I'm Interested in Health Law: Now Where Can I Get a Job?

Abstract

Health care is a trillion-dollar industry that has grown exponentially over the past ten years with very little sign of slowing. The demand of legal services has tracked the growth of the industry. As a result, individuals in the health care field are increasingly thinking of expanding their career opportunities by getting law degrees and students already enrolled in law schools are interested in pursuing opportunities within health law. This article is intended to serve as a guide to both groups about the wide variety of job opportunities for lawyers within health care, where to find these jobs and how best to obtain them. It does so by reviewing the major areas where jobs are located within the public and private sector. It also provides references to hundreds of websites where students and practicing lawyers interested in health care can find listings. The article also discusses the availability of joint degree programs, such as the increasingly popular business degrees geared towards the health industry. Finally, while it refers students to the many excellent books on the market about getting a job it also offers advice based on my own experience as a health law professor about successful strategies students have used to find jobs in health care. Many of the jobs of most interest to students, such as positions within the general counsel's office of a hospital, are not available to entry level attorneys and this article discusses ways in which young lawyers can acquire the skills and contacts which will allow them to move into these kinds of jobs.

Keywords: health law, employment opportunities in health law

JEL Classification: K32, J44