The department offers a coordinated Master of Public Health and Juris doctorate degree program in cooperation with the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, also located in Birmingham.  The purpose of the program is to offer future attorneys exposure to the broad areas of public health.

Coordinated MPH/JD Learning Objectives

• describe the economic, legal, organizational, and political underpinnings of the US health system;
• acquire a health care field concentration for individuals seeking a J.D. degree.

Admission: Students enrolled in this program must be enrolled at the Cumberland School of Law.  In order to be admitted to the coordinated programs, a student must have a GPA of 2.5 at the end of the first year of law school.  A minimum law school GPA of 2.5 each semester and a minimum 3.0 GPA each term in public health are required for students to continue in the coordinated program.  Interested students should contact the Office of Student and Academic Services at the School of Public Health for MPH application materials and Cumberland Law School for J.D. application materials.

Curriculum:  The J.D. degree requires 90 semester hours of coursework, and the MPH degree requires 45 semester hours.  In the coordinated program, 14 hours of public health courses will be credited toward the J.D. degree, and 14 hours of law courses will be credited toward the MPH degree. A minimum of 28 credit hours must be taken in the School of Public Health.

This is a coordinated dual degree track, and, as such, graduation from one program is contingent on completion of all requirements for graduation from the other program.

* If internship is waived, it is required that a graduate level elective is substituted.

** The courses must have at least a grade of "B" to be eligible for transfer