Interested in pursuing an JD with an MD

[IooI]

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[Law2Doc]

I was just wondering if anyone had any insights into pursuing an MD and JD concomitantly. I will be applying to med school this year, and was wondering if any med schools out there have joint programs that one can join after being accepted to their medical school. Can one go after a JD after first or second year ofmed school and work out a deal b/w the law and medical schools of that particular institution?? Any help would be great

See the answers to your duplicate post on the pre-allo page.

 

[Margaritaville]

I was just wondering if anyone had any insights into pursuing an MD and JD concomitantly. I will be applying to med school this year, and was wondering if any med schools out there have joint programs that one can join after being accepted to their medical school. Can one go after a JD after first or second year ofmed school and work out a deal b/w the law and medical schools of that particular institution?? Any help would be great

Seems like a big waste of time and money to me. Everyone I know who has both degrees is only doing one thing or the other. An MD doesn't do you any good as a lawyer, and a JD doesn't do you any good as a doctor. The people who have both degrees usually thought they wanted to do one or the other first, but changed their minds later.

 

[mzeroapplicant]

Seems like a big waste of time and money to me. Everyone I know who has both degrees is only doing one thing or the other. An MD doesn't do you any good as a lawyer, and a JD doesn't do you any good as a doctor. The people who have both degrees usually thought they wanted to do one or the other first, but changed their minds later.

I know this post is a few days old, but I would like to second this advice for anyone else considering an MD/JD. When you're deciding on educational plans, you should imagine what job you want, and then find out what qualifications are necessary for that job. There is literally no job that would require an MD/JD, and while there are a few medical jobs that require knowledge of the law or a few law jobs that require medical knowledge, it's not necessary to actually get both degrees. This means it's a huge waste of time/money/debt.

 

[thesauce]

I was looking into the same thing awhile back. Here's a website where a few MD/JDs share their insights:

http://www.pshrink.com/mdjd.html

 

[vtucci]

I completely disagree that an MD is not helpful in law and that a JD is not helpful in medicine. I have a JD and am now a M2 at the University of South Florida. It is true that many MD/JD have practiced in one field first and decided to pursue another field. However, there are many MD/JDs out there who pursued combined degrees.

There are several ways you can combine the fields from medical malpractice law to patent law to medical and healthcare policy and politics to administration in a medical department to running HMOs and insurance companies. What interests you? The real issue is why do you want a MD/JD?

 

[Law2Doc]

I completely disagree that an MD is not helpful in law and that a JD is not helpful in medicine. I have a JD and am now a M2 at the University of South Florida. It is true that many MD/JD have practiced in one field first and decided to pursue another field. However, there are many MD/JDs out there who pursued combined degrees.

There are several ways you can combine the fields from medical malpractice law to patent law to medical and healthcare policy and politics to administration in a medical department to running HMOs and insurance companies. What interests you? The real issue is why do you want a MD/JD?

I think saying there are "many" MD/JDs is an overstatement -- there are quite few and you and I will be among the trailblazers when returning to the workforce. As far as the combo, 99.99% of all medmal attorneys don't have an MD -- it can be helpful, but is certainly not a prerequisite and won't usually get you a higher salary. You wouldn't get an MD just to do this. In patent law, a PhD is the gold standard, and an MD will not likely give you a leg up over other sciences, at least at any place I have ever worked. Most of the other jobs you list also can be done with a JD (or MBA) alone and don't really require the MD. Healthcare policy and academia (esp. medical ethics) are really the two areas where both degrees could be combined most necessarilly and usefully, if you can afford the lower salary (compared to using either degree as a practitioner) after 7 years of graduate level tuition.
I agree -- figure out what job you want to end up in, and then decide what degrees you need to get there. Don't just degree collect with the hope that it may come in handy down the road.

 

[vtucci]

Law2Doc-- The latest figures are that there are 1500+ MD/JDs in this country. It is true that most did not go the combined route and are like us with some practice time in between and are career changers but the ranks are swelling with those who did pursue joint degrees.

Also, I never suggested that it was a requirement to have a MD/JD for med mal or patent law but it can be very helpful. Nor is it necessary to have either degree for medical policy as a Masters in Public Health or Public Policy will suffice. I offered these fields as ways the OP can combine his interests.

The OP can also do venture capital for biotech companies (although an MBA would be more useful than a JD for this).

 

[Law2Doc]

Law2Doc-- The latest figures are that there are 1500+ MD/JDs in this country. It is true that most did not go the combined route and are like us with some practice time in between and are career changers but the ranks are swelling with those who did pursue joint degrees.

There are about 1.5 million physicians in the US, according to WHO (might be a high estimate), and about 16,000 allo grads generated per each year alone. That makes 1500 MD/JDs over the course of many years a pretty small number, perhaps negligible. And of those 1500, probably less than 1% are using both degrees.

 

[Medical123]

I believe that Southern Illinois University has a combined MD/JD program.