MD/ JD anyone else??

[the truth 101]

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Hey! 🙂

Upon completation of a post-bac program, I'll be applying to a combined degree program (MD/ JD). Is anybody else going through this process? If so, what recomendations do you have? Or, if you're currently enrolled in such a program, I'd love to hear what it's like. 😕

 

[UGAChemDawg]

Hey! 🙂

Upon completation of a post-bac program, I'll be applying to a combined degree program (MD/ JD). Is anybody else going through this process? If so, what recomendations do you have? Or, if you're currently enrolled in such a program, I'd love to hear what it's like. 😕

And your reasons for wanting to accumulate half a million dollars in debt are?

I actually looked at the same thing, back when I was thinking of going into intellectual property patent law. That's still a backup career possibility depending upon my success with MD applications, but I think it would be better to do an MS EE or BME coupled with a JD for that route.

Now, what would be REALLY SWEET is to get a joint appointment as a tenured professor in both a medical and law school. I know that law school professors are generally the highest paid professors, especially at bigger schools, so if you did that plus you did clinical teaching, I imagine you'd have a pretty good lifestyle for an academic. Not to mention the consulting opportunities in public health and policy.

That debt just scares me big time. Probably enough to get me to not want to do it. As far as I know, there are no scholarships for people going for two professional degrees like that.

 

[GeneGoddess]

I was under the impression that Penn offered a joint (and funded) MD/JD program.

 

[Neuronix]

I was under the impression that Penn offered a joint (and funded) MD/JD program.

As far as I know, there's an unorganized MD/JD program that takes almost no students per year and is not funded. If you can find a website for it that says more than this, please let me know.

 

[jjmack]

I thought about MD/JD for a few days while an undergrad. I decided to do research full time for the last three years and will be going the MD/PhD route. I think that MD/JD is really overkill. I can understand someone having both degrees if they go to medical school first and then after they graduate or have practiced they want to go into law. Doing both at the same time doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Law2Doc]

And your reasons for wanting to accumulate half a million dollars in debt are?

I actually looked at the same thing, back when I was thinking of going into intellectual property patent law. That's still a backup career possibility depending upon my success with MD applications, but I think it would be better to do an MS EE or BME coupled with a JD for that route.

Now, what would be REALLY SWEET is to get a joint appointment as a tenured professor in both a medical and law school. I know that law school professors are generally the highest paid professors, especially at bigger schools, so if you did that plus you did clinical teaching, I imagine you'd have a pretty good lifestyle for an academic. Not to mention the consulting opportunities in public health and policy.

That debt just scares me big time. Probably enough to get me to not want to do it. As far as I know, there are no scholarships for people going for two professional degrees like that.

Other than the mentioned professorial track you mentioned, and various government health policy type positions, what does one tend to do with a JD/MD combination? I'm leaning toward a total career change to MD myself (having gotten the JD years ago and practiced as a corporate lawyer for some time - so that debt is gone), but am curious if there is a neat or better way to utilize my ultimate combination of degrees.

 

[Toofscum]

I have a JD but am pre-med. I hated law and would never go back. Yuck. I want nothing to do with anything legal, and if I don't get into med school I really don't know what I'll end up doing. Law isn't worth it unless you are at a top school/ get top grades because I could not find a lawyer job with my GPA and my JD from a top 30 law school.

 

[UGAChemDawg]

I have a JD but am pre-med. I hated law and would never go back. Yuck. I want nothing to do with anything legal, and if I don't get into med school I really don't know what I'll end up doing. Law isn't worth it unless you are at a top school/ get top grades because I could not find a lawyer job with my GPA and my JD from a top 30 law school.

That's essentially the conclusion that I came to. Going to law school is too risky unless you get in to a top 10 school and do well. Lots of people go with the impression that they're going to get one of those 125K per year starting salary jobs with a Vault Top 100 law firm. I think alot of prospective prelaw students have no idea how dismal their prospects really are. I also think alot of people don't have a clue as to the type of lifestyle a junior associate at a firm like Sullivan and Cromwell or Cravath leads. Those 100 hour workweeks of doing nothing but writing memos and carrying the senior partners' brief cases around make being a resident after medical school seem like getting paid to ride the rides at Disney World. The same can also be said for investment banking.

 

[dl2dp2]

I really like this post. Just shows you life sucks no matter what.
🙂

That's essentially the conclusion that I came to. Going to law school is too risky unless you get in to a top 10 school and do well. Lots of people go with the impression that they're going to get one of those 125K per year starting salary jobs with a Vault Top 100 law firm. I think alot of prospective prelaw students have no idea how dismal their prospects really are. I also think alot of people don't have a clue as to the type of lifestyle a junior associate at a firm like Sullivan and Cromwell or Cravath leads. Those 100 hour workweeks of doing nothing but writing memos and carrying the senior partners' brief cases around make being a resident after medical school seem like getting paid to ride the rides at Disney World. The same can also be said for investment banking.

 

[the truth 101]

Yup, UPenn has a great program (very competitive).
Why bother with such in deepth fields... so many reasons. Mostly, b/c both fields equally intruige me. There are endless possibilies as to how one could utilize both degrees. Not many schools offer these programs. 😡

 

[Law2Doc]

That's essentially the conclusion that I came to. Going to law school is too risky unless you get in to a top 10 school and do well. Lots of people go with the impression that they're going to get one of those 125K per year starting salary jobs with a Vault Top 100 law firm. I think alot of prospective prelaw students have no idea how dismal their prospects really are. I also think alot of people don't have a clue as to the type of lifestyle a junior associate at a firm like Sullivan and Cromwell or Cravath leads. Those 100 hour workweeks of doing nothing but writing memos and carrying the senior partners' brief cases around make being a resident after medical school seem like getting paid to ride the rides at Disney World. The same can also be said for investment banking.

Speaking as someone who didn't go to a top 10 school yet who ended up working at a fairly large firm, I can assure you that 100 hour work weeks were not the norm, and that some of the books out there describing the high stress lifestyle are exaggerations. But you will do a ton of work, and much of it will be mind-numbing, not fast paced. The real downside of the really big firms (apart from the hours) is that as an associate you often have limited or no exposure to clients, and tend to work on minute pieces of a deal piecework, without any knowledge of the big picture or how it turns out. (I hear I Banking is similar, except that at least you get to make frequent trips to the printer's 🙄 ). I also would note that there is a ton of misinformation about how highly ranked your law school must be to get a good job -- so much is regional in law that in many parts of the country which have big firms there is as much a chance of getting a job coming from a respected local law school than there is in coming from a highly ranked place like Harvard. It's really just NY, LA, SF & DC where you must be from a name brand school to get in.

 

[Neuronix]

Yup, UPenn has a great program (very competitive).

At the University of Pennsylvania, there is no formal MD/JD program. However, if a student applies to medical school and to law school and is accepted to both programs, the medical and law schools will work together with that student to develop an integrated program. Through these efforts it may be possible to complete both degrees in a total of six years, rather than seven. (Possibly by devoting most of years 1 and 2 to medical school, most of years 3 and 4 to law school, splitting year 5 between the two programs, and spending most of year 6 completing the MD).

It is also possible for a Penn Medical student to request a 3 year leave of absence if he/she gains acceptance to law school at another institution.

A great program? Doesn't look so great on the surface. Then again, I don't know anyone who's actually done it. I don't think we have any in my class of med students. Maybe that's why it's so competitive?