Public Health
J.D./M.P.H. in Law and Public Health
A limited number of highly motivated students can combine professional training in law and public health in a dual degree program with the School of Law and the Boston University School of Public Health. This program reflects the University's recognition of the interrelationship between the legal system and the delivery of health care services. The goal is to train graduates for leadership roles in contending with important and complex issues related to the improvement of public health care.
Successful candidates receive the J.D. degree and a master's degree in public health--a three-and-a-half to four-year sequence that would otherwise take at least one-and-a-half more years. Boston University offers a unique opportunity for such study, since the School of Law provides an unusually strong program in health law courses. The Boston University School of Public Health's curriculum analyzes not only the nature and context of public health programs, but also the organizational, behavioral, legal, and bureaucratic constraints on ameliorating these programs. Public health education focuses on:
- developing and disseminating information on health and illness in various populations
- recognizing the importance of psychological and social factors in illness and well-being
- controlling and improving the physical environments in which people live and work
- interpreting and implementing the results of research investigations and other scientific and statistical information
- understanding and influencing governmental health policy and regulation
- designing more effective and efficient methods for planning and delivering health care services.