JD/PhD in Environmental Health: Curriculum

Law School Curriculum

Law School JD degree requirements for students entering Fall 2009 include satisfactory completion of 88 semester credits, and six semesters of full-time enrollment (defined as 12 semester credits or more). First-year students are required to take a core curriculum totaling 30 credits and comprised of the following courses: Beyond that, all courses are elective, except that a student must take a course in Professional Responsibility (3 credits) and Constitutional Law II (3 credits) before graduating. In addition, each student must satisfy a second-year writing requirement (typically by participating in a moot court or serving as a staff member on one of the Law School's law reviews), as well as a third-year writing requirement (typically satisfied by taking a course meeting this requirement, completing an independent research paper meeting this requirement, which may be an MS thesis, Plan B paper, PhD dissertation, or capstone project, or serving as an editor on one of the Law School's law reviews).

To see requirements for students entering in years other than 2009, visit www.law.umn.edu/current/degreerequirements.html.

In addition, all students in the Joint Degree Program in Law, Health & the Life Sciences take a professional seminar. This 1-credit Proseminar is taught cooperatively by faculty involved in the Joint Degree Program, offered on a pass-fail basis, and required each Fall semester that a student is enrolled in the Joint Degree Program.

JD/PhD in Environmental Health

The primary objective of the PhD program in Environmental Health is to bring students to a high level of academic competence through a combination of advanced course work and research. Students must produce a scholarly dissertation that makes an original contribution to the body of knowledge in environmental and occupational health. PhD students must satisfy all the objectives of the MS program and in addition achieve the maturity of thought and action consistent with an independent investigator.

PhD students must complete the 5 core courses (12-14 credits), plus those electives designated by the specialty and selected in consultation with the student's advisor, as well as 24 thesis credits. Students must also complete a formal minor or supporting area, consisting of 12 credit hours, and must pass preliminary oral and written examinations. The minimum number of credits required for graduation is dependent on the specialty chosen.

PhD students generally develop their dissertation topics from a funded research project. Because of the diverse nature and extensive amount of research conducted within Environmental Health, students can find faculty advisors and funded research projects on which to base their topics. Research activities conducted within Environmental Health reflect the wide range of expertise and interest of the faculty. These interests range from basic science, including the molecular basis of toxic health effects, to epidemiological studies of occupational groups and the general population, to policy. Research is concerned with the measurement of environmental hazards in the air and water, describing how these hazards behave, and developing methods to promote sound environmental decision making. After completing the dissertation, a PhD student must successfully defend it.

Combining Curricula

Students in the Joint Degree Program combine their Law and science/health curricula by cross-counting up to 12 Law credits in their science or health program and up to 12 non-law credits in their Law School program. For more details, click on "Cross-Counting Courses" above.

JD/MS or JD/PhD students are eligible for a minor in bioethics, bioinformatics, or human genetics.