Understanding education in public health law: Findings from the network for public health law's jd/MPH survey

Acknowledging the value of public health law as a tool to achieve key public health objectives, there are an increasing number of accredited J.D./M.P.H. programs established to train future public health law leaders. While such programs were almost nonexistent at the end of the last century, today there are over 25 JD-MPH programs and growing. As part of its mission to build the field of public health law, the Network for Public Health Law conducted a survey using a purposive sample of professionals with both a J.D. and M.P.H. The survey explored facets of educational and professional experiences and collected data related to demographics, school(s) attended, type of work, salary, satisfaction and more. The survey received 284 responses and 211 were included for analysis. Descriptive statistics and qualitative methods were used for the analysis. The survey revealed that the majority of respondents did not complete their degrees concurrently (69%); many obtained the second degree later because of personal interest. The majority of respondents work in government settings (37.2%) and either practice law (29%) or engage in advocacy/policy work (23.4%). Although the median salary of those who did not complete a concurrent degree was higher, those who did complete a concurrent J.D./M.P.H. were more likely to make > $120,000 (29.6% vs. 26%). The findings from this survey identify trends in the educational and professional experiences of professionals with a J.D./M.P.H. and suggest the need to facilitate more interconnected, hands-on learning opportunities for students and networking and professional development opportunities for professionals.