Undergraduate Course: Fundamental Issues in Medical Jurisprudence (LAWS10166)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is designed as an introduction to medical jurisprudence, being an Honours level course that explores issues at the interface between law and ethics in health and medicine. The focus is primarily on the legal dimensions of the doctor/patient relationship and associated healthcare services, including consent, clinical negligence, mental health and public health. The aims of this course are: (1) to introduce students to the stimulating and challenging dynamics of the interface between law, medicine and ethics in the delivery of core health care services and research practice; (2) to equip students with the necessary critical faculties with which to examine and evaluate the role of law and ethical discourse in the regulation of medicine and medical and clinical services, including research; and (3) To develop writing and discursive skills on matters of significant contemporary importance in an interdisciplinary and ever-changing environment. |
| Course description |
The type of issues that may be taught and discussed during the course include:
Consent and Autonomy
Confidentiality
Clinical negligence and patient redress
Organ donation for transplantation
Ownership and control of bodily materials
Public health
Health research governance
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Spaces on this course are allocated as part of the Law Honours Course Allocation process. Places are generally only available to students who must take Law courses. To request a space on this course, please email Law.courseselections@ed.ac.uk |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | This course is only open to visiting students coming through a direct exchange with the School of Law (including Erasmus students on a Law-specific Exchange). Exchange students outside of Law and independent study abroad students are not eligible to enrol in this course, with no exceptions.
**Please note that 3rd year Law courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces.**
Priority will be given to students studying on exchange within the Law department, and it is highly unlikely that there will be additional spaces for general exchange students & independent study abroad students to enrol; we will look into this on a case-by-case basis in September/January. Visiting students are advised to bear in mind that enrolment in specific courses can never be guaranteed, and you may need to be flexible in finding alternatives in case your preferred courses have no available space.
These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces.
Students should have a sound grasp of the fundamentals of Delict, Contract, Property and Human Rights |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| 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 consist of an essay of 4,000 words (100%). |
| Feedback |
-Students will receive feedback in class, in the context of the discussion of the materials assigned for each session.
-Students will be given the opportunity to deliver a formative assessment, in the form of a short essay (1000 words) on a topic to be indicated by the Course Organiser.
-Students will also receive feedback through via small group discussions which will take place to discuss weekly topics in class
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- 1. Knowledge and Sources of Law:
To demonstrate a sound grasp of the foundational elements of medical jurisprudence, including the role of the laws of consent, negligence, confidentiality and the cross-cutting human rights dimensions
- 2. Subject-specific Skills:
- To develop and apply critical thinking informed by ethical analysis
- To apply said critical thinking to commentary and critique of law¿s role in regulating medicine and healthcare services, including research
- 3. General Transferable Intellectual Skills:
- Independent critical analysis
- Interdisciplinary understandings of common problems
- Problem-solving through reasoned and well-justified ethical and legal discourse
- Synthesis of complex information and ability to subject to informed critique
- 4. Key Personal Skills:
- Written and oral skills necessary to deliver the above
- Group working and interaction
- Intellectual development through interdisciplinary engagement
- 5. Subject-specific Legal and Ethical Values:
- autonomy
- critical self-reflection
- consideration of others
- academic integrity
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Reading List
The core text for this course is Farrell and Dove, Mason and McCall Smith¿s Law and Medical Ethics, 12th edition, (Oxford University Press, 2023).
Students will be directed to additional resources in the weekly handouts.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will develop autonomy and initiative in defining problems and identifying and developing the appropriate response
-Students will develop a critical understanding of the key debates, practices and policy considerations in this area.
-Students will develop an increased awareness of a range of disciplinary perspectives and the capacity to synthesise these when appropriate
-Students will develop the ability to recognise and work through ethical issues, and to handle sensitive topics and material with due care and attention
-Students will be supported to develop critical thinking skills in order to become critical lawyers or critical legal scholars.
-Students will develop a critical understanding of key theories in medical law and ethics, as well as how they are applied in practice in healthcare settings.
-Students will learn through discussions in class the value of sharing ideas about topics covered in the course, which will enhance their ability to critically discuss topics covered on the course.
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| Keywords | Fund Med |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Anne-Maree Farrell
Tel: (0131 6)50 2020
Email: A.Farrell@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Emma Hughes
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: Emma.Hughes@ed.ac.uk |
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