Course Details in 2027/28 Session

Module Title	Ethics and Law in Clinical Practice: A Reflective Case Study
School	Institute of Clinical Sciences
Department	Birmingham Medical School
Module Code	01 26370
Module Lead	Dr David Thewlis
Level	Honours Level
Credits	10
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-2 hours Tutorial-5 hours Guided independent study-93 hours Total: 100 hours
Exclusions
Description	This module requires students to discuss ethico-legal issues in health care practice in order to help demonstrate that they will be safe and effective clinical practitioners. This module requires students to revisit the concepts of medical ethics and law first introduced in modules in the first and second year (5 year programme students) or the first year only (GEC students). Although learning outcomes relating to ethics and law are a feature of all clinical experiences and will have been raised with / discussed by medical students and their supervisors, this provides an opportunity for a formal demonstration of their awareness of ethico-legal issues in health care in both their own professional practice and for the profession as a whole, and their ability to apply core concepts to the analysis of critical issues / situations. Students will complete a write up of one case from clinical practice). Students will choose a case from their own clinical experience and reflect upon the ethical and/or legal issues, (as defined by the GMC and other relevant professional bodies) demonstrating that they understand their professional obligations of ensuring patient safety and welfare.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Reflect critically on their clinical experience from an ethical and legal point of view. Apply the principle of ethics and law learnt in the early years of the programme to their own clinical practice and to the identification and analysis of critical incidents in clinical care. (We would expect as a minimum at least six references per case.) Demonstrate the capacity for life long learning, by drawing critically and independently on public and professional sources of information and opinion, to update their ethico-legal understanding. Demonstrate an awareness of how their professional ethical and legal obligations as defined by the GMC and other relevant professional bodies are directly linked to both (1) being a professional and effective practitioner and (2) ensuring patient safety and welfare.
Assessment	26370-01 : Ethics Final Mark : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	1100 word Reflective Case Study
Other	None
Reading List