ETH-40044 - Module Specification
School of Law
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

ETH-40039 Introduction to Medical Ethics and Palliative Care

Description for 2024/25

This module is designed for students on the MA Medical Ethics and Law and MA Medical Ethics and Palliative Care, but is also available to students on the LLM Law and Society and other programmes at the discretion of the Programme Director.
Students taking this module can expect to acquire knowledge of the key ethical theories, frameworks and principles that inform medical and healthcare ethics, to learn to use these tools to analyse practical moral problems in medical and healthcare ethics, and to develop an understanding of the norms and conventions of academic argument and writing in applied ethics.
Topics covered typically include:
- consequentialism
- deontology
- virtue ethics
- principlism
- autonomy and paternalism
- the ethical foundations of consent
- evaluating and constructing ethical arguments
- introduction to the library and electronic resources
- how to write essays in ethics
The contact teaching is delivered in an intensive three-day block in order to be accessible to healthcare practitioners in full-time employment. Teaching is by interactive lectures, plenary and small-group discussion. Students on the MA Medical Ethics and Law and the MA Medical Ethics and Palliative Care will meet with their supervisor during the teaching block, and all students are invited to submit a 500-word assignment plan or similar short piece of formative work for feedback.

To equip students with a knowledge of key ethical theories, frameworks and principles that inform academic debates in medical and healthcare ethics.
To enable students to use these tools to analyse practical moral problems in medicine and healthcare.
To provide students with a practical understanding of the norms and conventions of academic argument and writing in applied ethics.

Intended Learning Outcomes

describe, analyse, compare and evaluate key ethical theories, frameworks and/or principles applicable to medical and healthcare ethics: 1
assess and engage with arguments in the academic literature concerning ethical theories, frameworks and/or principles and their application to practical issues in medicine and healthcare: 1
synthesise findings into a logical argument that explicitly addresses the assignment question, and defend the argument against foreseeable criticisms: 1
communicate complex issues and arguments in a clear and structured manner: 1
employ appropriate academic conventions regarding citation and referencing: 1
use knowledge of ethical theories, frameworks and/or principles to analyse and respond to practical ethical issues in medicine and healthcare: 1

Study hours

Interactive lecture/seminar/workshop sessions:17
Individual discussions with tutor (face-to-face and/or via electronic communications): 1
Background reading: 100
Preparation of assignment plan: 20
Assignment research and writing: 162

School Rules

Barred combination ETH-40039 Introduction to Medical Ethics and Palliative Care
For students enrolled on the MA in Medical Ethics and Law, the LLM in Medical Ethics and Palliative Care or the LLM in Law and Society there are no additional entry requirements.
Students enrolled on other postgraduate programmes may be admitted to the module at the discretion of the Module Leader and the Director of the MA in Medical Ethics and Law.

Description of Module Assessment