First professional degree

A professional degree prepares someone for a particular profession by emphasizing skills and practical analysis over theory and research. Most but not all of the professions associated with professional degrees are professions that require licensing in order to practice in the field. Professions including audiology, architecture, dentistry, dietetics, many fields of engineering, K-12 public education, law (J.D. or LL.B.), medicine (M.D., D.O. or M.B.B.S.), chiropractic, podiatric medicine, nursing, medical laboratory science, music therapy, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, optometry, counseling, psychology, pharmacy, radiography, social work, urban planning, and veterinary medicine all require a person to first obtain a professional degree in the relevant subject area(s) prior to professional licensure, certification or registration. Other fields, such as speech-language pathology, require the professional to earn a graduate degree as well as additional required licensing, registration and certification to obtain employment.

History

History of first professional degrees in Europe

In Europe, the first academic degrees were law degrees, which were doctorates (see Juris Doctor). The first entry-level trade degree to be granted in the medical industry was the M.D. degree. This degree was granted by the ancient universities of Scotland upon completion of medical school until the mid-19th century. At that time, public bodies who regulated medical practice in the UK required practitioners in Scotland, as well as England, to uniformly hold the dual Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degrees (variously abbreviated M.B.B.S., B.M.B.S., M.B.Ch.B., M.B.B.Chir., B.M.B.Ch., etc.).

History of first professional degrees in the United States

The M.B. or Bachelor of Medicine was also the first type of medical degree to be granted in the United States and Canada. The first medical schools that granted the MB degree were Penn, Harvard, Toronto, Maryland, and Columbia. These first few North American medical schools that were established were (for the most part) proprietary schools founded by physicians and surgeons who had been trained in England and Scotland. North American medical schools switched to the tradition of the ancient universities of Scotland and began granting the M.D. title rather than the M.B. primarily in the 1800s. Columbia University in New York (which at the time was referred to as King's College of Medicine) was the first American university to grant the M.D. degree instead of the M.B. The medical degree could be obtained by night school study.[1] The M.D. was the first entry-level professional degree to be awarded as a purely trade school doctorate in the United States. This was nearly 60 years before the first European-style research doctorate, the Ph.D., was awarded in the U.S. in 1861.[2] It is important to note, however, that the assignment of a doctoral-level award to U.S. professional/vocational degrees is a historical result of study deemed more advanced than bachelor's/master's level work, but should not be equivalent to a doctorate (commonly Ph.D. and Sc.D.), according to the US Department of Education (2009). The latter is not profession-oriented or vocational, but a degree of academic scholarship/expertise requiring a dissertation defense for which there is no current equivalent. In the US, there are advanced professional degrees (requiring at least a first professional degree) such as Doctor of Medical/Dental Sciences (DMSc) offered by many universities including Harvard, SJD (Doctor of Juridical Science), and the PhD (such as Pharmaceutics, Oral Biology...)

Physical therapy programs in the US have transitioned their entry-level or "first professional degree" from the bachelor or master to a doctorate (Doctor of Physical Therapy) as well, just as they previously changed the standard entry-level degree from a bachelor's degree to a master's degree.[3]

Global history of first professional degrees

There was a world-wide movement to structure vocational programs as "graduate-entry" (meaning requiring a previous degree). In countries where professional degrees are undergraduate degrees, graduate-entry undergraduate programs have been established to allow students with a previous bachelor's to enter the profession.[4] This movement towards the graduate-entry model reflects an emphasis that has been placed on teaching professional skills at an advanced, intensive level.[5] The switch to graduate-entry also allows for a greater diversity of applicants who are more mature and motivated to study at the professional level.[6]

First professional degrees by country

United States

According to the U.S. Department of Education, "A first-professional degree was an award that required completion of a program that met all of the following criteria: (1) completion of the academic requirements to begin practice in the profession; (2) at least 2 years of college work prior to entering the program; and (3) a total of at least 6 academic years of college work to complete the degree program, including prior required college work plus the length of the professional program itself.

Generally, first-professional degrees are considered graduate level degrees. First-professional degrees may be awarded in the following fields:[7]

The use of this term was discontinued in IPEDS as of the 2010-11 data collection, when use of the new post-baccalaureate award categories became mandatory.[8]

Other countries

Some schools outside the U.S. offer professional doctorates (Pr.D.) for part-time students in a broad range of full-time careers. These programs typically require three to six years of structured study towards advanced professional practice. Coursework is followed by a professional project that contributes to the students organization, industry or profession..

In some other countries, such as the United Kingdom, the study of vocational subjects at the undergraduate level (and post-graduate qualifications outside the academic degree structure) also play a large role in professional training.

Most countries outside the U.S. continue to only award doctorates as higher academic research degrees. For example, in the field of architecture, the professional first degree may be either the Bachelor of Architecture or the Master of Architecture while in the field of fine art, its professional first degree is the Master of Fine Arts. There is currently some debate in the architectural community to rename the degree a "doctorate".[9]

Many of those who obtained their first professional degree outside of the United States (which may be a bachelor's degree) are considered to have an "equivalent" qualification to their doctoral counterpart for professional reasons. Equivalent does not equate to right to practice, as many are deemed not equivalent enough to grant a license to practice in the United States. Even in Canada, the medical degree of Doctor of Medicine is considered an undergraduate degree. For example, a British medical degree, the MBBS, is equivalent to the US-MD. An MBBS graduate if licensed to practice medicine in the United States is, in at least one state, allowed to use the "M.D." and is referred to as "doctor" because it accurately describes their professional role.[10]

In addition, in the Netherlands, engineering students can earn bachelor's degrees (usually BSc.) and master's degrees (usually MSc.). Those wishing to continue their education within the engineering field can continue with academic research in their field (Doctor of Philosophy or Ph.D.) or a professionally applied approach (Professional Doctorate in Engineering or PDEng).

