The distinguishing feature of the University of Virginia School of Law’s program in health law is its genuine collaboration with the University’s School of Medicine and its Medical Center, which is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 100 hospitals. At Virginia, law students can study health law in the clinical setting, interacting with medical students and physicians. They can also view the regulatory context through the eyes of physicians and health care administrators. Law faculty teach in the School of Medicine and Medical School professors teach in the Law School’s program. Law students and faculty have the opportunity to work with students and faculty from all medical specialties, including pediatrics, neurology, internal medicine (infectious disease and geriatrics) and psychiatry.
This collaboration is further borne out in a number of interdisciplinary institutes and centers. One is the internationally renowned Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy, a joint effort of the Law School and the School of Medicine directed by law professor Richard J. Bonnie. Another is the University’s Institute on Aging, which offers opportunities to explore issues related to aging and the law, such as access to health care, health care decision-making and end-of-life problems.
Combined-Degree Programs
The bonds between the Law and Medical schools are further manifested in two combined-degree programs, the J.D.-M.A. in biomedical ethics and the J.D.-M.P.H. program in public health.
Health law studies also profit from the program’s
Sadie Lewis Webb Visiting Professorship, which in recent years has
brought to the Law School such eminent bioethics scholars as Albert
R. Jonsen, professor emeritus of the University of Washington, R.
Alta Charo from the University of Wisconsin Law and Medical Schools,
and Mark Rothstein from the University of Louisville.
The program sponsors the Health Policy
Lecture Series and occasional presentations on public health law and ethics.
The Health Law Interest Group, a student organization, also sponsors
speakers and events.
Students and Health Law faculty are
also frequent contributors to Developments
in Mental Health Law,
a journal published by the University's Institute
of Law, Psychiatry & Public Policy and edited by professor Thomas
L. Hafemeister. The journal also runs the "e-Developments
in Mental Health Law" (e-DMHL) list, which offers members
brief summaries of legal developments in mental-health– related issues.
Clinics
The Law School offers two health law-related clinical experiences, one focusing on advocacy for the elderly and the other on mental health law, that actively engage students with local lawyers representing clients in health law cases.
Fellowships
Law students may apply for funding from the Law School’s health law fellowship program to work with faculty, health lawyers and public health professionals in a variety of settings, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Law Program.
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