JD-MPH Joint Degree

The joint juris doctor and master of public health in health policy and management (JD/MPH) program between Pitt Public Health and Pitt’s School of Law provides students with an interdisciplinary curriculum in law and public health, integrating law, health policy, and management. Students prepare to address the legalities, issues and problems affecting personal and public health.

Careers

Recent graduates hold the following positions:

  • Health care compliance attorney
  • Assistant chief counsel for litigation
  • Board of health commissioner
  • County, city, or state health official
  • Private practice attorney

Recent Essay and Thesis Titles

  • Evidence Influences and Patient Autonomy: Utilizing The Ecological Model to Maximize Justice and Autonomous Choice in the Legal Doctrine of Informed Consent
  • Political Use of the Prevention and Public Health Fund
  • The Somali Bantu Refugee Resettlement Experience and What we Can Learn from it

Competencies

Graduates will be able to...

  • Contrast the main components of the organization, financing, and delivery of U.S. health services (private and public)
  • Differentiate the legal and ethical bases for formal and informal health care, whether organized, financed, or delivered by public or private organizations
  • Evaluate methods of ensuring community and individual health in terms of preparedness, safety, and outcomes of health care
  • Assess public and private organizational policies with respect to their development, implementation, and evaluation
  • Apply systems thinking and performance improvement concepts to study outcomes and accessibility of care
  • Communicate health policy and management issues using appropriate market channels and technologies
  • Assess leadership skills for building partnerships

All graduates also achieve the core and cross-cutting competencies for Pitt Public Health MPH students.

Requirements

  • 113 credits (20 less than completing programs separately)
  • 8 semesters (2 less than completing degrees separately)
  • Coursework in health policy and management
  • Coursework in public health foundations
  • Advanced coursework in health law
  • Master’s essay

JD/MPH Contacts

Pitt Public Health

Cindy Bryce
Co-director of the JD/MPH program
412-383-7279
bryce99@pitt.edu

Jessica Dornin
Program coordinator
412-624-3625
jld115@pitt.edu 

School of Law

Mary Crossley
Co-director of the JD/MPH program
412-648-5300
crossley@pitt.edu

Download the joint degree brochure (PDF).

JD/MPH Brochure PDF 

JD/MPH news

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Should schools close during a coronavirus outbreak? The answer isn’t obvious  

Should schools close during a coronavirus outbreak? The answer isn’t obvious

BALTIMORE SUN - Pitt researchers used data from the 2009 H1N1 outbreak to model how long schools should close in the case of a pandemic. “What we found was the optimal timing is 8 weeks from a disease transmission” standpoint, said HPM's Tina Batra Hershey, JD, MPH. Opening schools too soon might l... (03/04/2020)
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Turning ideas into transformative action: Pitt Public Health students selected as Future Health Leaders 

Turning ideas into transformative action: Pitt Public Health students selected as Future Health Leaders

Complex health issues are easy to determine, but finding solutions can be challenging. Three Pitt Public Health students, ASHLEY SIMENSON (EPI ’19), JESSICA SALERNO (IDM ’20), and KAITLYN SAAL-RIDPATH (HPM ’20) were chosen as part of the inaugural class of Future Health Leaders to present their ide... (10/24/2018)
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Pioneers in computerized legal research: The story of the Pittsburgh system 

Pioneers in computerized legal research: The story of the Pittsburgh system

PITTSBURGH JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY LAW & POLICY -  HPM's Tina Batra Hershey and Dean Burke discuss the early pioneering work of researchers in the legal field who developed the "Pittsburgh System" a precursor to the computerized legal research tools ubiquitous today. (03/06/2018)
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