Ethics and law is a vertical theme, which runs throughout the five years of the MBChB programme. Students’ learning is designed to develop over the five years,in which they will cover the core topics and competencies outlined in the core content of learning issued by UK teachers of ethics and law.
In Year 1, medical students have an introduction to ethics and law during their unit Human Basis of Medicine. All Year 1 students undertake a 5-week element on Foundations in Ethics and Law. The ethics teaching covers the following topics:
Assessment in this unit comprises case study analysis in the Human Basis of Medicine exam.
MBChB students seeking more information about this course should check the Medicine homepage or Blackboard.
In Year 2, medical students develop their knowledge of ethics and law in seminars and lectures covering such topics as:
Year 3 students develop their knowledge and abilities in ethics and law in the Psychiatry and Ethics Unit. This Unit covers key aspects of the Core Curriculum in medical ethics and is not just about ethics in psychiatry.
The Ethics Element will help students to build on the principles and approaches they encountered in Years 1 and 2, in addition to introducing new ethical and legal issues relevant to Psychiatry.
Ethics Element teaching takes place in clinical Academies. Each Academy has an Ethics Element Coordinator who oversees the Ethics teaching, which mainly comprises case-based seminars with a good staff/student ratio. Materials for Academy teaching are provided by the Centre for Ethics in Medicine.
As well as building on the teaching in Ethics and Law students received in years 1 and 2 the following topics are also covered:
Assessment in this Unit comprises an Ethics case study (due in week 8) and multiple-choice questions in the end of Unit exam.
By the end of this Unit students will have gained/experienced
The course makes extensive use of Blackboard and Hippocrates. Please refer to the relevant pages for information about the course, course materials, and useful links.
Please direct queries to: year3-ethics@bristol.ac.uk
In Year 4, ethics and law feature particularly in teaching on Care of the Elderly and Reproductive Health and Care of the Newborn. Amongst the topics covered are:
In Year 5, ethical and legal issues are particularly considered in relation to Oncology and Palliative Medicine and to Preparing for Professional Practice. Amongst the topics covered are:
We offer supervision of SSCs in a range of topics in medical ethics and bioethics, including:
Students are encouraged to develop their own topics, in consultation with a member of staff. Please make contact as advised by the responsible MBChB SSC Co-ordinator.