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. Judy Laing |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None, other than those pre-requisites for undertaking study on the programme BSc (Hons) in Bioethics |
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 |
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:
Specific topics, not all of which will be covered each year, are:
The unit is intended to enable students to develop a good understanding of the principles of Medical Law, an introduction to the areas of medical ethics that relate to the law and a facility in relating one to the other. Although we expect students to become familiar with the relevant cases and statutes, a very important aspect of the course is the question of what the law should be.
Sometimes, in fields characterised by rapid technical advances, there will be no law. In other areas, the law is being made and public opinion solicited. The students’ own (considered) views matter; an exchange of ideas is an essential component of the course. Often, lecturers and students will differ in their opinions. We fully expect this and hope it will lead to good discussion.
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
This unit is also intended to improve benchmark skills, specifically Information Technology skills, which are used in particular to find recent case law relating to all aspects of medical law. Furthermore, in distinction to the unit LAWD20039, this unit aims to develop and test higher level skills. In addition to relating what they learn on this unit to their learning on the other units studied on the BSc (Hons) in Bioethics, students will be expected to be able to relate aspects of medical law to their prior learning on their originating programme (usually MBChB Medicine) and clinical practice.
22 lectures, 8 tutorials & 2 guest lectures/workshops.
Two summative pieces of coursework of 2,000 words, the first contributing 40% to the final mark and the second contributing 60% to the final mark. Students will also have the opportunity to submit one formative essay.
Jackson, E. (2013) Medical Law: Text, Cases and Materials (3rd Edition), Oxford University Press, Oxford