Couples graduating med school and law school at same time

[lepeej26956]

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My fiancee and I are getting married soon, and we both plan to go to professional school. The way things are currently going, I will graduate med school at the same time she graduates law school (we will be married by this time). We have always thought this would work well since we would both be able to move together to wherever my residency takes us.

However, we are still unsure as to how she will deal with the bar association in whatever state we find out we're going to on match day.

My question is this: Are any of you in the same position, or are you familiar with the process for a situation like this? Would she need to take the bar exam in our home state and then look for states with reciprocity? Or would she need to sit on review in all of the states we'll be considering as possibilities?

I'm very naive of the bar association procedures so I really appreciate any knowledge you're able to share.

(I know this is more of a law question, but we thought some med students might be in the same boat or at least know someone who is. She's going to post the same question on law student forums and call her prospective law schools)

 

[xanthines]

I'm not a lawyer, but you basically answered your own question. If you're both starting med/law schools at the same time, she will finish first (3 yrs vs 4 yrs), unless something is skewed or altered. This gives her a whole year to get ready for the bar wherever she is. Then she can work for awhile and get ready for the bar wherever you end up. The other option would be to only apply to residencies in that state or states with reciprocal agreements in place.

From what I hear, the job market is pretty terrible for lawyers right now. Passing the bar might be the least of her worries!

-X

My question is this: Are any of you in the same position, or are you familiar with the process for a situation like this? Would she need to take the bar exam in our home state and then look for states with reciprocity? Or would she need to sit on review in all of the states we'll be considering as possibilities

 

[DrMom]

moving to pre-allo since this is not related to clinical rotations

 

[Emikosma]

My husband is going to be starting his second year of law school in August. However, by the time I am done with my pre-reqs, he will have been done for almost two years. The issue we are having is that he'd obviously like to get a job after school and keep if for several years, but when I'm ready to apply to medical school, I will have to apply all over the country. Also, we live in a some what small city, so there isn't even a guarantee that he will find a job here!

I know that didn't answer your question at all, but I guess I am saying that there are probably a lot of people in this similar situation. It will work out... at least that's what I keep telling myself! 🙂

Also, check out this link for bar exam reciprocity- Good luck!

http://www.utahbar.org/admissions/reciprocity_jurisdiction_table.html

 

[LizzyM]

One of my recent MD students had a wife earning her JD the same year... but he matched in the state where they had attended school so there was no problem like the OP foresees.

I am taking the original post at face value, perhaps the fiancee is a year behind academically such that after 4 years in MD and 3 yrs in JD they'll finish together. From what I've seen of JD students, they graduate in the spring and then spend the summer preparing for the bar exam.

So, MD match comes out in March, move in June, study for bar in that state all summer, take bar exam in late summer or fall.

The problem is not so much the bar exam as it is the summer internships that ambitous and talented law students typically do during their 2 summers (after first year & after second year). These are often auditions for associate jobs in big law firms after graduation. If she isn't hoping that sort of career in law, then it might not be as big an issue. If it is her career goal then where she gets a good summer position may dictate where she gets a job offer and therefore where you may be focusing your residency match list.

 

[Laryngophed]

My fiancee and I are getting married soon, and we both plan to go to professional school. The way things are currently going, I will graduate med school at the same time she graduates law school (we will be married by this time). We have always thought this would work well since we would both be able to move together to wherever my residency takes us.

However, we are still unsure as to how she will deal with the bar association in whatever state we find out we're going to on match day.

My question is this: Are any of you in the same position, or are you familiar with the process for a situation like this? Would she need to take the bar exam in our home state and then look for states with reciprocity? Or would she need to sit on review in all of the states we'll be considering as possibilities?

I'm very naive of the bar association procedures so I really appreciate any knowledge you're able to share.

(I know this is more of a law question, but we thought some med students might be in the same boat or at least know someone who is. She's going to post the same question on law student forums and call her prospective law schools)

As I type this, my wife is preparing for the bar so I'm a bit familiar. As of right now, unless the state she receives her initial licensure from has an agreement for reciprocity with another, she's going to be taking multiple bar exams. It is my understanding that as of this February's bar testing dates, several states have banded together and adopted a "universal bar" exam. It is unclear to me whether or not this is all 50 states are select states but by the time she sits for the bar, the situation could (and likely will) be different than it is today. Worst case scenario, you drag her off to another state and she spends another $3 to 3.5k on BarBri (it's currently ~$2.8k and I'm assuming they won't be offering any price breaks over the next 3 to 4 years), studies for another 10 weeks and takes another thousand dollar bar exam/character and fitness evaluation. Best case scenario, it becomes a one time deal and you're home free. Good luck!

 

[lepeej26956]

Thank you for all of your input!! It was very helpful and informative!

(I didn't know I got so many replies since I wasn't getting email notifications!!)

Does anybody else have further information?

 

[lepeej26956]

Yes, LizzyM, your face value assessment is correct! Thanks for the input! 🙂

 

[BigRedBeta]

Agree with the assessment that the Bar is actually the least of your combined worries.

The combination of figuring out each of your career trajectories will be the key. A number of factors, namely your eventual specialty of choice and her preference for a particular type/location of law will be need to hashed out. Certainly there are some combinations which will be easier (her: small firm, you: into FP, Internal Medicine or pediatrics) and others that will be nearly impossible (her: large, high powered firm in places like NYC, Chicago, Denver or LA, you: into ENT or Neurosurg - for example Chicago has fewer than 15 total first year spots in ENT between 4 programs, while NSGY has fewer than 10 spots...and lots of people want to move to Chicago).

There's a lot of variability that I could come up with. I think it would be dangerous for one of you to totally give up your goals to appease the other. It's going to take a lot of communication.

