What is a First Professional Degree?
First professional degrees are academic degrees that are earned on the basis of the development of practical skills related to the day to day function within a particular profession. This is in contrast to undergraduate degree programs, where the emphasis is more on analysis of the subject matter and theories that underpin a given field. In most cases, a first professional degree is pursued after the student has obtained an undergraduate degree and has a firm grasp of both theory and analysis as they relate to the field. While the exact structure of a first professional degree program will depend greatly on the educational standards set by the nation of residence, there are several elements that are more or less common in most situations. First, the professional degree program normally requires the successful completion of an academic degree program associated with the same field. The idea behind this process is to ensure that the student is familiar with the basics of the profession,
