Postgraduate Course: Law and Medical Ethics 1: Fundamentals (LAWS11138)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The primary function of this module is to gain a solid grounding in the 'fundamentals' of medical jurisprudence (eg: the central and pervasive concepts and principles relating to consent, negligence, confidentiality and mental competence, among others), and discuss the relationship between the law, ethics, and the practice of medicine. The law must be founded on sound moral and ethical principles, but the two are not always necessarily the same; moreover, medicine is, in many ways, running in advance of legal precedent, and constantly throwing out new and more difficult ethical challenges.
Several controversial areas will be covered, particular importance being laid on current concepts of consent to and refusal of medical treatment, patient confidentiality, human rights, medical negligence, genetics, public health and mental health. |
| Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
The aims of this module are to equip you to:
* investigate the basic legal and ethical conflicts that arise in the practice of modern medicine
* define such concepts as personhood, paternalism and autonomy
* evaluate the importance and limitations of consent to medical procedures
* communicate a sense of the structure of, and concepts involved in negligence, from both legal and medical practice perspectives
* discuss the difficulties inherent in the duty of confidentiality, especially in the context of modern genetics and genetic diagnosis
* form an understanding of the concepts of 'mental competence' and incompetence, and the important effects this determination has on the legal and ethical requirements for patient treatment.
The objectives of this module are that, by the end, students should be able to:
* articulate and comment critically upon the fundamental legal and ethical principles and concepts that inform and influence the practice of modern medicine
* reflect upon the role that concepts such as personhood, paternalism and autonomy have on health care professional duties, as well as on patient rights
* critically evaluate the central position of consent/refusal in medical care
* effectively assess the current systems of compensation for medical negligence and propose reforms, where necessary
* constructively criticise the current safeguards, limitations and protections relating to confidentiality, genetics and mental health, and the conflicts that existing regulations and requirements create.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Graeme Laurie
Tel: (0131 6)50 2020
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Lene Mccool
Tel: (0131 6)50 2022
Email: |
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