الدرجة المهنية الأولى تمثل فئة من المؤهلات المهنية في المجالات التي تتطلب من الطلاب لإكمال الدرجة الجامعية السابقة قبل التسجيل. فهي تعتبر على مستوى برامج الدراسات العليا في نظام الولايات المتحدة لمتابعة الدراسة الجامعية السابقة، لكنها هي في الواقع الدرجة الأولى في هذه الموضوعات المهنية.
وتعتبر الدرجة الأولى المهنية الدرجة المؤهلة للمبتدئين في هذه المجالات المهنية.
العديد من هذه الدرجات استخدام مصطلح "دكتور" في العنوان، ولكن هذه الدرجات لا تحتوي على مكون بحث مستقل أو تتطلب أطروحة ، وينبغي أن لا يتم الخلط بينها وبين درجة الدكتوراه أو الدكتوراه البحثية الأخرى.
First-professional degrees represent a category of qualifications in professional subject areas that require students to have previously completed specified undergraduate coursework and/or degrees before enrolling. They are considered graduate-level programs in the U.S. system because the follow prior undergraduate studies, but they are in fact first degrees in these professional subjects. Holders of first-professional degrees are considered to have an entry-level qualification and may undertake graduate study in these professional fields following the award of the first-professional degree.Several of these degrees use the term “doctor” in the title, but these degrees do not contain an independent research component or require a dissertation (thesis) and should not be confused with PhD degrees or other research doctorates.A first-professional degree is 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. All first-professional degree programs are closely regulated by recognized professional and specialized accrediting agencies. See Accreditation and Quality Assurance.
FIRST-PROFESSIONAL DEGREE TITLES
First-professional degrees may be awarded in the
following 10 fields:
|
Doctor
of Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.)
|
Doctor
of Dental
Science (D.D.S.) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (D.M.D.)
|
Doctor of Jurisprudence
or Juris Doctor (J.D.)
|
Doctor of Medicine
(M.D.)
|
Doctor of Optometry
(O.D.)
|
Doctor of Osteopathic
Medicine/Osteopathy (D.O.)
|
Doctor of Pharmacy
(Pharm.D.)
|
Doctor of Podiatric
Medicine/Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.)
|
Master of Divinity
(M.Div.), Master of Hebrew Letters (M.H.L.) or Rabbinical Ordination (Rav)
|
Doctor of Veterinary
Medicine (D.V.M.).
|
RESEARCH DOCTORATE DEGREE TITLES
NOTE:
This is
the list of frequently awarded research doctorate degree titles accepted by
the National Science Foundation (NSF) as representing degrees equivalent in
content and level to the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.
|
Doctor of
Arts (D.A.)
|
Doctor of
Business Administration (D.B.A.)
|
Doctor of
Church Music (D.C.M.)
|
Doctor of
Canon Law (J.C.D./D.C.L.)
|
Doctor of
Design (D.Des.)
|
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
|
Doctor
of Engineering (D.Eng./D.E.Sc./D.E.S.)
|
Doctor of
Fine Arts (D.F.A.)
|
Doctor of
Hebrew Letters (D.H.L.)
|
Doctor of
Industrial Technology (D.I.T.)
|
Doctor of
Juridical Science (J.S.D./S.J.D.)
|
Doctor of
Music (D.M.)
|
Doctor of
Musical/Music Arts (D.M.A.)
|
Doctor of
Music Education (D.M.E.)
|
Doctor of
Modern Languages (D.M.L.)
|
Doctor of
Nursing Science (D.N.Sc.)
|
Doctor of
Philosophy (Ph.D.)
|
Doctor of
Public Administration (D.P.A.)
|
Doctor of
Physical Education (D.P.E.)
|
Doctor of
Public Health (D.P.H.)
|
Doctor of
Sacred Theology (S.T.D.)
|
Doctor of
Science (D.Sc./Sc.D.)
|
Doctor of
Social Work (D.S.W.)
|
Doctor of
Theology (Th.D.)
|
