Most of us have read about folks from other professions, ranging from school teacher to police officer to doctor, who’ve gone to law school and started practicing law. But this article, Bridging the Legal gap for Nurses (10/2/05) got me to thinking about whether this path can work in reverse, i.e., would it make sense for a lawyer to get a degree in nursing or accounting or computer science to help build an existing practice?
The article just mentioned discusses a profession called “certified legal nurse consultant.” According to the article, a certified legal nurse consultant is a nurse who uses existing expertise as a health care professional plus specialized training to consult on medical cases. I’m wondering whether an attorney who obtains a nursing degree might be an equally effective or desireable nurse consultant as a nurse who obtains some legal training.
The reason why the nurse example stuck out to me in general is that one
of my sisters, who’d originally gotten a masters in social work and
worked as a licensed social worker (LSW) went back to school at night
to get her nursing degree. She was able to continue working full time
while she got the degree, it just wasn’t as demanding as getting a law
school or medical school degree. Thereafter, she worked as a floor
nurse for a year at a hospital but wound up in the pharmeceutical
industry. There are probably other degrees which would make good “add
ons” as well: accounting, computer science or perhaps a science degree
come to mind. Has anyone out there ever gone this route – and what
were the results?
One of my friends had a law degree and practiced criminal law for a couple of years and then decided to go back and get an engineering degree. Although, not a solo, he has successfully transitioned into a patent law practice where he is very marketable. I would be interested in hearing other stories.