Health Law Certificate Program: Public Health Law Track Requirements
The Health Law Certificate Program is intended to give students interested in health law a basic grounding in the field, complemented by clinical experience and more in-depth study of advanced topics and closely related areas of law. Students are expected and encouraged to obtain the same broad background in law expected of all graduates for the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Students must elect to enter the Program by the beginning of their second year of law school. Only in rare situations (such as when a student is in the Flex Program or a joint degree program) will exceptions be made.
Core Courses (required)
| Administrative Law | 3 credits | Luneburg | Spring | Required 2d or 3d year |
| Current Issues in Health Law I | 1 credit | Meisel | Fall & Spring | Required Fall & Spring 2d year |
| Current Issues in Health Law II | 1 credit | Meisel | Fall & Spring | Required Fall & Spring 3d year |
| Environmental Law and Practice I or II | 3 credits | Collins | Fall | Required 2d or 3d year |
| Health Law & Policy | 3 credits | Meisel | Fall | Required Fall 2d year |
| Public Health Law | 3 credits | Morris-Chatta | Spring | Required Spring 2d year |
Required Electives (register for at least two):
Descriptions for these courses may be found at www.publichealth.pitt.edu/interior.php?pageID=124
| Essentials of Public Health | 3 credits | Pubhlt 2011 | Spring |
| Introduction to Statistical Methods I | 3 credits | Biost 2041 | Summer & Fall |
| Principles of Epidemiology | 3 credits | Epid 2110 | Fall |
Clinical Experience (register for at least one)
| Civil Practice Clinic (Elder Law) | 7 credits | Mannix | Fall & Spring |
| Civil Practice Clinic (Health) | 7 credits | Smetanka | Fall & Spring |
| Environmental Law Clinic | 7 credits | Collins | Fall & Spring |
| Externship | 4 credits | arrange with Program Director | 2d or 3d year or Summer |
Suggested Electives (registration for these courses is optional)
| Bioethics & Law | 3 credits | Meisel | Spring |
| Bioethics & Law Clinical Practicum | 3 credits | Meisel | Summer |
| Biomedical Technology Law | 3 credits | Harper | Spring |
| Biotechnology Law | 2 credits | Black | Fall |
| Business Planning, Entrepreneurship & Technology§ | 2 credits | Harper | Fall |
| Civil Practice Clinic (Elder Law)* | 7 credits | Mannix | Fall & Spring |
| Civil Practice Clinic (Health)* | 7 credits | Smetanka | Fall & Spring |
| Disability Law | 2 credits | Hornack | Spring |
| Elder Law | 3 credits | Frolik | (Not offered 09-10) |
| Emergency Preparedness Law | 2 credits | Sweeney | Summer (GSPH) |
| Employee Benefits | 3 credits | Frolik | Fall |
| Food and Drug Law | 1 credit | Greenberg | Spring |
| Global Health and Human Rights Seminar | 3 credits | Barnard | Spring |
| Global Health Policy & Development | 3 credits | Rabindran | Spring (GSPIA) |
| Health Care Antitrust** | 1 credit | Newton | Spring |
| Health Care Business Transactions & Finance | 3 credits | Harper | Spring |
| Health Care & Civil Rights Seminar | 3 credits | Crossley | (Not offered 09-10) |
| Health Care Fraud & Abuse**§ | 1 credit | Boyle | Spring |
| Health Law Moot Court* | 1 credit | Smetanka | Fall |
| Health Law Practicum* | 4 credits | Smetanka | Spring |
| Information Privacy Law Seminar | 3 credits | Pike | (Not offered 09-10) |
| International Human Rights Law | 3 credits | Rist | (Not offered 09-10) |
| Journal of Envir and Public Health Law*** | 1 credit | Fall & Spring | |
| New Reproductive Practices Seminar | 3 credits | Schiff | (Not offered 09-10) |
| Nonprofit Tax Exempt Organizations | 2 credits | Lieber | Spring |
| Reproduction, Sexuality and the Law | 2 credits | Frietsch | Spring |
* If used to satisfy Clinical requirement, may not be used to satisfy Elective requirement.
** Counts as one-half course for purposes of satisfying required number of electives.
***Counts as one course if two or more semester’s credit; count as one-half course if one semester’s credit.
§ If used to satisfy the required elective requirement, may not be used to satisfy this requirement.
Writing Requirement
All students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law must satisfy the Faculty Supervised Writing Requirement (including students who are members of a law journal). For a full explanation of this requirement, consult the Student Handbook. Students in the Public Health Track of the Health Law Certificate Program must satisfy it by writing on a topic in public health law, using any course, clinic, seminar or practicum which may be used in satisfaction of this requirement. (Courses taught by adjunct professors ordinarily may not be used.) Prior approval of the topic by the HLCP Director is required prior to the paper’s being written, in addition to approval by the course instructor. This requirement may be satisfied by an independent study only with prior permission of the HLCP Director which will be given only in extraordinary cases.
Recordkeeping
The HLC Program Office keeps track of your fulfillment of requirements and periodically notifies you of your status. However, you are ultimately responsible for knowing whether or not you have met all the program requirements in a timely fashion.