Postgraduate Course: Introduction to Health Law (LAWS11541)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course provides an introduction to the broad discipline of health law. It will provide students with a grounding in core health law topics (such as consent and clinical negligence) and concepts (such as autonomy), as well as engaging with contemporary issues in the field, such as the role of AI in healthcare. |
| Course description |
This course provides an introduction to the broad discipline of heath law. It is suitable both for students with a background in law (but not specifically health law) and students who have a background in health (but are new to law). Our experience of teaching these students together is that the exploration of topics at the nexus of law and health, from different perspectives, leads to lively debate which benefits both cohorts of students.
In order to provide students with a strong foundation from which to consider specific topics in this field the course will commence with two seminars that outline the landscape of health governance in the UK, as well as proving an introduction to bioethical reasoning in the health law context. Students will then be well placed to tackle core health law topics in the remainder of the first half of the course, for example in relation to capacity and consent, clinical negligence, mental health law. In the second half of the course we will build on this knowledge in order to extend students¿ understanding of contemporary issues in the field, such as reproduction and the law, issues at the start and end of life, and the role of AI in health law. This broad structure will remain year on year, although the core topics in weeks 1-5 will be taught by different members of the subject area, and the specialist topics in weeks 6-10 can be rotated according to the expertise of available subject area members.
The course will be delivered by way of in-person, two-hour seminars. Students will be expected to complete essential reading (as provided on a resource list on Learn) in advance, and come to class ready to discuss their views. Class participation will be facilitated by the seminar leader, and may take the form of small group and/or whole class discussions, depending on the topic. The course will be assessed by way of a 4000-word essay, which students will be prepared for both by written feedback on a 1000 word formative and oral feedback on their argumentation during class discussions.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The coursework will comprise an Essay of 4000 words (100%). |
| Feedback |
There will be a formative essay of 1000 words in preparation for the 4000 word essay. This will follow a similar format to the final assessment, in order that markers can comment on key skills such as the development of well justified argumentation and clear conclusions. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Knowledge and Sources of Law: demonstrate a sound grasp of core and specialist areas of health law
- Subject-specific Skills: to develop and apply critical thinking informed by legal and ethical analysis of core and specialist areas of health law
- General Transferable Intellectual Skills: independent critical analysis and problem solving through ethical and legal discourse, and the application of that analysis in discussion format.
- Key Personal Skills: written and oral skills necessary to deliver the above.
- Subject-specific Legal and Ethical Values: autonomy, empathy, critical self-reflection; academic integrity.
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Reading List
The core text for this course is Mason and McCall Smith¿s Law and Medical Ethics, 12th edition, OUP, 2023 (with Farrell & Dove). This provides the foundational material for the entirety of the course. Multiple copies are available in the library, as well as digitally.
Students will be directed to additional resources in the weekly handouts on Learn.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
¿ Critical self-reflection
¿ Creative problem-solving
¿ Skilled communication |
| Keywords | Health,law,ethics,health professionals,patients |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Gerard Porter
Tel: (0131 6)50 2023
Email: Gerard.Porter@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Hannah Ackroyd
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: hackroyd@ed.ac.uk |
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