First professional degree

A first professional degree is a type of academic degree designed to prepare the holder for a particular profession by emphasizing practical skills over theory and analysis. These professions are typically licensed or otherwise regulated by a governmental or government-approved body. Areas such as architecture, law, medicine, engineering, dentistry, chiropractic, optometry, pharmacy, social work, religious ministry, or education, among others, generally require such degrees for licensing.

In practice[edit | edit source]

First professional degrees can be awarded as undergraduate or graduate entry degrees (Bachelors, Masters, or Doctorate). Titling of first professional degrees in certain professional fields as a "doctorate" originated in the United States. For example, U.S. law schools once called their law degree the LL.B (abbv. Legum Baccalaureus; Latin: "Bachelor of Laws") before introducing the J.D. (abbv. Juris Doctor; Latin: "Teacher of Laws"); U.S. Medical schools once granted M.B. degrees (abbv. Medicinae Baccalaureus; Latin: "Bachelor of Medicine") before they changed to the M.D. (abbv. Medicinae Doctor; Latin: "Teacher of Medicine"). Recently there has been a world wide movement to structure professional programs as "graduate-entry" (meaning requiring a previous degree). It should be noted that some graduate-entry programs have continued to call their degree a bachelors even though they may still require a previous bachelors for admission similar to their American doctorate equivalents.^[1],^[2],^[3] This movement towards the graduate-entry model reflects an emphasis that has been placed on teaching professional skills at an advanced, intensive level.^[4] 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. ^[5] Currently, physical therapy programs in the US are transitioning their entry-level or "first professional degree" from the Bachelors or Masters to a "doctorate" (Doctor of Physical Therapy) as well. Most countries outside the U.S. continue to only award doctorates as higher academic research degrees. Not all faculties in the U.S. have chosen to change their first professional degrees to "doctorates". For example in the field of architecture, the professional first degree is called a 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 to a "doctorate",^[6] and DFA programs are growing also.^{[citation needed]}

Many of those who obtained their first professional degree outside of the United States (which may be a bachelors) are considered to have an "equivalent" qualification to their doctorate counterpart in the United States. 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 would be allowed to use the "MD" and is referred to as "doctor".^[7]

Some first professional degrees such as the Juris Doctor, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Doctor of Pharmacy, Doctor of Dental Surgery, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Optometry and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine have the term "Doctor" in the title, but they are not academic research doctorates such as is the Ph.D. degree.^[8]

For example,

In medicine, the first professional degree is a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (B.M., Ch.B.), (M.B.B.S.) or Doctor of Medicine (U.S. M.D.), (Canada M.D.C.M. or MD) or Dr.med (Germany) degree depending on the country, 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-U.S. M.D.) or a Ph.D. in a medical science (e.g. Anatomy). Because they are considered equivalent medical degrees, in the United States each state board of medicine allows those who have been granted a "bachelor of medicine" overseas the right to use the title "MD" while practicing in the United States.

In law, the first professional degree is a Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Civil Law or Juris Doctor degree, depending on the University. The terminal academic research degree is the J.S.D., LL.D. or Ph.D., depending on the university.

In engineering, Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Applied Science degrees are commonly awarded in the UK and Canada respectively, and the Bachelor of Science in an engineering field is awarded in the United States. The advanced professional degree usually awarded is the Master of Engineering, although some schools have the option of an Engineer's degree. The terminal academic research degree is the Ph.D., Sc.D. or DEng.

In addition, in the Netherlands, engineering students can earn Bachelor's (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).

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 3-6 years of structured study towards advanced professional practice. Coursework is followed by a professional project that contributes to the students organization, industry or profession.

Professional degrees[edit | edit source]

In some fields, especially those linked to a profession (e.g. medicine, dentistry, law, architecture, pharmacy, social work, religious ministry, engineering, accounting, education, etc.), a distinction is to be drawn between a first professional degree, an advanced professional degree, and a terminal academic degree:

A first professional degree is generally required by law or custom to practice the profession without limitation.
An advanced professional degree provides further training in a specialized area of the profession.

The American DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) is a requisite for the MS (Master of Science) in Dentistry which is a requisite for the Ph.D. in this field. Similarly, the American MD (Doctor of Medicine) is a notch below the MS and Ph.D. in Medical Science (such as anatomy, pathology, microbiology, etc.).

A first professional degree is an academic degree designed to prepare the holder for a particular career or profession, fields where scholarly research and academic activity are not the work, but rather the practice of a profession. In many cases, the first professional degree is also the terminal degree because no further advanced degree is required for practice in that field even though more advanced academic research degrees may exist.