no matter whether you intend to ultra-specialize or be the broadest of generalists. Med school educates & trains you to pass the board exams & builds a foundation for your post-grad training. Internship/residency/fell owship(s) are where you learn to actually be a physician of type x, y or z. All docs do the same general type of med school education.
Lastly, and probably my least substantive observation, providing a truncated/condensed version of medical school & them referring to it is "primary care track" seems to imply that generalists somehow need 'less' education/training. Even though I am a specialist & will also be a sub-specialist, on bahlef of my generalist colleagues, I find this bordering on offensive.
KCOM, for a while, was entertaining a similar option, probably after learning about LECOM planning to do so. The concept was dropped for many reasons, not the least of which was current student criticism - I was on the StudGov Exec Council at the time & participated in some of these discussions.
In summation, I would be very very hesitant to allow something like "I am 42" and concerns over being too old to drive choices relating to the length of time invested in your education. Such time pressures are largely artificial, self-generated & perpetuated by myth(s). Ground your decisions in rational, logical & informed decision processes & you will happier & m0re successful in the long run.
My 2 cents worth...
Although you work FT now and are not used to “breaks” per se…trust me when I tell you this…medical school like OMD said above is another magnitude…much harder than you “may” think now. You will need time off or you will burn out and crash. There is a good reason why medical school is four years long with some breaks in there…
University of Southern Alabama also had something like this… where if I remember right, you combined your fourth year of med school with intern year in internal medicine or family medicine. I knew someone who did it and her main motivator was age – and she knew that she wanted to be a family doctor so was anxious to get on with it already.
I think it’s a terrible idea, frankly. I don’t know what they’re sacrificing from the 3d or 4th year curriculum in order to make this work (or for that matter from the 1st or 2d year curricula) but I just can’t think of much about any of my med school education that I’d want to sacrifice in hindsight. My third year was intensive in every one of the major areas: pediatrics, medicine, surgery, ob/gyn, psych and family/outpatient. ALL of them were important. What I learned on surgery I use almost every day as a family doctor.
Then in fourth year I did more intensive work as an acting intern - something that would be hard to do earlier. And I got to choose a bunch of electives that I figured would help me in my chosen field of family medicine (a whole class on EKGS, neurology consult, etc.) Yes, there was a lot of down time 4th year but not a whole year’s worth, that’s for sure.
Thanks to Dave for pointing out that a primary care doctor needs to be well-grounded in ALL areas of medicine and surgery. No, I don’t need to know the minutiae of his job, and he doesn’t need to know the minutiae of mine. But there is too much overlap for me to think that sacrificing part of the curriculum is a good idea.
Note: I started med school at age 44 and accrued $150K in debt so I appreciate the dilemmas but I just don’t think you can cut these corners.
Rant over.
Mary
Well, thanks Mary and Dave…I appreciate your responses, and you have given me some food for thought.
Krisss17
I actually went to the website that shows how this works. (click) I still have questions and would certainly caution anyone who’s considering this to think long and hard.
The first two years are August to June, then June to February. That is kinda tough but probably isn’t much different from my less-compressed schedule. But then you go right into third year… where I had from early May until the beginning of July to study for and take Step 1. I note that the second year curriculum includes some board review but - whoa. Anyone who isn’t a VERY strong student and a VERY good test taker would need to be wary of this setup – they are expecting you to take (and pass, obviously) Step 1 when you’ve just got a two-week break between the two “years.”
Third and fourth years… well, they say that they haven’t eliminated anything but I have a hard time understanding the third year curriculum. It sure doesn’t look like it gives as much time as I’d want for the various core clerkships. I had 5 clerkships of 8 weeks each, and one 6-wk clerkship, for a total of 48 weeks; we had two weeks off at Christmas (really helpful!) and another two weeks off at the end of our primary care rotation, which I used for my son’s wedding. The schematic on this website appears to only give you March through September to do third year. That’s about 30 weeks. Call me an old fart traditionalist but that is NOT enough time to really get good at third year.
Others have pointed out the concern that you may change your mind about your specialty as you go through medical school; lots of folks do. You may also change your mind - or your family circumstances may change - in regards to where you’d like to do your residency. It looks like this program is set up to have students transition into internship programs in the area: “A sub-internship introduces students to the hospitals where they will continue their clinical training after graduation.”
I have a zillion questions about this. If they are short-tracking people into residency slots, what happens to the match? What if you change your mind and you don’t want to stay there? How do you find out about these residencies and whether they’re attractive to you?
It seems like you are not only having to make up your mind about choice of medical school AND choice of specialty, but choice of residency, before you even start. That’s a pretty tough expectation when there is so much that can’t possibly be anticipated three or four years out…
One more thing. If you go through this, it would seem to me that you would have a VERY difficult time trying to match at any other program. I know that my family medicine residency, which is definitely OK with DOs, would not want to talk to people who did such an accelerated program.
My .02. Not meaning to rain on the OP’s parade but this calls for EXTREME caution.
Mary
I hear you, Mary. Actually I would only consider this if they have it at their Bradenton Campus which is where I live. But I am open-minded enough to listen to all of your inputs, and since you are more into the medical school/residency cycle, you all definitely know more than I do.
I guess the attraction is that when you are entering the game 20+ years after most…an accelerated program has its outward pluses.
Thanks again,
Krisss17
- Krisss17 Said:
I guess the attraction is that when you are entering the game 20+ years after most...an accelerated program has its outward pluses.
Oh, don't get me wrong, as I said, I appreciate the dilemma. I will graduate from residency in a few months at 51 (and a half), so I understand that perspective all too well.
But you know what - this has been an amazing journey, time has absolutely FLOWN, I cannot believe that seven years ago at this time I was still waiting to find out if I'd get an acceptance for that year. It goes incredibly fast; you learn SO much; and it is so dense with information and experience. When you contemplate the future, a year seems like a long time, but I can tell you that one year really won't mean a thing in the grand scheme of things, when you look back at it.
Mary