Medical Ethics and Law: Further Issues

Module title	Medical Ethics and Law: Further Issues
Module code	LAW3126
Academic year	2024/5
Credits	15
Module staff	Dr Timon Hughes-Davies (Lecturer)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks		11

Module description

This module builds upon the Medical Ethics and Law Foundations module (LAW3175) and applies the principles learned in Term One to specific areas of medical law, examining contentious issues in more depth. You will consider how ethical principles interact with societal norms in the context of issues such as mental health law, surrogacy, mental capacity and elective surgeries.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aims of the module are to apply and develop your understanding of how legal and ethical principles apply in specific contexts, with an emphasis on research based approaches. You will apply the approaches and skills developed in the Medical Ethics and Law Foundations module to a variety of specific areas such as mental health law, human fertilisation and surrogacy, body modification and mental capacity law.

You will critically engage with the legal framework and the ethical debates relating to these areas of law and develop and understanding of how ethical and legal principles apply in practice.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the legal and ethical principles relevant to medical practice;
2. Understand and critically analyse specific issues arising in medical law in the contemporary legal and social context.
3. Synthesise and critically assess the content of legal and ethical norms.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

4. Demonstrate detailed and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of a range of legal and ethical concepts, values and principles and explain the relationships among them, and their limits;
5. Apply legal and ethical knowledge to a problem and construct an argument supported by relevant principles and authorities.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

6. Communicate and engage in debate effectively and accurately, using communication methods appropriate to the discipline;
7. Identify, retrieve and use efficiently a range of resources (including both legal and medical journals) with minimum guidance;
8. Work independently with minimal supervision and interact effectively within a learning group.

Syllabus plan

While the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Mental Health Law and Reform
Human Fertilisation and surrogacy
Mental Capacity Law
Elective Surgery and Body Modification
Societal and Policy Issues in Healthcare

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
28	122	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	22	11 x 2-hour lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	6	3 x 2-hour seminars
Guided Independent Study	52	Individual reading and lecture preparation
Guided Independent Study	18	Seminar preparation
Guided Independent Study	12	Formative assessment preparation
Guided independent study	40	Summative assessment preparation

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	1000 words	1-8	Written feedback supplemented by group feedback and oral feedback on request.

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	100	2,500 words	1-8	Written feedback supplemented by group feedback and oral feedback on request.
	0
	0
	0
	0
	0

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay (2500 words)	Essay (2500 words)	1-8	Referral/Deferral Period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to redo the assessment(s) as defined above. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Core text:

J Herring, Medical Law and Ethics, (9^th ed, OUP 2022)

Casebook:

E Jackson, Medical Law, Text, Cases and Materials, (6th edn, OUP 2022)

Key words search

Law, Medical Law, Ethics, Mental Health, Surrogacy, Surgery, Mental Capacity

Credit value	15
Module ECTS	7.5
Module pre-requisites	LAW2015, LAW3175
NQF level (module)	6
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	22/02/2024
Last revision date	22/02/2024