Medical Ethics and the Law - Fundamental Issues in Consent and Negligence (Distance Learning) (P01503)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : LAW-P-P01503

The primary function of the course is to discuss the relationship between the law and the practice of medicine with particular emphasis on modern developments in the latter. The law must be founded on sound moral principles; moreover, medicine is, in many ways, running in advance of legal precedent. On both counts, therefore, the issues must also be considered on an ethical plane and this aspect will be emphasised repeatedly. In this course there is a basis for concentration on fundamental or generally applicable issues in medicine as a field which raises many moral issues. Several controversial areas will be covered, particular importance being laid on current concepts of consent to and refusal of medical treatment, human rights, negligence and mental health.

Entry Requirements

? Costs : Students should have regular and reliable access to the Internet. Print consumables (paper and ink) would be recommended to provide hard copy of some on screen text and materials (e.g. articles).

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Law, (School of Law, Schedule F)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, you will:
- have a good idea of the basic legal and ethical conflicts which arise in the practice of modern medicine;
- understand such concepts as personhood, paternalism and autonomy and will be able to evaluate the importance and limitations of consent to medical procedures;
- have formed a sense of the structure and concepts involved in negligence from both legal and medical practice perspectives
- understand the difficulties of apportioning medical resources
- and have looked at all these issues in the context of comparative jurisdictions.
This is not primarily a course on litigation for medical negligence. Nor is it concerned with what is generally known as forensic medicine.

Assessment Information

One Essay, 5000 words (60%); two pieces of assessed work (20% each)

Note: Completion of the Certificate, the Diploma and progression through the LLM programme will be subject to participation in and completion of core activities within this module.