Medical Law

Entry requirements

2:1 undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline, e.g. law, medicine, philosophy, theology, social science, one of the life sciences, dentistry or nursing studies.

Alternative qualifications:

Evidence of achievement of an academic level comparable to at least upper second class honours standard through past studies and where previous study, work or experience has made the applicant a suitable candidate, will also be considered.

Months of entry

September

Course content

This course examines in depth the legal questions raised by medical practice and science. The Medical Law pathway forms a part of the MA Medical Ethics & Law course, which was founded in 1978, and is an important part of the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics, the first of its kind in the UK.

This is a time of great interest in medical ethics and law. Huge questions are raised by advances in fields such as genetics and assisted reproduction. In a changing moral climate, debates about conflicts between mother and fetus, or about physician-assisted suicide, are very much alive. There are challenging questions about psychiatry, about the allocation of scarce medical resources, about the boundaries of the market in medicine, and about the law and ethics of medical research.

This course is 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 examine selected areas of health care and medical practice from a medical law perspective.