ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – Elmira’s local medical school is offering an evening of fun fundraising and casino-style games benefiting their student scholarship fund.

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, better known as LECOM, has been producing high-quality doctors for years now, but with rising costs for higher education all over the country, medical students are in an average of 200 thousand dollars of debt. LECOM is hoping to alleviate as much of that burden as it can.

Currently, upstate New York has a ratio of 1500 patients per 1 doctor. The national average was around 380 patients per doctor in 2020. This disparity, according to LECOM and national studies, significantly contributes to poorer health outcomes because of limited access to quality medical care. That’s why LECOM is doing its most to help doctors pay their way through school… for the betterment of the community.

Taking the burden off these budding doctors allows them to focus on their studies, with less pressure on how they’ll pay for school, while showing them that the community they are learning in cares about them, as they will no doubt care for all of us in the future.

Casino Night will be on March 26, 2022. For more information you can check out their website at https://lecom.schoolauction.net/elmiracasino22