Health Law Certificate

Students enrolled in a degree program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law can develop an expertise in the rapidly changing, steadily growing field of health law through the Law School's Health Law Certificate.

Pitt Law’s Health Law Program, one of the oldest in the country, 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 encouraged to obtain the same broad background in law expected of all graduates for the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. 

The Health Law Program provides students with a strong foundation in health law that will enable them to practice in a variety of contexts, including law firms, health care management firms and insurers, government, and health care institutions. A combination of classroom and skills components acquaints students with everything from complex business and legal transactions, to bioethics and patient care issues, to the variety of legal issues that arise in the operation of a health care institution. Students gain hands-on experience in these areas through their work in the Law School's clinics, and in externships and summer jobs available in the health care setting.

In addition to courses taught by regular law school faculty, leading practitioners in various fields of health law such as fraud and abuse, business transactions, disabilities, nonprofit organizations, and privacy teach courses designed to relate theory to practice. In addition, Current Issues in Health Law, a required course for all Health Law Certificate students, is taught by established practitioners of health law and by health care professionals and executives.

Program Requirements

The Health Law Certificate Program offers a multitude of Health Law courses and prepares students for practice in all aspects of health law and in all types of health care settings. Learn more about the Health Law Certificate program requirements.

Program Pathways

As long as they satisfy the program requirements, health law students have the flexibility to enroll in courses of their choosing. The pathways, however, provide guidance to students interested in focusing their studies in a particular area of health law.

Other Health Law Opportunities

There are a number of opportunities for students interested in health law to pursue this interest either through the Health Law Certificate Program or apart from it. They include Joint Degrees in Law and Public Health and Law and Bioethics, experiential learning events and fellowships, and the Semester in DC Program.

Leaders in Legal Education and Healthcare

The Health Law Certificate program offers a multitude of health law courses to prepare students for practice in all aspects of health law and in all types of health care settings. Sharing a campus with the best medical researchers in the world offers Pitt Law students exciting opportunities to play a critical role in a fast-growing field.

Health Law Faculty

Expert and world-renowned faculty members offer courses in health care law, public health law, and bioethics and advise students interested in careers in the field.

Nordenberg Lecture Series

The Nordenberg Lecture in Law, Medicine, and Psychiatry has been given annually at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law since 1999. The lecture series honors the former Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh and former dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Mark Nordenberg.