Medicine and law are both demanding occupations, requiring a love of learning and many years of education. For some individuals, one of these professions is not enough. They want to do both. There are approximately 1,500 physician-attorneys in the U.S. Their occupations are highly diverse, including academics, private industry (corporate attorneys for pharmaceutical companies), managed care, corporate law, and private practice of medicine or law (healthcare or malpractice attorneys).

While some nine allopathic medical schools across the U.S. offer a joint degree in medicine and law, UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine (SOM) is the country’s only osteopathic medical school to do so. The DO/JD program, a collaboration between SOM and the Rutgers School of Law in Camden, allows a candidate to obtain both a medical and law degree in six years. Typically, the two degrees would take at least seven years to attain if pursued separately.

It’s a challenging program that’s not for everyone, says Gary McAbee, DO, JD, pediatric neurologist and chair of pediatrics at SOM. McAbee is the liaison and coordinator for the medical side of the program, but also fields inquiries about the legal side, since he holds a joint degree himself.

How does the program work? "An incoming medical student first completes two years of medical school, then enters law school for two years," explains McAbee.

"Then one semester of law is combined with five additional semesters of medicine. If the student chooses to enter law school first, the entire process is reversed." The applications are filed separately and successful candidates must be accepted by both schools independently.

McAbee, who says he’s always had an intense interest in medical legal, policy and regulatory issues, obtained his joint degrees separately. After completing osteopathic school and training in general pediatrics and child neurology, he accepted a position at a hospital affiliated with SUNY at Stony Brook in New York, where he became chief of child neurology. He then enrolled in the part-time, four-year law program at St. John’s University School of Law. "Having the dual degree gives me the opportunity to interface medicine and law in an academic environment," he says.

Third-year SOM student Ricardo Perez is the first to enroll in the dual degree program. (Another has been accepted and will start law school in 2002.) Perez completed his first year of law school in April and is spending part of the summer in Italy, taking courses in international law at the University of Florence. "The program is rigorous and very challenging," he says. "The reason it works is because both schools provide a great deal of support."

Perez has always wanted to pursue medicine, but wasn’t particularly keen on becoming a clinician."The dual degree offers many career options: regulatory affairs, pharmaceuticals, healthcare or hospital administration," he says. While he’s not sure what kind of a career he’ll ultimately choose, he is interested in all aspects of the FDA approval process.

According to McAbee, the program will probably accomodate, at most, only one student a year. "It's a unique program for a unique individual," he says.