 

[cbrons]

My fiancee and I are getting married soon, and we both plan to go to professional school. The way things are currently going, I will graduate med school at the same time she graduates law school (we will be married by this time). We have always thought this would work well since we would both be able to move together to wherever my residency takes us.

However, we are still unsure as to how she will deal with the bar association in whatever state we find out we're going to on match day.

My question is this: Are any of you in the same position, or are you familiar with the process for a situation like this? Would she need to take the bar exam in our home state and then look for states with reciprocity? Or would she need to sit on review in all of the states we'll be considering as possibilities?

I'm very naive of the bar association procedures so I really appreciate any knowledge you're able to share.

There's this thing called the Google.

You must have an Internets connection though.

Do you have an internets connection?











(I know this is more of a law question, but we thought some med students might be in the same boat or at least know someone who is. She's going to post the same question on law student forums and call her prospective law schools)[/QUOTE]

 

[MisterVeil]

There's this thing called the Google.

You must have an Internets connection though.

Do you have an internets connection?

Hey cbrons,
I ordered an Internets through the mail and they a sent me a box and a series of tubes. Do I need to connect the tubes to complete my Internets connection?

Thanks,
MV

 

[CougarMD]

Agree with the assessment that the Bar is actually the least of your combined worries.

The combination of figuring out each of your career trajectories will be the key. A number of factors, namely your eventual specialty of choice and her preference for a particular type/location of law will be need to hashed out. Certainly there are some combinations which will be easier (her: small firm, you: into FP, Internal Medicine or pediatrics) and others that will be nearly impossible (her: large, high powered firm in places like NYC, Chicago, Denver or LA, you: into ENT or Neurosurg - for example Chicago has fewer than 15 total first year spots between 4 programs, while NSGY has fewer than 10 spots...and lots of people want to move to Chicago).

There's a lot of variability that I could come up with. I think it would be dangerous for one of you to totally give up your goals to appease the other. It's going to take a lot of communication.

This is a really really great post.👍

I read an article once about "power couples" that actually made it, and one of the themes that they found kept people together was the idea of taking turns. Everyone comes across opportunities in their lives, and the couples that sort of "took turns" taking and rejecting those opportunities were the ones that were able to stay together and avoid resentment.

Also, they found that those that took turns were the ones that had agreed to take turns beforehand, instead of analyzing each opportunity as it came along.

LizzyM was right in that she is going to have to make decisions about her career (i.e., 2nd summer) much sooner than you will. Her second summer doesn't necessarily need to be spent at a big firm, unless this is the career she is looking for; it could also be spent at a government agency or nonprofit. But it is true that this is the most likely source of her after-graduation job. Trying to find a different position based on where you move will prove very difficult unless the stars are perfectly aligned (top 10% of the class at a top 20 law school).

The most important thing is that you both know this and have talked it out beforehand. If you decide to move wherever you get residency, make sure that she is prepared for the possibility of unemployment for awhile. This includes thinking about things like what her other support structures are besides you because you will be busy in residency.

Also, discussions about what happens after residency; do you again move where you get a job, or does it get to be her turn?

All of this stuff is difficult, but possible with good communication.

 

[gettheleadout]

This immediately reminded me of a featured article here on SDN a little while ago: http://www.studentdoctor.net/2010/08/case-study-drowning-in-student-debt/

I really hope that doesn't end up being your situation OP...

 

[lepeej26956]

I really do appreciate the advice and input, but I think it's gotten a little off-topic. My questions really deal with all of the logistics.

My fiancee works in a law school admissions office (likely her future school), and they can't really give her a straight answer because none of them are married to physicians. All of them are used to having their spouses move for their careers, so it's a little foreign for them to be subject to something such as the match program for their spouses.

From what they've told her, she needs to apply to take the bar exam more than a year in advance, as early as the end of 1L year (not register for the test date; that's a few months before, which she could do after match day). That's for extensive background checks so it has to be early.

Since we won't know for sure which state we'll be in with certainty, will she need to apply to take the bar in each of those states on my match list (I can narrow my list to include only schools in 3-4 states, but I can't sanely get it to one)? Or can she take it in our home state and then transfer to our new state without much red tape? My guess is that she can't do the latter, but we figure that we should make sure before we rule it out since that would make things much easier.

p.s. I am, in fact, looking toward pediatrics, and she isn't looking for any high-powered firms. We currently live in a medium-sized city, and don't plan to permanently live in a huge city (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc.) We won't have any undergraduate debt, and we both have a good shot to each receive full scholarships to law/med school, each with stipends, so we're not terribly worried about money. Of course, those scholarships aren't guaranteed, but we highly anticipate that at least one of us will make it debt free.

 

[URHere]

From what they've told her, she needs to apply to take the bar exam more than a year in advance, as early as the end of 1L year (not register for the test date; that's a few months before, which she could do after match day). That's for extensive background checks so it has to be early.

I think you need to ask for some additional insight about what I've quoted above. I'm not sure exactly how Bar registration works, but I do know that two good friends (and former roommates) of mine, ended up choosing to take the Alaska bar just months before their actual test date and they didn't have any outstanding issues with registration. Perhaps they registered in Oregon first, and got all federal background checks out of the way, but one way or another they got around applying for the Alaska bar years in advance.

Ask your fiance to talk to someone at her law school, and ask detailed questions. What is the latest date to register for the Bar? Is it possible to register in one state and then switch that registration to another state later on?

Assuming that your fiance can do what my friends did...your problems should work themselves out. You'll match in the spring, and she won't have to take the bar until July of that year - that will leave her plenty of time to prep for the bar exam in the right state and (hopefully) register for it.

 

[latrala2300]

...will make bank by the decade's end.