Joint Program...MD/JD or PharmD/JD?

[phar]

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Hi,
I am interested in pursing either a MD/JD or PharmD/JD joint program. The reason for my post is to get more information on either of the above programs. I want to be lawyer as well as a pharmcist or doctor. I know more about the Pharmd/JD than the MD/JD. I heard pharmcist who are lawyers represent pharmaceutical companies and make 500k+/year. The PharmD/JD is a 7 year program. What about MD/JD? Do you have to do residency? What kind of jobs will you be doing?
If anyone of you is going for any of the above route, please tell more information about it.


This same thread is posted on the pharmd thread so as to get more info from pharmacy students.

Thanks.

 

[twesting2173]

i dont know anything about either..but i do know this: don't let the salary be your driving force. i get the impression that it might be a big factor in your case--but i coudl be wrong. good luck.

 

[phar]

Ya, thanks for the response. $$$ is not a driving force but a factor. I am also fond of topics pertaining to societal disorder where law comes into the picture which led me to pursue a double major in history and biochem. If you guys know more info, let me know.

thanks.

 

[Kovox]

Hi Phar:

SOURCE: "Legal medicine: a professional option," JAMA. May 2, 2001, p 2251.

"Increasing complexity in both medicine and law over the past half century have created a demand for people with medicolegal expertise. Several thousand individuals now hold MD/JD degrees, and several medical schools offer dual-degree programs. The author suggests the majority of these choose to be doctors or lawyers, but not both. Physicians with a legal background consult for lawyers regarding medical malpractice. Lawyers with the MD work for plaintiffs or as members of the defense bar. They also help doctors and other health-care professionals with licenses and credentials; work in insurance companies and managed care companies; and at thinktanks. This article offers no figures regarding future demand for MD/JDs or salary ranges."

I am not sure how the joint MD/JD application program work. I personally applied seperately to the law programs and medical programs meaning that I took the MCATs and LSATs, making sure I was accepted seperately into the programs....because I was unsure of my desired route.

However, I don't plan on pursuing a dual JD/MD degree because my mentors who hold those degrees says that its not worth it. You either do one or the other. At best, the only advantage of being a lawyer and having a MD degree is that you'd be a better malpractice lawyer since you'd know the ins and outs of medicine.

Sometimes the JD/MD degree can work against you in that when you go looking for a job, people don't know how much they should pay you...and hence, you're not hired.

Here are articles from people who pursued JD/MD degrees and what they had to say about it:

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

http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/amnews/pick_02/prsa0128.htm


As for the pharmd/jd salary of 500k+...that salary comes with experience. From what I've read, STARTING salary for the pharmd/jd is at most 150-250k.

Good Luck

Do what makes you happy, law, pharm and med school are all very rigorous programs.

 

[Illusion18]

I'm interested in MD/JD programs, too. Check out the aamc.org website and look under medical schools. You can sort the dual degree schools by program. There are about 20 schools with MD/JD programs. All require you to take the LSAT and MCAT. For some you need to apply at the same time, others have you go to one or two years of med school and then switch off to law school. You can get out in 5 years for most programs (that's one year earlier than if you did them separately). Hope that helps!