Topic outline

  • Course Description

    Places; 20.

    This course allows medical students the opportunity to explore debates in Medical Ethics which inform contemporary ethical practice in Medicine and Healthcare. Students will be introduced to philosophical concepts and methods which will help them reflect on difficult cases drawn from real-life treatment scenarios and policy decisions.

    The aim of this course is to allow medical students the opportunity to explore debates in Medical Ethics which inform contemporary ethical practice in Medicine and Healthcare. Students will be introduced to philosophical concepts and methods which will help them reflect on difficult cases drawn from real-life treatment scenarios and policy decisions.

    Concepts covered will include standard ethical theories drawn on in debates about the ethics of Medicine and Healthcare, and related topics regarding moral psychology and issues of autonomy, justice and personhood.

    Methods covered will include general philosophical skills like the analysis and critical evaluation of arguments and theories, and more specific skills in Medical Ethics regarding the benefits and challenges of applying ethical theories to difficult cases.

    By the end of the course students will have had the opportunity to apply what they have learned to real-life cases and to begin forming a personal ethical viewpoint of their own as practitioners.

    The debates and cases covered will allow students to reflect on a variety of ethical issues in Medicine and Healthcare, including beginning and end of life issues, patient-practitioner relations, and ethical aspects of Healthcare and Public Health policy

    Course Coordinator  Dr Gerry Hough g.hough@abdn.ac.uk

    • What skills does the course develop?

      Knowledge of standard Ethical Theories and their application; critical thinking and analytical skills; communication skills – in particular, the ability to present sustained arguments for ethical conclusions or judgements, drawing on contemporary research material; reflective skills using real-life cases studies and personal viewpoint and experiences.


      • What will the timetable be like?

        One 1-hour lecture and one 2-hour seminar per week.


        • How will I be assessed?

          Class Test (30%). Two 2000 word essays (35% each).


          • What did previous students think about this course?

            New for 25-26

            • Useful Links

              Some excellent YouTube videos on Ethics in general, and Bioethics/Medical Ethics in particular:

              ·      Crash Course videos on Normative Ethics: e.g.,

              ,
              ,
              .

              WiPhi Philosophy Bioethics