A concentrated certificate program incorporating Experiential Education: helping students prepare for a career in the dynamic area of Health Law

Abstract

Law students who wish to practice in the area of health law must acquire knowledge, skills, and values that are necessary for them to have an understanding of the legal issues that challenge lawyers and that prepare them for life-long learning in this rapidly growing and changing industry. This paper explores how a concentrated health law certificate program provides students a focused path through the law curriculum. Not only does the program require students to take a range of health law courses, but students take multiple courses that incorporate experiential learning, including clinics, externships, and other courses that integrate clinical teaching methodology. This article highlights the development of a health law certificate program, designed to guide students through the law curriculum to choose among the most beneficial courses for a health law practice. To identify the necessary courses, health law faculty and health law practitioners first explored the knowledge, skills and values that a successful health law practitioner needs. This article also examines the process of developing and implementing the certificate program.