Unit information: Patient and Professional Issues in Health Care Ethics and Law in 2014/15

Unit name	Patient and Professional Issues in Health Care Ethics and Law
Unit code	SSCMM0001
Credit points	30
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director	Professor. Ruud ter Meulen
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	COBMM0001
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Bristol Medical School
Faculty	Faculty of Health Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

Subject matter to be covered will include: (i.) ethical and legal issues relating to consent and refusal of health care, including competence, information and voluntariness, (ii.) ethical and legal issues relating to deciding for others, including incompetence and the role of proxy decision-makers, (iii.) ethical and legal issues relating to confidentiality, including the ethical, legal and professional basis of the obligation and conflicting obligations, (iv.) ethical and legal issues relating to the vulnerable professional, including inter-professional obligations, (v.) ethical and legal issues of conscience, including conscientious objection and "whistle-blowing", and (vi.) ethical and legal issues relating to justice in health care, including avoiding discrimination and allocating limited resources.

Aims: This Unit aims to provide students with a systematic understanding and critical awareness of further key issues surrounding the role of the health care professional, with regard both for the individual patient and society at large. The Unit will focus students’ attention on theoretical justifications for, and ethical and legal obligations arising in relation to, work in the health care professions including professionals’ self-care and care of others. Students will learn to distinguish between, critically appraise and apply some of the theories relating to professionalism, conscience and justice and will gain greater insight into and ability to critically reflect on the legal and professional obligations in this context.

This Unit also aims to provide students with a systematic understanding and critical awareness of further key issues surrounding the role of the health care professional, with regard both for the individual patient and society at large. The Unit will focus students’ attention on theoretical justifications for, and ethical and legal obligations arising in relation to, work in the health care professions including professionals’ self-care and care of others. Students will learn to distinguish between, critically appraise and apply some of the theories relating to professionalism, conscience and justice and will gain greater insight into and ability to critically reflect on the legal and professional obligations in this context.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this Unit, students will be able to:

1. Systematically understand core ethical and legal issues in the professional-patient relationship in health care and the theoretical justifications for and obligations arising from the role of professionals in health care;
2. critically assess and apply these issues to their practice, including developing original arguments and reflecting on their validity;
3. Undertake independent research on ethical and legal aspects of the professional-patient relationship and professional issues in health care, drawing on appropriate methodology and research tools; and
4. Show evidence of soundly reasoned and clearly communicated scholarship in health care ethics and law as it applies to this Unit.

Teaching Information

Student centred teaching & learning strategies will be promoted using the following methods:

• Online tutorials, incorporating discussion boards and guided reading
• Student-centred seminars
• Small group exercises

Assessment Information

This Unit will be assessed by one 6,000 word essay. Students will need to demonstrate understanding and application of the core ethical and legal issues arising in the chosen topic and how they relate to health care practice.

Reading and References

1. O’Neill O. (2002). Autonomy and Trust in Bioethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2. Dworkin G. (1998). The Theory and Practice of Autonomy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3. Buchanan AE & Brock DW. (1990). Deciding for Others: The Ethics of Surrogate Decision Marking. New York: Cambridge University Press.
4. Evans D. (2007). Values in Medicine: What Are We Really Doing to Patients? London: Routledge.
5. Surdyk PM & Egan EA, eds. (2006). Living Professionalism: Reflections on the Practice of Medicine. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
6. Daniels N. (1985). Just Health Care. New York: Cambridge University Press.