Medical Ethics & Law

Medical Ethics and Law, established in 1978, examines in-depth the legal and ethical questions raised by medical practice and science. The Medical Law only program is a pathway under the MA Medical Ethics and Law. Students can decide at induction which program they wish to pursue (ethics and law; or law only, with the option of taking one ethics module).

There are always developments in medical practice and science of great interest to medical ethics and law. Huge legal and ethical questions are raised by advances in fields such as genetics and assisted reproduction. In a changing moral climate, debates about conflicts between a pregnant woman and her fetus, or about physician-assisted suicide, are very much alive. There are challenging ethical and legal questions about psychiatry, about capacity issues in relation to treatment decisions, about the allocation of scarce medical resources, about autonomy and public health, and many other issues.

These courses are designed for medical or legal professionals, graduates of a relevant discipline, and those embarking on further research in this area. You will study the methods of reasoning and analysis in law and ethics (if doing the joint program, or mainly law if doing the medical law programmed) and examine selected areas of health care and medical practice from medical law and ethics perspective.

JOIN US!