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Joint M.D./J.D. Program at Ohio State Offers Accelerated Degree Track

Program offers an accelerated degree track for students interested in studying both medicine and law

September 24, 2003

 

The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law and College of Medicine and Public Health have established a joint M.D./J.D. degree program offering an accelerated degree track for students interested in studying both medicine and law.

The program allows candidates to graduate with both degrees in six years. If pursued separately, the degrees would take seven years to complete.

“The joint-degree program will provide a special opportunity for individuals anticipating careers where both a medical and a law degree would be particularly useful,” said Alan Michaels, former associate dean for faculty and Edwin M. Cooperman Designated Professor of Law at the Moritz College. “These could include hospital administration, management positions in the health insurance industry or policy work in the health care field.”

Added Dr. Daniel Clinchot, associate dean for clinical education and outreach in the College of Medicine and Public Health, “Students entering medical school are increasingly called upon to be familiar with legal and business issues associated with the practice of medicine. The college has taken steps to provide a number of additional degree options to medical students interested in developing expertise in complementary disciplines.” Students who wish to pursue the M.D./J.D. joint degree must apply separately to each school.

Typically, students will first enroll in the M.D. program and complete its first two years, and during the second year take the Law School Aptitude Test – if they have not already done so – and apply for admission to the Moritz College. The law school application fee is waived for students already enrolled in the M.D. program.

If accepted into the law program, students will compete for merit-based admission into the joint M.D./J.D. program, for which they will be required to complete one year of full-time study in the law school followed by a third year of full-time study in the medical school. Students will complete the remaining M.D. and J.D. requirements over the next two years.

In addition to the M.D./J.D. program, students at the Moritz College of Law have an opportunity to enroll as joint-degree candidates in one of several other structured programs, including the J.D./M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration), J.D./M.P.A. (Master of Public Administration), or the J.D./M.H.A. (Master of Health Administration). Law students also are permitted to individually tailor a joint-degree program with most of the university’s 100-plus master’s programs and many of the university's 90 Ph.D. programs.

The College of Medicine and Public Health also offers additional joint degree programs, including the M.D./Ph.D. medical scientist program, the M.D./M.B.A. program to ready future physicians for business administration and finance issues associated with the practice of medicine, the M.D./M.H.A. program providing health services management and policy expertise – the first program of its kind in Ohio, and the M.D./M.P.H. program in public health.

Applicants interested in the M.D./J.D. or any other joint degree program may contact the Moritz College of Law’s Admissions Office at (614) 292-8810, or the College of Medicine and Public Health’s Admissions Office at (614) 292-7137 for more information.

The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health is recognized for its curricular innovation, world-renowned faculty, research and patient care. The college was ranked 37th in the 2004 “Best Schools of Medicine” issue of U.S. News & World Report magazine, which also ranked Ohio State 14th among public medical schools in the nation. The medical school receives more than 3,000 applications per year but selects only 210 students for admission annually. Ohio State also has one of the largest medical alumni networks in the world, with more than 12,000 graduates spanning 32 countries.

Since 1891, the Moritz College of Law has played a leading role in the legal profession through countless contributions made by alumni and faculty. Graduates of the school reside in all 50 states and 20 other countries and include justices of the Ohio Supreme Court, current and former U.S. Senators and Representatives, managing partners in law firms of all sizes, chief executive officers of Fortune 500 corporations, and attorneys with non-profit organizations and public interest law firms.

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