Many aspiring lawyers enter law school with images of Atticus Finch dancing in their heads. But for Patrick Egan, a more fitting role model might have been Smokey the Bear.

Egan became interested in the intersection between medicine and law while working in administrative roles at a medical school and hospital in Washington, D.C. But he had little interest in malpractice litigation, a mainstay of health law practice at many firms.

"By the time you go to court, you've already lost," Egan said. "I'd rather keep doctors out of trouble. I'd rather prevent the fire than put it out."

Since graduating from the law school in May 2010, Egan landed his ideal job at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he works in the Office of Compliance and Privacy.

"I could not have been luckier," the Wilmington, N.C. native said. "I am a lawyer and I get to work for an institution that cares for sick children and their families. That really means a lot to me â€" to be of some help, however small, to an institution that does so much good for people."

Egan is one of several attorneys at CHOP who work to ensure that the hospital is avoiding and addressing potential conflicts of interest between its doctors and pharmaceutical companies or medical device manufacturers.

"It's the institution's responsibility to be aware if a physician has even a perceived conflict of interest and to ensure that any such conflict doesn't affect patient care," Egan said, noting that recently enacted federal health reforms have put a new focus on industry contributions to doctors.

Calling the federal reforms "not perfect," Egan endorsed the new focus on making industry funding of doctors more transparent. "I certainly want to know if my doctor's working for me or for Pfizer," he said.

Delighted to work for an institution whose mission he wholeheartedly supports, Egan said the law school gave him sure footing to embark on his career.

"For what I wanted to do, the health law track was amazing," Egan said, crediting professors Barry Furrow, director of the Health Law Program, and Robert Field, who holds joint appointments at the law school and Drexel's School of Public Health, as well as adjunct faculty who are veteran practitioners in the field.

"I learned everything from how our health system is designed to how it is funded to how it is abused," he said. "The curriculum served me very well."

And, Egan said, the law school's Co-op Program enabled him to gain vital experience working in the General Counsel's Office at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was able to focus his experience on health care law.

No matter which specific health reforms outlast the current debate in Washington, Egan knows that important work lies ahead.

"The relationship between law and health care is complicated," he said. "They very much need each other."