LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. — Nearly 2,000 students study medicine in Lakewood Ranch at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine or LECOM.
The two buildings hold medical, pharmacy, dental and health administration students.
The students live in the area for about four years through their coursework.
"They come here to study first. They want to do rotations here and then in the communities, and that's one thing we're always looking for is rotation sites that are local for our students to learn from," Dr. Mark Kauffman, D.O., M.S. Med. Ed., P.A., Dean of Academic Affairs, LECOM Medical at Lakewood Ranch said. "Then they like to do their residency close by and then come back and stay in the communities to train them and then take care of the community as they go forward."
LECOM also prides itself on keeping tuition affordable. It's the second-lowest private medical school in the United States, according to Dr. Kauffman.
Their graduates come out of school with $50-100,000 less in medical debt.
LECOM is also training your future dentist.
"So the importance of having a dental school here in this region is that we're able to actually train dentists locally, so that they want to stay and so that they want to be here in Florida," said Dr. Mathew Bateman, Ph.D., D.H.Ed., Asst. Provost for Institution Effectiveness, LECOM Lakewood Ranch. "Florida is an underserved population for dental needs. And so as we train our students as they work with the populations here in this region, we are meeting the needs of those underserved communities here."
To train the students, the school provides low-cost dental work in Lakewood Ranch, where anyone in the community can go.
It's done by students but overseen by a licensed dentist.
They're open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Click here for more information on their clinic.
