MS/JD Dual Degree Program
Sample 4 year curriculum in html or in .pdf format
- The faculties of the College of Law and the College
of Medicine have approved a joint degree program culminating in both a
Juris Doctor degree, awarded by the College of Law, and a Master of Science
degree, awarded by the College of Medicine. Under the joint degree
program, a student can obtain both degrees in approximately one year less
than it would take to obtain both degrees if pursued consecutively.
Essential criteria relating to the joint degree program are as follows:
-
Candidates for the program must meet the entrance requirements for and
be accepted by both colleges. Both colleges must be informed by the
student at the time of application to the second program, that he/she intends
to pursue the joint degree program.
-
The joint degree program is not open to students who have already earned
one of the degrees.
-
Admission to the second program is required no later than the end of the
penultimate year of one degree of the joint degree program.
- A student must satisfy the curriculum requirements for
each degree before either degree is awarded. The Graduate Division
of the College of Medicine will allow 12 credits of appropriate law courses
to be credited toward both M.S. and J.D. degrees. The 12 credits
selected from the law curriculum must be approved by the Director of the
Master's Programs, upon the recommendation of the student's graduate supervisory
committee. Reciprocally, law students may receive toward the satisfaction
of the J.D. degree, not more than 12 semester credits for courses taken
in the graduate curriculum of the College of Medicine. Two of these
courses, not more than a total of 6 semester credits, will be treated as
the two graduate courses ordinarily allowed to be taken outside of the
College of Law for credit toward Law School graduation.
- A student enrolled in the joint degree program may
spend the first year in either the College of Law or the College of Medicine.
Students admitted to one college but electing to spend the first academic
year in the other college under the joint degree program may enter the
second college thereafter without once again qualifying for admission so
long as they have notified the second college before the end of the first
week of the first semester in the joint degree program and are in good
academic standing when the studies commence in the second college.
Students must carry the minimum number of credits required by either college.
- College of Medicine courses which are to be credited toward the J.D.
degree must carry a grade of A-B or higher and will not be counted in the
College of Law grade point average. College of Law courses which
are to be credited toward the M.S. degree must carry a grade of A-C or
higher and will not be counted in the grade point average at the College
of Medicine.
- Students enrolled in the joint degree program must
complete the College of Law's advanced writing requirement. The master's
thesis in Medical Science will not satisfy the advanced writing requirement
of the College of Law.
- A student enrolled in the joint degree program will
not receive either degree until he/she has satisfied all of the requirements
for both degrees, or until he/she has satisfied the requirements of one
of the degrees as if he/she had not been a joint degree candidate.
- Students who enroll in the joint degree program,
but do not complete the program may receive credit toward the College of
Law degree under the graduate level course option for a maximum of two
courses, not to exceed 6 semester credits, taken from the graduate curriculum
of the College of Medicine. Although the grade is not computed in
the student's grade point average, a grade of A-B or higher must be earned
to receive hours for the course(s).
- Students who enroll in the joint degree program
but do not complete the program may receive credit toward the MS degree
for a minimum of two courses not exceeding 8 semester credits taken from
the curriculum of the College of Law. Although the grade is not computed
in the student's grade point average, a grade of A-C or higher must be
earned to receive credit hours for the course(s).
- Students in the joint program will be eligible for
the graduate research assistantships in the College of Medicine on the
same basis as other Master's degree students, subject to the guidelines
and restrictions set by the College of Medicine.
- The student's program must be approved by both the
student's graduate supervisory committee in the College of Medicine and
the Student Affairs liaison in the College of Law. To facilitate
student progress in the joint program, it is proposed that to the fullest
extent possible, given the availability and consent of appropriate law
faculty, the student's graduate supervisory committee be comprised of two
graduate faculty members and one law faculty member.