Students in the HJA Law Clinic work with patient families of Georgetown’s Division of Community Pediatrics, which delivers low-barrier access to healthcare through a mobile medical van that parks in low-income neighborhoods and health centers located at two high-needs DC high schools. Healthcare providers refer patients to the HJA Law Clinic for help in areas that implicate health, such as housing, public benefits, education, and family law. Fourth-year medical students also rotate in the HJA Law Clinic and participate as full members of the legal advocacy team.

Law students in other Law Center clinics engaged in health advocacy or policy work also interact with medical students who provide valuable medical expertise as needed. Whether they are writing compassionate release letters for prisoners at high-risk for COVID-19 complications, advocacting for children with special health care needs to improve their access to oral health services, or assessing the health impacts of poultry farming on workers, these law students learn first-hand how having a medical partner on their team can advance their legal advocacy.

Other opportunities exist for law students to engage in the HJA’s work through supervised research projects, research assistant positions, and pro bono hours. Each year, pro bono law students work with teams of second-year medical students to help them prepare for their annual Capitol Hill Advocacy Day. Law students also contribute to toolkits and formative evaluations for new medical-legal partnerships, present at national conferences, and co-author publications on health justice.