First professional degrees by field of study

Some first professional degrees (e.g. Juris Doctor, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Doctor of Chiropractic, Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, Doctor of Pharmacy, Doctor of Dental Surgery, Doctor of Optometry, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, and Doctor of Audiology) have the term "Doctor" in the title. While such degrees are considered professional doctorates and are entitled to use the title of "doctor," they are not equivalent to the Ph.D. in that Ph.D. students generally complete a program that includes the production of a dissertation that adds to the knowledge in the student's field, according to the U.S. Department of Education (2008). The minimum credit requirement for a doctoral level degree, such as a Ph.D., is 72 graduate level credits per the U.S. Department of Education (2008). On the other hand, a juris doctorate (law) degree has a minimum of 88 units. However, the actual credits may vary between institutions and degrees. Further, students taking PhD courses are assumed to have mastered the materials in the field taught at the undergraduate or Masters level. Professional school students are not required to have had prior training in their field of study and classes are taught the undergraduate level. The typical Ph.D.-holder earns an advanced education, learning how to conduct research while an M.D.-holder earns a vocational skill (training), learning how to "do" as would other vocational graduates. (Note, however, that law professors commonly insist that they are teaching future lawyers "how to think"). As such, an M.D. (or similar professional degrees) is not considered a doctorate in academia. Even so, some lecturers, instructors, and professors in U.S. medical schools may just possess the M.D. or D.O. and board training in their field, without also having a Ph.D. or other graduate degree.

Engineering

In engineering, Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Applied Science degrees are commonly awarded in the U.K. and Canada, respectively, and the Bachelor of Science in an engineering field is awarded in the U.S. The advanced professional degree usually awarded is the Master of Engineering (M.Eng.), although some schools have the option of an engineer's degree. In several British commonwealth countries the Chartered Engineer (requires M.Eng. degree or City and Guilds Graduate Diploma). The Chartered Engineer qualifications represents the final stage of a fully qualified professional engineer including both academic, professional practice, and competency components. In South America, the professional title Ingeniero is the first level to qualify as a Professional Engineer. The terminal academic research degree is the Ph.D., Sc.D. or Eng.D.. The professional engineer (P.Eng./P.E.) designation in Canada and the U.S. is license to practice engineering in the public domain and should not be confused with academic qualifications.

Forestry

In the United States, a first professional degree in forestry may be awarded at either the bachelor's or master's level.

Medicine

In medicine, the distinction between first professional and advanced degrees depends on geography. Outside North America and Germany, the first professional degree in medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (B.M., Ch.B.), (M.B.B.S.), while an advanced professional degree can be a Master of Science (e.g. surgery), and the terminal academic research degree can be a Doctor of Medicine (non-US M.D.) or a Ph.D. in a medical science (e.g. anatomy). To be eligible to apply for an M.D. degree from a U.K. or Commonwealth University, one must hold either an M.B.B.S., M.B.Ch.B., B.M.B.S., B.Med., B.M., or US-MD degree and have at least five years of postgraduate experience. In the U.S., there are two types of physicians: Doctor of Medicine M.D. and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine D.O. and both have unlimited full scope of practice for medicine.

Higher professional degrees

Some professional fields offer degrees beyond the first professional degree. For instance, in the U.S., in order to earn an LL.M., one must have received a J.D. Likewise, S.J.D. candidates must generally have an LL.M., although in rare circumstances S.J.D. candidates are admitted based on their first professional degree. Also, in the field of dentistry, M.S.D. (Masters of Science in Dentistry) applicants must hold a D.D.S./B.Dent./D.M.D./B.D.S. before admission to master's programs in dentistry, and a Ph.D. in Dental Science requires either a M.S.D. or D.D.S./B.Dent./D.M.D./B.D.S. Joint M.D./Ph.D. students in the U.S. must be accepted by both the school of medicine and the graduate school of the same institution.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "History | Columbia University in the City of New York". Columbia.edu. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  2. ↑ Landmarks in Yale’s history
  3. ↑ "Credential Creep" (PDF). The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  4. ↑ Before the euphemistic inflation of degree titles, a person with a bachelor's degree who wanted to enter a trade would obtain an additional bachelor's degree. An example is the traditional Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.), traditionally awarded to persons who completed a three-year program in divinity following a bachelor's degree. This was subsequently inflated to Master of Divinity degree, since most often the required first degree is often in Philosophy and not Divinity.Graduate Entrant's Programme, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry; "Bachelor of Laws (3 Year) Graduate Entry," The University of Notre Dame, Australia.
  5. ↑ Albert James Harno.Legal Education in the United States. Lawbook Exchange, NJ 2004.
  6. ↑ "Graduate entry medicine: high aspirations at birth", Clinical Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 2, April 2007.
  7. ↑ "Glossary: First-professional", Department of Education Glossary.
  8. ↑ Institute of Education Sciences. MAPPING OLD POST-BACCALAUREATE AWARD LEVELS WITH NEW AWARD LEVELS.
  9. ↑ Joanna Lombard. LL.B. to J.D. and the Professional Degree in Architecture. Which of, of course, euphemistic nonsense. Proceedings of the 85th ACSA Annual Meeting, Architecture: Material and Imagined and Technology Conference, 1997. pp. 585-591.
  10. ↑ "Practice, Organization and Interprofessional Issues", Wisconsin Medical Society Policy Compendium 2007.
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