Health Administration (JD/MHA)

Students completing the following course of study will be eligible to receive the JD degree from the School of Law and a Master of Health Administration (MHA) from the Department of Health Management and Informatics.  This course of study may be completed in four years.  Normally, students require three years to complete the requirements for the JD degree and two years to complete the requirements for the Master’s degree.

Application Procedure

Applicants to the Dual Degree Program must submit formal applications for admission to the School of Law and to the Department of Health Management and Informatics accompanied by a statement requesting permission to pursue the Dual Degree Program. Students must meet the requirements for admission to both programs. Contact the Department of Health Management and Informatics and the School of Law for further information on admissions requirements. Both applications and the request must normally be submitted before a student has substantially completed the requirements of either program. However, petitions requesting admission to the Dual Degree Program from students at more advanced stages in either program will be considered.  Students who elect to complete the dual degree after already beginning either a JD or MHA degree must complete the required application materials for the second degree program and file a Graduate Application for Change of Degree form.

Degree Requirement Summary

The program meets the requirements for the JD with a total of 83 hours of law credit and six (6) hours of MHA credit.  The program meets the requirements for the MHA with 54 credit hours of courses in the Department of Health Management and Informatics. The School of Law has agreed that any six (6) hours from the Health Administration curriculum may be counted toward the JD degree. Students may obtain up to three (3) hours of Law School Research (5875) credit for completing HMI 8450 ( Methods of Health Services Research) if the research is also approved and graded by a law school faculty member. In addition, HMI 8574 (Health Care Law) may be taken for Law School credit if the student has not yet taken LAW 5615 (Health Care Law: The Doctor-Patient Relationship.) The Department of Health Management and Informatics will accept Law School credit hours toward its Professional Electives requirement.  In addition, LAW 5615 (Health Care Law: The Doctor-Patient Relationship) or LAW 5616 (Health Care Organization and Finance Law) may be taken in place of HMI 8574 (Health Care Law).

Career Opportunities

Students who complete the JD/MHA dual degree program will be well-positioned for employment opportunities in law firms representing clients in the health care industry, a growing economic sector.  They will also be well-positioned for employment opportunities in legal and compliance departments in the health care sector.

Curriculum

The curriculum has been designed so that law and essentials in Health Administration are addressed, followed by specialized courses in the upper levels.  Students in the dual-degree program will spend their first year at the law school taking the traditional first-year law school curriculum.  Students will spend their second year primarily taking HMI courses.  In addition, students will be able to enroll in one or two law school courses in the fall and spring.  The law courses might include some of the required upper-level courses. In the two final years, students will split the time between the law school and the Department of Health Management and Informatics.

School of Law Required Courses

1st Year

5010, 5015 Civil Procedure (5)
5020, 5025 Contracts (6)
5035 Criminal Law (4)
5050 Property (5)
5070 Torts (5)
5080 Legal Research and Writing (2)
5085 Advocacy and Research (2) <
5095 Lawyering (2)

2nd Year

5220 Constitutional Law (4)
5260 Evidence (4)

2nd or 3rd Year

5240 Criminal Procedure (3)
5280 Professional Responsibility (3)

Law electives – 38 credits
HMI electives – 6 credits

*Students who are dismissed and readmitted or who otherwise are placed on probation at the end of the fall semester will be required to take Legal Reasoning, a course designed to assist students in meeting the graduation requirements. Those students in Legal Reasoning will not take Advocacy & Research until their second year.

Recommended Law School Electives

Students must take a total of 89 credit hours to graduate, at least 83 of which must be law school credit hours. It is recommended that at least 6 credit hours of electives should be taken from the following list:

5311 Adoption, Assisted Reproductive Techniques, & Guardianship (3)
5330 Advocacy, Family Violence & Public Policy (2)
5410 Children & the Law (3)
5415 Civil Rights (2-3)
5530 Elder Law (3)
5577 Family Law Dispute Resolution (1-3)
5580 Family Violence Clinic: Individual & Social Justice (3)
5595 Gender & the Law (2-3)
5615 Health Care Law & Policy (2-3)
5765 Mediation (2-3)
5770 Mediation Clinic (1-2)

Health Administration

54 hours required for graduation; all courses are three (3) credit hours

HMI 7410 – Design of Health and Human Service Systems
HMI xxxx – Introduction to Accountancy & Finance
HMI 8460 – Administration of Health Care Organizations
HMI 8544 – Managerial Epidemiology
HMI 8524 – Health Economics
HMI 8461 – Managing Human Resources in Health Care Organizations
HMI 8689 – Field Experience in HMI (Summer Internship)
HMI 8573 – Decision Making for Health Care Organizations
HMI 7430 – Introduction to Health Informatics
HMI 8472 – Financial Management for Health Care Organizations
HMI 8470 – Strategic Planning and Marketing for Health Care Organizations
HMI 8453 – Executive Management Studies
HMI 8571 – Decision Support in Health Care Systems
HMI 8574 – Health Care Law
HMI 8575 – Health Policy and Politics

Plus three (9 credit hours) professional electives

The School of Law has agreed that any six (6) hours from the Health Administration curriculum may be counted toward the JD degree.  Students may obtain up to three (3) hours of Law School Research (5875) credit for completing HMI 8450 (Methods & Research in Health Services Management) if the research is also approved and graded by a law school faculty member. In addition, HMI 8574 (Health Care Law) may be taken for Law School credit if the student has not yet taken LAW 5615 (Health Care Law: The Doctor-Patient Relationship.)  The Department of Health Management and Informatics will accept any Law School credit hours toward its Professional Electives requirement.  In addition, LAW 5615 (Health Care Law: The Doctor-Patient Relationship) or LAW 5616 (Health Care Organization and Finance Law) may be taken in place of HMI 8574 (Health Care Law).

Policy

  1. Microeconomics is a pre-requisite for the MHA degree. Students must complete a microeconomics course prior to enrolling in the MHA program, or else must complete the HMI Department’s online microeconomics module by the end of their first Fall semester as an MHA student. Students may receive access to the online module once they have been admitted to the MHA program. In addition, ALL students, regardless of prior coursework, must take the Introduction to Accountancy and Finance course in their first Fall semester.
  2. The School of Law cannot award credit for any class taken before matriculation at the School of Law.  Dual degree candidates must, therefore, enroll at the School of Law before taking the 6 credits of Health Management and Informatics courses to be counted toward the JD degree.
  3. Dual degree candidates who subsequently decide to pursue only the MHA or the JD degree must complete the degree program in its entirety and subject to the same rules and requirements as students not pursuing a dual degree.
  4.  Law students who receive credit under the dual degree program for taking courses in HMI may not receive credit for taking other classes outside the School of Law.
  5. Student honors and class ranks at the School of Law will be computed on classes enrolled in as law courses.
  6. The listing of courses does not constitute a binding commitment that the courses will be offered during the student’s course of study or that the graduation requirements will remain unchanged.
  7. Students in the dual-degree program are subject to the same rules and regulations that apply to all students at the School of Law and the Department of Health Management and Informatics.