Please note: Due to alternative arrangements for teaching and
assessment in place from 18 March 2020 to mitigate against the restrictions in
place due to COVID-19, information shown for 2019/20 may not always be accurate.
Please note: you are viewing unit and programme information
for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Medicine and Law |
| Unit code |
LAWD30004 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
H/6
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
|
| Unit director |
Professor. Sheelagh McGuinness |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
For Medical Law (LAWD20039), Law of Tort (LAWD10011)
|
| Co-requisites |
None, other than those co-requisites for undertaking study on the programme BSc (Hons) in Bioethics.
|
| School/department |
University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Description including Unit Aims
This unit provides an introduction to the general principles of Medical Law and a detailed study of specific topics within the field. General topics are:
- medical ethics and medical law;
- regulation of the medical profession;
- consent to/authorisation of treatment both for persons who have, and who are deemed to lack, decision-making capacity.
Specific topics, not all of which will be covered each year, are:
- allocation of resources;
- beginning of life (contraception and abortion; wrongful birth and wrongful life; genetic screening and counselling; ante-natal duties of care);
- end of life (definitions of death and dying; treatment of patients with serious/terminal illness; advance directives; assisted dying);
- medical research;
- mental health
- organ donation & transplantation; patient safety.
Intended Learning Outcomes
- By the end of this unit a successful student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a good understanding of the principles of Medical Law and the areas of medical ethics that relate to the law, and a facility in relating one to the other;
- Demonstrate an understanding of relevant cases and statutes, being able to state the law accurately;
- Critically evaluate when, how, and why law should govern medical practice;
- Explain and apply legal principles to practical and policy problems
- Think critically about ways in which the law could be reformed
- Exercise and apply critical legal research skills
Teaching Information
20 lectures and 8 tutorials
1 formative assessment: 1 x 1,500 word coursework. Formative assessments do not count towards final mark and can be optional.
Assessment Information
1 x formative assessment (submitted for marking), plus additional informal formative feedback opportunities as indicated by the unit coordinator.
Formative assessments do not count towards final mark and can be optional.
1 x summative assessments: 1 x 3,000 word coursework. Summative assessments do count towards final mark.
The assessments will assess all of the intended learning outcomes for this unit.
Reading and References
The recommended background text for the unit is Emily Jackson, Medical Law: Text, Cases and Materials, (4th Ed.) Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016.
