Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program

Who We Are

The Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program, located in the Department of Health Policy, offers unique educational opportunities designed to provide a solid grounding in health law and policy to candidates for law degrees; practicing lawyers who seek to specialize in health law and policy; and health policy students. By fostering an interdisciplinary approach, the program seeks to advance a greater understanding of:

• How the law influences all phases of health care, health policy and public health.
• How the changing health care system affects traditional areas of the law.

At the same time, the program seeks to achieve the pragmatic objectives of preparing participants for the broad range of health law-related careers available today.

The Hirsh Program, one of the largest law and health policy educational endeavors in the nation, was established in 1997 and endowed by Dr. and Mrs. Harold and Jane Hirsh. Harold Hirsh was a leader in the field of law and medicine and for many years a member of the GW faculty.

What We Do

The Hirsh Program offers joint study programs to Juris Doctor (JD) and Master of Laws (LLM) candidates enrolled in The George Washington University Law School, as well as to practicing lawyers. Educational opportunities at the School of Public Health and Health Services and the Law School range from individual courses in public health and health services, health law and health policy, to a graduate certificate program or a full Master of Public Health degree. The Hirsh Program also offers training for all degree candidates of the Department who need to incorporate law training into their specialty fields of policy studies.

Policy internship opportunities abound -- with Congressional offices, federal agencies, law firms specializing in national law and policy matters, and the literally hundreds of national health organizations located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. A hallmark of the program is its one-on-one student support and career placement assistance. All entering students have the opportunity to establish individual course and career counseling relationships with program faculty.

Through its affiliation with the Department of Health Policy, the Hirsh Program engages in extensive law-related health policy research, offering students opportunities for paid and for-credit research assistantships.

Faculty

• Phyllis Borzi, JD, MA
  Research Professor of Health Policy
• Taylor Burke, JD, LLM
  Assistant Research Professor of Health Policy
• Melissa Goldstein, JD
  Associate Research Professor of Health Policy
• Jennifer Leonard, JD, MPH
  Assistant Research Professor of Health Policy
• Sara Rosenbaum, JD
  Chair, Department of Health Policy, Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy, Professor of Health Services Management and Leadership and of Health Care Sciences
• Alexandra Stewart, JD
  Assistant Research Professor of Health Policy
• Althea Stewart, JD, LLM
  Assistant Research Professor of Health Policy
• Mike Taylor, JD
  Research Professor of Health Policy
• Joel Teitelbaum, JD, LLM
  Associate Professor, Vice Chair, Department of Health Policy, Managing Director, Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program
• Jane Hyatt Thorpe, JD
  Associate Research Professor of Health Policy.
• Sara Wilensky, JD, MPP
  Assistant Research Professor of Health Policy, Director, Undergraduate Program in Public Health
• Kristin Younger, JD, MPH
  Assistant Research Professor of Health Policy

Contact Us

Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program
2021 K St., NW, Suite 800
Department of Health Policy
School of Public Health and Health Services
The George Washington University
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 530- 2369
Fax: (202) 530-2361
Email: joelt@gwu.edu
Web site: http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/hirsh/

Director: Sara Rosenbaum, JD
Managing Director: Joel Teitelbaum, JD, LLM