Do you want to work in the health sector? If yes, you should become a medical malpractice lawyer.

The health sector has a high surge in demand because people would always visit hospitals. Moreover, this is also one of the best careers for you if you are a people person.

Read on and discover the educational requirements and job description of medical malpractice lawyer and get started on your career.

How To Become A Medical Malpractice Lawyer

We have created a step-by-step guide that would help you to become a medical malpractice lawyer. Let’s dig in!

1.   Acquire A Bachelor’s Degree

Before you can become a medical malpractice lawyer you must have a bachelor’s degree in law and enter a law school. 

Candidates would be required to complete courses in economics, government, and history before they can enroll in a law school.

Furthermore, you would also need a degree program in healthcare administration, health humanities, and health studies after your law degree.

This program would introduce you to a detailed study of clinical, healthcare, and medical industries.

If you want to become a medical malpractice lawyer all of these teachings and training are important.

2.  Pass The LSAT

The law school examination test is essential in your law career because it evaluates your reading comprehension, logical and verbal reasoning competencies, and knowledge.

You must take and pass the law school admission test before you get hired as a medical malpractice lawyer.

As an undergraduate, you can start preparing for your LSAT in your first year in school. 

Although the exam can be taken at any time, we advise that you sit for the law school examination test when you must have spent at least two years in school.

The exam runs for about 7 hours. It evaluates your critical thinking, reasoning, and reading ability.

Before you apply for this exam ensure you take a prep course to learn techniques and familiarize yourself with the exam’s content before you apply for this exam.

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3. Complete Law School

As stated earlier, you need to complete law school before you can become a medical, malpractice lawyer.

In most countries, it takes about two to three years of full-time studies to complete law school.

During your first year, your courses would be centered on basic law concepts related to criminal, constitutional, and property law.

Then, for the other two years, you would be required to take elective classes. Some of the options you should consider are medical research, ethics, law, public health law, and medical malpractice law.

Students would gain valuable experience through judicial internships, medical-legal clinics, and many more after their second and third years.

However there are other areas you can focus on, they are biomedical law, health law, and law and health sciences. 

These courses cover studies in Disability law, Personal injury litigation, Science and law, Elder law, Food, and drug law

4. Obtain A License

Obtaining a license and passing the bar are some of the essential steps you need to take if you want to become a medical malpractice lawyer.

After your 4 years in law school, you must obtain a license by acing the bar and other professional examinations. 

These professional exams take multiple days of practicing and taking tests on multiple choice questions and essay writing activities.

Once again enrolling in tutoring classes and prep courses can increase your chances of passing your bar exam on the first try.

5.   Gain Experience

After you have gotten your license what’s the next step? 

Start sending applications to universities, government agencies, and law firms that hire attorneys to handle cases that are related to the healthcare law, medical malpractice, and personal injury.

In most cases, you need several years of experience to be a professional in medical malpractice law.

However, as a new graduate, ensure you gain experience by interning and joining project review groups or obtaining research roles that involve medical law.

6.   Become Board-Certified

There are so many organizations and groups across different countries for lawyers. For instance, the American Board Of Professional Liability Attorneys is an organization that all medical malpractice lawyers must aspire to join after they get licensed.

This group however offers certificates to medical malpractice lawyers that have at least five years of experience in the field.

To get certified by the American Board Of Professional Liability Attorneys, you must present your documented experience and substantial involvement in healthcare administration and medical malpractice cases over the previous three years.

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7.   Acquire A Master Of Laws Degree

One of the best ways to progress in this career is by earning a master’s or Ph.D. degree in healthcare or global health law.

Apart from your normal coursework in law, you would have to gain valuable experience in clinical and healthcare programs.

Internship programs in law are also one of the best ways to gain experience in medical law. 

Through this program, you would gain practical knowledge from training on Fundamentals of law, Public health law, Law and science, and Healthcare reform law

For instance, your school may offer a variety of specific components of the healthcare system that represent the areas you’d like to pursue after your undergraduate degree. 

Common courses under medical law include

• Reproductive rights
• Religious rights
• Contract law
• Child welfare
• Environmental law
• Biostatistics
• Behavioral science

Finally, getting a master’s degree can help you show companies your commitment and expertise in medical law, increasing your chances of becoming one of the prominent medical malpractice lawyers in the world.

Duties And Responsibilities OF A Medical Malpractice Lawyer

These professionals perform many of the day-to-day tasks of a civil litigator. 

Medical malpractice lawyers work on cases where there is a legal disagreement between patients and healthcare providers.

Medical malpractice lawyers, also spend time interviewing clients, conducting investigations, drafting motions, and developing trial strategies and litigation cases.

Furthermore, Medical malpractice lawyers also perform the duties below:

• Working with healthcare providers to develop case theories, expert reports, and testimony to support the plaintiff’s case
• Taking depositions of healthcare experts, healthcare personnel, and other third parties
• Sorting, evaluating, and examining medical records
• Filing for independent medical examinations (IMEs) to obtain valuable details of the injured plaintiff’s condition
• Performing medical investigation relating to the client’s condition
• Working with other medical malpractice lawyers, and legal nurse consultants to examine case merits, evaluate medical records, and decipher doctor’s notes

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion.

Now you know how to become a medical malpractice lawyer, are you ready to explore this career?

Ensure you go through the requirements and qualifications needed to get a degree in medical law.

Are you currently enrolled in this program? If yes, let us know in the comment section.