Before she went to law school, Maria Harghel 3L wanted to be a doctor. “I have many people in my family with a medical background,” she says. “But it didn’t work out for me.” A family member suggested that she consider being a lawyer. Despite having two lawyers in her family, “I didn’t really know what being a lawyer meant at that time,” she says. “I changed my major to political science and sociology instead of pre-med. Then, I had an internship with a real estate law firm in college and I really enjoyed it as my first experience working in a law office.”
During her first year at Hofstra Law, Maria attended a Dinner with Lawyers event and decided to sit at the health law table. “I met several alumni in the health law field. One worked for a pharmaceutical company, one worked for the Catholic health system, and one worked for Northwell,” she says. “It was an amazing networking experience and a great way to find out what work in health law actually entails.”
“Medicine in a clinical setting just wasn’t for me. But my decision to pursue health law was a great way to combine my interest in medicine with the law. And I would love to work with doctors. The work never gets boring.”
In her second year of law school, Maria pursued more opportunities in health law, including enrolling in a health law course. “It was my favorite class, and further solidified my interest in the field,” she says. She also joined the Health Law Society and listened in on a panel that included her current supervisor at Northwell and another alumnus, whom she had spoken with at the health law table in her first year, and who was working at Garfunkel Wild. “I wanted more exposure to health law, and I asked her for some guidance. She gave some ideas about internships and externships and suggested an externship at Northwell.”
During her externship this summer, Maria has been working with the health department at Northwell’s Office of Legal Affairs creating and amending hospital policies. “Now that the state of emergency with COVID-19 has ended and executive orders are no longer in effect, we’re navigating the changes and keeping Northwell’s policies up-to-date and ensuring that they are complying with the law.”
She has also been working on a telehealth research chart. “Many licensing requirements for telehealth were waived during the pandemic so patients could be seen by out-of-state providers,” she says. But now that has changed. “We are working on a summary of health bills that have been passed this year to stay up to date.”
“I like that this is the first time I’m seeing a whole team come together when it comes to challenging and novel legal questions. They are on top of everything. They pay attention to detail and consider the what ifs and plan Bs to ensure that everything is done properly, that patients are getting the best care, and that Northwell is meeting their needs,” she says.
“I have felt so welcomed and part of the team at Northwell. They let me get involved in everything, and they ask me if anything is of interest. Although my main interest is health law, I wanted some exposure to labor and employment law, including issues involved with employee contracts and physician discipline,” she says. She has had an opportunity to research those issues and sat in on virtual arbitration hearings. She has also researched some corporate law issues, including research on rules and regulations for establishing advisory boards for a cancer institute.
“My ultimate goal is to work as general counsel in a hospital,” Maria says. “I love hospitals, but I want to get some law firm experience first.” She is considering another externship in the fall, possibly with Legal Aid or with the Attorney General’s office in the health care bureau, or with a health law firm.
“Health law is very vast — there are so many diverse opportunities,” she says. “Medicine in a clinical setting just wasn’t for me. But my decision to pursue health law was a great way to combine my interest in medicine with the law. And I would love to work with doctors. The work never gets boring.”
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