Health Law Concentration
Requirements
(effective for students entering their second year in Fall 2018 or later):
To be eligible for the Health Law Concentration Certificate, a student must complete 21 credits as described below.
- Students must take Administrative Law (LAWS 114) (3 credits) and either Business Planning (LAWS 393) (4 credits) or Business Organizations (LAWS 205) (4 credits) as two of the core electives. Credits for these courses will not count toward the 21-credit concentration requirement, but grades will count toward the GPA honors requirement.
- In addition, students must take Health Law LAWS 345) (3 credits). Credits for Health Law will count toward the 21-credit concentration requirement and grades will count toward the GPA honors requirement. Health Law is a prerequisite for Advanced Health Law (LAWS 544).
- These three courses do not have to be taken prior to taking other courses in the concentration, but it is strongly recommended that Administrative Law and Health Law be taken in a student’s second year, if possible.
1. Coursework
In addition to the above requirements, to receive the Certificate for this Concentration, a student must earn 18 health law specialty credits, divided as follows:
Core Health Law Courses:
At least 12 credits must be earned from the Core Health Law courses. (Not all of these courses are offered every year.)
Non-Core Health Law Courses:
The balance of the credits (to 21), if any, may be earned from the Core Health Law courses above or from the following Non-Core Health Law courses. (Not all of these courses are offered every year.)
2. Recommended Client-Based Courses
Students should consider what group(s) of clients they plan to represent in their practice of health law. The following recommendations are intended to assist the students in determining which courses are best suited toward different types of clients. These are only recommendations. Students are free to choose any courses they wish, as long as they take the required concentration courses and achieve the required 21 credits, as described above.
3. Clinical Requirement
Students must earn at least 3 credits (not including IRC) in Clinic (i.e., Civil Justice Clinic, Tax Clinic, Prosecution Appellate Clinic, Defense Appellate Clinic) and/or in a health law externship.
a. Determination of the “health law” status of any given externship will be made by the concentration director and the director of field placement programs.
b. The clinic/externship requirement will be waived only in rare circumstances, and only if the student has substantial health law-related work experience or substantial experience in the health care field. This determination will be made by the concentration director. A student seeking a waiver from the clinic/externship requirement must apply for the waiver no later than the beginning of the second semester of his/her second year.
c. If the clinical requirement is waived, the student must earn the 3 credits by taking additional courses in the concentration. Any credits earned in such courses will apply to the GPA honors requirement.
4. Writing Requirement
The substantial paper written to fulfill the Advanced Writing Requirement must be on an approved health law topic. The topic must be approved, in advance, by the concentration director unless the paper is written in connection with one of the listed “core” courses or for the Quinnipiac Health Law Journal. A paper written for another journal may qualify, if the topic is approved, in advance, by the concentration director.
5. Honors
Students who achieve a GPA of 3.2 or better in the coursework used for the concentration will receive the certificate for the concentration with honors. Grades from all health law courses will be included in the GPA calculation.
6. Waiver of Requirements
The concentration director and the associate dean for academic affairs may waive any requirements for the concentration (other than the GPA requirement), if they both agree to do so.
