Introduction to Healthcare Ethics (20 credits):

One of the ways we can start to unpick knotty ethical questions in professional practice is to think about what it is that makes some actions right and others wrong. We do this by studying ethical theory, which tries to explain why some actions are morally praiseworthy, permissible or impermissible. 

An understanding of ethical theory is the foundation upon which your understanding of healthcare ethics and law will be built. It will give you an analytic lens through which you can understand an ethical problem, and give you a toolkit you can use to develop responses to ethical problems.  As such, this mandatory unit is an essential step towards developing the ability to conduct research in healthcare ethics and law. 

The Introduction to Healthcare Ethics unit will equip you with knowledge and understanding of foundational philosophical principles and ethical theory in healthcare ethics, allowing you to critically engage with practical and theoretical ethical problems and take a critical stance towards healthcare law. This unit runs in TB1, alongside the Ethical Judgments in Healthcare Law unit. Together, these units provide grounding in healthcare ethics and healthcare law, preparing you to undertake independent research in these areas. You will build on these foundations in TB2, when you move to study the Contemporary Bioethics and Preparing for Publication in Healthcare Ethics and Law units. 

Assessment includes weekly formative writing tasks, a formative oral debate, and a 1500 word formative essay which is then turned into a 3000 word summative essay (100%) after feedback.

Ethical Judgments in Healthcare Law (40 credits):

When should a patient’s or client’s confidentiality be honoured? What are the elements of a legally valid consent? What should it mean to treat a person or animal in their ‘best interests’? When may life-sustaining treatment be withdrawn? Should the law allow euthanasia – not only of animals, but also humans? 

This unit explores these and related questions, which arise at the interface of healthcare practice(s), law, and ethics. After learning essential legal foundations, you will explore in-depth some landmark judgments in healthcare law. Healthcare law encompasses particular rules which apply to (e.g.) doctors, dentists, and vets, some of which adopt or express particular ethical positions. Throughout this unit, you will critically reflect on whether or to what extent legal rules and judgments are ethically sound.  

The Ethical Judgements in Healthcare Law unit will equip you with knowledge and understanding of healthcare ethics and law. This unit runs in TB1, alongside the Introduction to Healthcare Ethics unit. Together, these units provide a grounding in healthcare ethics and healthcare law, e.g., by introducing you to key theories, approaches, and terminology, and enabling you to undertake independent research in these areas. You will build on these foundations in TB2, when you move to study the Contemporary Bioethics and Preparing for Publication in Healthcare Ethics and Law units. 

Formative assessment includes seminar activities,  individual and group presentations and a 200 word written assignment (modelled on the summative written assignment).  Summative assessment is by an individual oral presentation (30%) and a 4000 word written assignment (70%).

Contemporary Bioethics (20 credits)

As a doctor, dentist or vet, you will need to make rational moral judgements that you can justify to your patients, the public, your peers and yourself. In this unit you will be introduced to real-life contentious issues that split opinion and test established moral theory, philosophical concepts and legal rules. You will become familiar with key debates and will learn to analyse and construct arguments on all sides. You will become skilled in navigating the territory between philosophical theory and practical moral problems (including being constrained by law), which will ultimately make you better at identifying moral issues in your professional practice and better at working with others to come to justifiable solutions. 

During this unit you will build on your learning from TB1, applying your knowledge and analytic skills to practical moral problems. The central subject is healthcare ethics, but you will also explore topics in the wider field of bioethics, for example environmental ethics. 

Across both TB2 units there is plenty of scope for you to pursue your interests in a range of topics across healthcare ethics and law. The units have been designed in such a way that, together, they cover learning of a skill set you will be able to draw on in your professional career. 

Formative assessment includes a 10 minute oral peer teaching presentation. The summative assessments will be a 10 minute oral presentation (25%), a simple evaluation of the extent of contribution a student has made to collaborating on organising and running the conference (e.g.pass/fail) (5%),and a2000 word clinical ethics consultation report (70%), marked by staff with written feedback given.  

Preparing for Publication in Healthcare Ethics and Law (40 credits):

This unit gives you the opportunity to explore in depth a topic of your choosing within healthcare ethics and law. You will harness the skills and knowledge you have developed so far and will build on these further as you work independently to focus on a targeted research question. You will engage in activities that are central to academic ethics and law, and that you can expect to take part in as a clinical professional with a specialist interest in ethics and law. By the end of the unit, you will have authored a paper that conforms to the formatting requirements of an academic journal, and you will have conducted in-depth, independent desk-based research and writing on a specific topic. This may serve as a launching point for publishing after graduating.  

The summatively assessed paper you submit for this unit is the peak of your learning on the iBSc Healthcare Ethics and Law programme. Here you will use the skills and knowledge you have developed on the units in TB1 and in the Contemporary Bioethics unit in TB2, and you will push this learning further still as you conduct independent research to develop a paper that follows the conventions of publication.