田纳西大学

The College of Law and the Department of Public Health (College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) offer a dual-degree program that reflects the interrelationship between the legal system and the protection and promotion of the public's health. In particular, the program emphasizes the role that policy, public and private, plays in creating the conditions in which people can be healthy.

Concentrations and Options

Public Health (Required) — Health Policy and Management, Course Only with Comprehensive Exams

Law (Optional) — Advocacy and Dispute Resolution; Business Transactions

Typically, the Juris Doctor (JD) degree requires a minimum of 89 semester credit hours and is completed in three years of full-time study. The Master of Public Health (MPH) degree requires 42 semester credit hours and can be completed in two to three years, depending on full-time or part-time study. The dual-degree program offers students the opportunity to pursue both degrees simultaneously and to complete all requirements in four years, rather than in the longer period required to obtain each degree independently. Students pursuing the dual degree should plan to be enrolled in course work or an internship for 1-3 summer terms in addition to taking normal course loads for four academic years.

By combining the programs, students develop specialized knowledge in public health-related legal issues while retaining the flexibility of professional training in the broad disciplines of law and public health. For example, a graduate of the dual-degree program may work as a public health professional with an acute awareness of legal and policy issues, while another may work as an attorney focusing his or her practice on health care issues. Yet others may go on to teach at schools of law or public health.

The Health Policy and Management (HPM) concentration of the Public Health Major, MPH degree provides students with the skills necessary to manage an array of human, capital, and material resources and to provide leadership within a guiding framework of established organizational goals to achieve positive outcomes related to health. In addition, HPM students develop the ability to understand policy formulation and policy impacts, a necessary skill for health managers and policy planners seeking to address important issues, such as access to care, quality improvement and assurance, cost containment, and partnerships with others to improve the health of the public.