<p>I did Google search on medical malpractice programs, but I can’t seem to get a list or any helpful information. I’m beginning to develop a strong interest in medical malpractice law but I’m not exactly sure 1) what law schools I should be looking into and 2) what other facts I need to know about this field of law.</p>
<p>Thank you in advance for your knowledge!</p>
<p>Bumpppp, anyone?</p>
<p>Until you have a couple of years of college grades and an LSAT score, there’s no point in looking into specific law schools. Once you have a college gpa (maybe junior year) and an LSAT score, you should focus on location and school ranking. Choosing law schools is not like choosing colleges. You don’t choose Penn if you’re interested in subject A, but U of North Carolina if you’re interested in subject B. Any good law school can teach you the basics for litigation. Med mal is essentially litigation.</p>
<p>Most law schools do not offer specialty degrees – in other words, you do not decide upon a major in law school. That said, some law schools are known to offer more business and corporate courses, or more health care choices, etc. It is up to you to take these courses upon completion of your first year of law school (the courses you take during your first year of law school are largely proscribed by the ABA, with one or two limited choices). </p>
<p>So, if you are interested in elder law, for example, you might want to take the federal income tax class (a prerequisite) and then a trusts and estates course, you might want to take one or more courses on health care law (Medicare, Medicaid, EMTALA and various statutes, etc.), you might want to take a specialized course on elder law, you might want to take an advanced torts class of some kind, if available, you might want to explore opportunities to take courses in social work, and, finally, you will want to look into opportunities to participate in elder law clinics, outreach programs and externships while you are in law school.</p>
<p>If you are entering law school with a specific idea of an area of practice in which you are interested, review the course offerings, including the willingness of the law school to allow you to take classes in different schools in the university, and make sure that the area you wish to explore is available.</p>
<p>Medical malpractice is simply a subset of basic tort law, with some insurance law mixed in, and a lot of litigation. How much insurance law is involved depends on whether you are on the plaintiff’s or defendant’s side. You don’t need to go to a specific law school to practice malpractice law.</p>
<p>Thank you for your help and comments!</p>