JD/MHA in Healthcare Administration: 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/MHA in Healthcare Administration

The Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) degree prepares management leaders for the healthcare industry. The mission of the MHA program is to strengthen societies by enhancing the delivery of healthcare. The curriculum emphasizes the mastery of management and leadership tools and competencies as they are applied in healthcare organizations. Graduates of the MHA program pursue management careers in hospitals and health systems, clinics, physician groups, insurance, the biomedical industries, long-term care, consulting, and many other health-related industries. Students experience teamwork in problem solving, quantitative analysis, management projects, and new product development. The Minnesota Method of problem solving has been a hallmark of the program for the past 50 years; it is a disciplined approach to examining a problem, exploring solutions, and arriving at a recommendation. Students also participate in the Leadership Edge, a comprehensive program to develop leadership potential and equip students to take a prominent place in the healthcare industry. The Minnesota MHA program is consistently ranked among the top two programs in the nation. Over the past ten years, the program has placed 100% of the domestic graduates from the full-time program.

The full-time MHA is a two-year, 60-credit program. All students enrolled in the full-time program are required to complete a summer residency and Clerkship. The residency provides students with a consolidated period of time to relate and apply what they have learned in the classroom to a healthcare organization. Students are introduced to the daily activities of an organization from the perspective of top management.

In addition, MHA students must select one of 2 capstone options:

1. Topics in Health Care Administration: Management Project in Service Organizations—In this option, teams of 3 to 4 students spend at least 14 weeks as a consulting team in a healthcare organization.
2. New Product Development—Teams of MHA, MBA, and engineering students spend 2 semesters working with medical device firms on the design and implementation plans for a new healthcare product.

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.