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I'm at 2L at a T35 law school and have been considering changing career paths for some time now. On some level, I think the only reason I came back this year was because I had a fully funded plus cost of living fellowship for the school year. I did well during my 1L year, but didn’t particularly like law school or my summer job.

I want to work in health care, but was unsure of this when I started law school and I think I saw law school as the best way to keep all of the doors I could possibly want to enter open. I have also realized that having lots of interaction with people in whatever career I end up having as well as minimizing the time I spend at a computer is really important to me.

I am primarily interested in reproductive health issues and issues related to access to health care in rural and underserved communities. I have most strongly considered MPH programs or occupational therapy programs if I decide I’d rather be in patient care. What are the best and most time efficient ways to research these programs in depth while staying on top of school related things (I have a really heavy workload because the fellowship requires taking extra credits)? I’m basically scared to jump into something else unless I know a TON about it. I don’t want to start a new career path only to discover that I’m miserable again.

If I do decide to quit, is it worth sticking out the year? It’s hard walk away from the money, especially because it’s probably not realistic for a job to fall into my lap right away.

Thank you for your help. I appreciate it.

i understand where you are coming from. I too am contemplating this..

my take is if you finish this year, you might as well finsh law school. You would be 2/3 of the way done- and it wouldnt make sense to quit. USe this summer as a way to figure out what you want to do after law school. talk to program admissions at your school and see what they have to offer. You may also want to talk to undergrad career services to get a non law school perspective about it.

Yeah, finish law school. It's no financial cost to you (except for the money you're not earning, which you wouldn't be earning anyway if you were in an MPH program), you've got the grades, and the school is at least T35. Your prospects look good, maybe better than what they'd be with an MPH.

I know a ton of people in the healthcare profession and an MPH isn't really that valuable unless you went to a school like Harvard. This is probably because the people I know are doctors and think that an MPH is a wannabe MD. I don't think it's as easy to jump from MPH to straight up running a hospital, while a JD with your credentials has a good shot at getting a firm job straight out of law school.