Updated July 2020
HIRSH HEALTH LAW AND POLICY PROGRAM
2020-2021
Contact:
Joel Teitelbaum, JD, LLM
Professor and Director of the Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program,
Department of Health Policy & Management
joelt@gwu.edu
Overview
The Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program of the Milken Institute School of Public Health (SPH)
offers unique educational opportunities to law students, practicing lawyers, and health
professions students. Endowed by Harold and Jane Hirsh and home to GW’s joint degree
programs in law and public health, the program is designed to foster an interdisciplinary
approach to the study of health policy, health law, public health, and health care. The Hirsh
Program’s overall goal is to advance a greater understanding regarding how the law influences
and shapes all facets of health care and public health, as well as how the transforming health
systems affect areas of the law. At the same time, the program seeks to achieve the pragmatic
objectives of readying law degree candidates and practicing lawyers for the broad range of
health law- and policy-related careers that are available today.
Established in 1997, the Hirsh Program is structured to allow students to take maximum
advantage of its location in Washington, D.C., the center of the national health policy and law
debate. The program is designed to provide a solid grounding in individual and population
health, from the health care and public health systems themselves to extensive coursework in
advanced health policy and law. The program serves Juris Doctor (JD) and Master of Laws
(LLM) candidates as well as lawyers pursuing health law careers and all manner of health
profession students.
Joint Degree Admissions Information
Applicants to the joint law-public health degree/certificate program may apply for admission to
SPH at the time they apply to the Law School or after admission to the Law School. JD
candidates who do not apply concurrently to the Law School and SPH are encouraged to file the
MPH or Certificate application by the end of March of their first year of law school. LLM
candidates are encouraged to apply to SPH at the time they apply to the Law School or during
their first semester on campus.
Updated July 2020
Applicants to the joint law-public health program must complete the application processes for
both the GW Law School (JD/LLM) and for the School of Public Health (MPH/Certificate).
Admission to the joint degree program requires admissions acceptances from both Schools.
However, because admission to each School is separate and distinct, applicants who are
accepted by one School but not the other are free to enroll in the School to which they have
been accepted.
Applications for both programs are available as follows:
• Law School: http://www.law.gwu.edu/Admissions/Pages/Default.aspx;
• SPH: http://publichealth.gwu.edu/admissions/graduate-admissions. Whether applying
simultaneously to both Schools or as a current GW Law student, applicants must
complete the SOPHAS Application as indicated at the SPH website.
Program Costs
SPH coursework taken while enrolled as a full- or part-time JD or LLM candidate is charged at
the Law School tuition rate. The SPH tuition and fees rate are charged for semesters when no
Law School courses are taken, including summers. Lawyers pay the SPH tuition and fees rate.
GWSPH Programs
GW Law students may enroll simultaneously in the following programs at the Milken
Institute School of Public Health:
• Residential Master of Public Health - multiple disciplines from which to select
• Health Policy Certificate
• Public Health Certificate
Find additional information on the program webpage here.
Internship/Research Opportunities
The Hirsh Program offers extensive assistance in arranging internships in congressional offices,
federal agencies, and the hundreds of national health organizations located in and throughout
the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Through its affiliation with the Department of Health
Policy and Management at the SPH, the program also engages in extensive law-related health
policy research, often offering Hirsh Program students paid or unpaid training opportunities
during their period of study. Please visit the Department’s website at
http://publichealth.gwu.edu/departments/health-policy-and-management for a description of
the types of research in which it engages.
Alumni
Graduates of the Hirsh Program routinely accept positions at leading law firms, federal and
state agencies, consulting firms, and universities in D.C. and other cities. The breadth of
Updated July 2020
placements regularly attained by graduates in both the public and private sector illustrates the
opportunities afforded under the program. Once in their chosen field of practice, alumni of the
program recognize that their joint studies in policy, law, and public health are an invaluable
asset on the job. Alumni in the practice of health law, on the one hand, report that their
training in the SPH enables them to understand the myriad aspects of the health care and
public health systems, including their structure, financing, and terminology. On the other hand,
Hirsh Program alumni who spend their days as public health professionals indicate that their
training in the law earns them added respect from their employers and added credibility from
the health care providers, agencies, and companies with which they interact.
Additional Information
Additional information regarding the Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program can be found at:
https://publichealth.gwu.edu/programs/joint-degree-jd-or-llm-mph.
For information about SPH admissions, please contact gwsphadmit@gwu.edu.
