This concentration offers a comprehensive foundation in the areas in which health law intersects with business, public policy and a variety of federal regulations concerning the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries.
You’ll examine key topics such as bioethics, public health law, healthcare fraud and disability law, and you’ll explore methods of dispute resolution used specifically in healthcare. We also give you the flexibility to chart your own path through the program and select courses that most interest you and that provide the skills to assist the type of clientele you plan to represent.
Because the School of Law shares a campus with our medical, nursing and health sciences schools, you’ll also have opportunities for interprofessional collaboration and access to a wide range of research materials related to the healthcare industry. Starting in your second year, you can participate in our diverse clinic and externship courses, and be part of our medical-legal partnership, or our Health Law Externship, where you may be placed with the Department of Public Health, a hospital or pharmaceutical legal department, or a law firm practicing health law. And you may apply to write for Quinnipiac’s Health Law Journal, join the Health Law Society and attend our speaker series that invites prominent figures from the health law field to campus.
For specific information on the concentration offerings, please contact:
Professor Leonard Dwarica
Quinnipiac University School of Law
275 Mount Carmel Avenue
Hamden, CT 06518
Telephone: 203-582-3879
Fax: 203-582-3244
Email: leonard.dwarica@qu.edu
Health Law Concentration
Requirements
To be eligible for the Health Law Concentration Certificate, a student must complete 21 credits as described below. Students must also complete a Clinic requirement for three additional credits.
- Students must take either Business Planning (LAWS 393) (3 credits) or Business Organizations (LAWS 205) (4 credits). Credits for these courses will not count toward the 21-credit Concentration requirement.
- In addition, students must take Administrative Law (LAWS 114) (3 credits) and Health Law (LAWS 345) (3 credits). Credits for these courses will count toward the 21-credit Concentration requirement.
- These 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 full-time student’s second year, if possible. Part-time students should try to take them in the second semester of their second year or the first semester of their third year.
1. Coursework
In addition to the above requirements, in order to receive the Certificate for this concentration, a student must earn an additional eighteen (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.)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| LAWS 320 | Public Health Law | 3 |
| LAWS 349 | Antitrust | 3-4 |
| LAWS 350 | Health Care Antitrust | 3-4 |
| LAWS 352 | Health Care Business Transactions | 3 |
| LAWS 409 | Drug and Device Law | 2-3 |
| LAWS 539 | Intro. to Dispute Res. in Healthcare | 2-3 |
| LAWS 549 | Bioethics | 3 |
| LAWS 601 | Managed Health Care | 2 |
| LAWS 625 | Health Information Privacy and Security | 2 |
| LAWS 633 | Intellectual Property in Life Science | 2 |
| LAWS 685 | Health Policy | 3 |
Non-Core Health Law Courses:
The balance of the credits (to 18), 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.)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| LAWS 292 | Independent Research Project W | 2 |
| LAWS 293 | Independent Research Project W | 3 |
| LAWS 331 | Intellectual Property | 3-4 |
| LAWS 340 | Corporate Compliance in Health Care Industry 1 | 3 |
| LAWS 344 | Law, Science and Technology | 3 |
| LAWS 370 | Family Law | 3 |
| LAWS 373 | Products Liability | 3 |
| LAWS 379 | Environmental Law | 3 |
| LAWS 384 | Juvenile Law | 3 |
| LAWS 388 | Elder Law | 2 |
| LAWS 414 | Food Law | 2-3 |
| LAWS 450 | Nonprofit Organizations | 2 |
| LAWS 457 | Health Care Compliance Law 1 | 3 |
| LAWS 545 | Healthcare and Hospital Administration | 2-3 |
| LAWS 587 | Disability Law | 2 |
| LAWS 588 & LAWS 589 | Health Law Journal I and Health Law Journal II | 3 |
| LAWS 564 | Poverty Law | 2 |
| LAWS 604 | Medical Malpractice | 2 |
| LAWS 676 | Anatomy for Lawyers | 2 |
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Online course.
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 to 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.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Providers (e.g., hospitals, physician groups, nursing homes) | ||
| LAWS 549 | Bioethics | 3 |
| LAWS 350 | Health Care Antitrust | 3-4 |
| LAWS 625 | Health Information Privacy and Security | 2 |
| LAWS 539 | Intro. to Dispute Res. in Healthcare | 2-3 |
| LAWS 320 | Public Health Law | 3 |
| LAWS 545 | Healthcare and Hospital Administration | 2 |
| LAWS 676 | Anatomy for Lawyers | 2 |
| LAWS 604 | Medical Malpractice | 2 |
| LAWS 601 | Managed Health Care | 2 |
| LAWS 352 | Health Care Business Transactions | 3 |
| LAWS 450 | Nonprofit Organizations | 2 |
| LAWS 457 | Health Care Compliance Law | 3 |
| LAWS 340 | Corporate Compliance in Health Care Industry | 3 |
| LAWS 685 | Health Policy | 3 |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Business & Governmental Entities (e.g., insurance carriers, pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, biotechnology research/manufacturing entities, regulatory agencies) | ||
| LAWS 340 | Corporate Compliance in Health Care Industry | 3 |
| LAWS 344 | Law, Science and Technology | 3 |
| LAWS 350 | Health Care Antitrust | 3-4 |
| LAWS 352 | Health Care Business Transactions | 3 |
| LAWS 373 | Products Liability | 3 |
| LAWS 409 | Drug and Device Law | 2-3 |
| LAWS 414 | Food Law | 2-3 |
| LAWS 457 | Health Care Compliance Law | 3 |
| LAWS 539 | Intro. to Dispute Res. in Healthcare | 2-3 |
| LAWS 601 | Managed Health Care | 2 |
| LAWS 625 | Health Information Privacy and Security | 2 |
| LAWS 633 | Intellectual Property in Life Science | 2 |
| LAWS 685 | Health Policy | 3 |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Private Parties (e.g., patients, LLCs, individual practitioners) | ||
| LAWS 350 | Health Care Antitrust | 3-4 |
| LAWS 370 | Family Law | 3 |
| LAWS 373 | Products Liability | 3 |
| LAWS 384 | Juvenile Law | 3 |
| LAWS 388 | Elder Law | 2 |
| LAWS 549 | Bioethics | 3 |
| LAWS 587 | Disability Law | 2 |
| LAWS 601 | Managed Health Care | 2 |
| LAWS 604 | Medical Malpractice | 2 |
| LAWS 676 | Anatomy for Lawyers | 2 |
3. Clinical Requirement
Students must earn at least 3 credits (not including LAWS 599 ICC) in a Clinic (i.e., Civil Justice Clinic, Tax Clinic, Prosecution Appellate Clinic, Defense Appellate Clinic) and/or in a health law externship. These credits are in addition to the basic 21-credit concentration requirement.
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 healthcare field (e.g., as a healthcare provider). This determination will be made by the Concentration Director.
A full-time student seeking a waiver from the Clinic/externship requirement must apply to the Concentration Director for the waiver not later than the beginning of the second semester of his/her second year. A part-time student seeking a waiver must apply to the Concentration Director for the waiver not later than the beginning of the first semester of his/her third year.
c. If the clinical requirement is waived, the student must earn the three credits by taking an additional course(s) in the Concentration.
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. Waiver of Requirements
The Concentration Director and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs may waive any requirements for the Concentration.