MD/JD DUAL DEGREE PROGRAM

SIU MD/JD Student Named Fulbright Scholar

[photo by Jason Johnson/State Journal-Register]

Congratulations to MD/JD student Sameer Vohra for being the first SIU School of Medicine attendee to be awarded a Fulbright Scholarship.

Congratulations to Matthew Ashley, M.D., J.D.; Adam McLaughlin, M.D., J.D.; and Elizabeth Valencia, M.D., J.D.
SIU Schools of Medicine and Law Class of 2009

Left to right, Dean Peter Alexander, SIU School of Law, Matthew Ashley, M.D., J.D. (Class of 2009), and Dean Kevin Dorsey, SIU School of Medicine.

Left to right, Dean Peter Alexander, SIU School of Law, Adam McLaughlin, M.D., J.D. (Class of 2009), and Dean Kevin Dorsey, SIU School of Medicine.

Left to right, Dean Peter Alexander, SIU School of Law, Elizabeth Valencia, M.D., J.D. (Class of 2009), and Dean Kevin Dorsey, SIU School of Medicine. Congratulations to Dr. Valencia on being the student recipient of the 2009 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award.

(Thanks to Dean Williams Photography, Springfield, Illinois, for permission to use the above photographs.)

MD/JD DUAL DEGREE PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Recognizing the heightened level of interaction between the professions of law and medicine in today's society, Southern Illinois University Schools of Medicine and Law offer an M.D./J.D. dual degree program to accommodate the increasing number of individuals seeking a carefully structured interdisciplinary education. The dual degree program is designed to lead to the concurrent award of degrees in law and medicine at the completion of a unique six-year program involving academic and clinical study.

CURRICULUM DESIGN AND PROGRAM CONTENT

The S.I.U. program requires students to spend their first year at the School of Law in Carbondale, where they will complete 31 credit hours of prescribed first-year course work. Students then will enroll in the law school summer session and complete at least six credit hours of advanced course work.

During the second academic year, students will continue in Carbondale as
full-time law students, completing an additional 33 credit hours of course work (including required courses) with concentration in health law. Enrollment in a second summer session will be required, during which time students will complete at least six credit hours of course work. This session may include legal research and clinical experience in state or federal agencies or private not-for-profit organizations involved in health policy development, regulation of public health or the activities of the medical profession.

Students will spend their third academic year enrolled as freshmen in the School of Medicine in Carbondale, where they will complete all requirements of the first year of the medical school curriculum. Students then will move to Springfield, where they will continue as full-time medical students, completing the sophomore and junior years of the curriculum.

During the senior year of medical school, students will be required to take a specially designed set of law, medicine, and health policy electives lasting 14 weeks, full-time. In completing degree requirements for both the M.D. and J.D. degrees, this 14-week elective sequence will serve to fulfill 14 credit hours of course work required for attainment of the J.D. degree and 14 weeks of elective course work required for attainment of the M.D. degree.

ADMISSION QUALIFICATIONS AND PROCEDURES

Students seeking to enroll in the M.D./J.D. program are required to meet the admission standards established separately by the School of Law and the School of Medicine. Application to each of these schools is an independent process and students must ensure timely completion and submission of separate applications to the School of Medicine and the School of Law. Admitted students will fill a limited number of places available in the dual degree program. To be competitive, applicants to the School of Medicine should present better than a B grade point average and competitive MCAT scores. Law school applicants generally should present better than a B grade point average and a score in at least the 60th percentile on the LSAT. Interested students should request application materials from the Director of Admissions (School of Medicine) and the Assistant Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs (School of Law). Out-of-state applicants are encouraged to apply.

RECENT MD/JD PROGRAM NEWS

Candidate for dual degree enjoys challenge, July 2007

ADDITIONAL PROGRAM INFORMATION

For further information regarding the M.D./J.D. dual degree program, correspondence should be directed to either of the following faculty members:

School of Medicine

Ross Silverman, J.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Medical Humanities , SIU School of Medicine, and Associate Professor of Medical Jurisprudence, SIU School of Law, PO Box 19603, Springfield, Illinois 62974-9603
217.545.4261. www.siumed.edu

School of Law

W. Eugene Basanta, J.D., LL.M., Professor of Law, Lesar Law Building, SIU School of Law, Carbondale, Illinois 62901-6804
618.536.7711, 800.739.9187. www.law.siu.edu