College of Law > Academics > Centers, Institutes & Initiatives > Mary and Michael Jaharis Health Law Institute > Career Preparation

Career Preparation

​Summer Scholars Job Placement Program

The Summer Scholars Job Placement Program, funded by the DePaul University College of Law Mary and Michael Jaharis Health Law Institute and the Jaharis Foundation, provides qualified first and second-year DePaul health law students with paid summer positions at some of the most distinguished law firms and health organizations in Chicago. In recent years, participants have spent the summer working at: Rush University Medical Center, Presence Health, Fresenius Kabi, Walgreens Co., University of Illinois at Chicago Clinical Ethics group, Husch Blackwell, the American Medical Association, Childrens Law Group, Nixon Peabody, and Baxter, to name some.

To obtain additional information about becoming a Partner Institution or to express interest in partnering with DePaul’s Health Law Institute, please contact either Max Helveston​, Faculty Director of the Health Law Institute, or Wendy Netter Epstein, Jaharis Faculty Fellow and Co-Faculty Director of the Jaharis Health Law Institute.

Field Placement in Health Law

The Field Placement Program is a valuable way to obtain course credit and experience in the health law field. In recent years, students have worked with health care organizations such as Rush University Medical Center, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Advocate Health Care and the American Medical Association.

DePaul offers many opportunities for students specifically interested in health law to gain practical experience in the legal field while simultaneously obtaining class credit for their work. For more information, please contact Field Placement Program Director, Sheila Maloney.

AMA Externships

The Office of General Counsel of the American Medical Association (AMA) annually recruits DePaul law students to extern at the AMA headquarters in Chicago during the summer, fall and spring semesters. AMA externs work with health and corporate law attorneys and assist with ongoing initiatives and projects. Previous externs have researched and drafted memoranda on various health and corporate law issues as well as prepared briefs and other materials for litigation.

Mentorship Program

Health Law is an extremely broad field, and with new areas of concentration emerging regularly, it is often difficult for students to narrow down the area or areas to which they intend to apply their legal skills and knowledge. In 2011, the newly established Health Law Mentorship Program will assist Health Law Fellows to define their areas of interest by providing opportunities to meet practitioners from a wide range of health law practice areas. Mentors will answer questions, provide career-planning guidance, and discuss and offer practical advice regarding specific areas of practice, including, but not limited to: medical malpractice, health care reimbursement and finance, health care compliance, government benefits, health policy research, public health, health benefits in employment, bioethics, hospital law, risk management, physician contracting, and alternative dispute resolution in health care.

Networking

IAHA Student Membership
Law students throughout Illinois and in surrounding states are encouraged to join the Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys (IAHA) as student members. The benefits of student membership include access to: a monthly newsletter; quarterly lectures on topics of current concern to the health care field; annual health law symposium; annual surveys of health law; and the membership list. Such benefits make an IAHA membership an invaluable tool for furthering students substantive knowledge of health care law, and offer students outstanding networking opportunities to connect with active members of the Illinois health care legal community. Students can join the IAHA at a reduced annual membership rate of $25.

CLE Events

DePaul University College of Law is an accredited provider of Illinois Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE). The Jaharis Health Law Institute offers one-hour, online/on-demand video lectures on health related topics from previous CLE opportunities in the event you were unable to attend the lecture in person. Video lectures will be updated regularly following CLE ​events.