Definitions for "First-Professional Degree"
A degree that signifies both completion of the academic requirements for beginning practice in a given profession and a level of professional skill beyond that normally required for a bachelor's degree. UMB confers the following first-professional degrees: medicine (MD); dentistry (DDS); pharmacy (PharmD); and law (JD). Source: National Center for Education Statistics Glossary.
An award that requires completion of a program that meets 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. First-professional degrees may be awarded in the following 10 fields: Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.) Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.) Law (L.L.B., J.D.) Medicine (M.D.) Optometry (O.D.) Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.) Theology (M.Div., M.H.L., B.D., or Ordination) Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.)
An award that requires completion of a degree program that meets 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 before entering the degree program; and (3) a total of at least 6 academic years of college work to complete the degree program, including previously required college work plus the work required in the professional program itself. First-professional degrees may be awarded in the following 10 fields: chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.), osteopathic medicine (D.O.), dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), pharmacy (Pharm.D.), law (L.L.B. or J.D.), podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.), medicine (M.D.), theology (M.Div., M.H.L., B.D., or Ordination), optometry (O.D.), and veterinary medicine (D.V.M.).