| CODE | FME5019 | ||||||
| TITLE | Medical Law and Ethics | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Family Medicine | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will provide an introduction to the concepts and theories in moral theory and medical law. Patient autonomy, beneficence, freedom from harm and justice are discussed in the context of family practice. Confidentiality and other issues are also discussed. The ethics and principles of Certification will be explored sufficiently for the student to write and evaluate the various types of certificate a family physician might be expected to issue and the different obligations to the patient and to the receiving agency. These include driving, Social Security, Disease surveillance, death and grievous bodily harm, air travel, diving, immunization and the Courts of Law. Overview of the Healthcare Professions Act subsidiary regulations and other health related legislation will ensure that the course participants are well versed with their legal obligations towards the patient and society. The ultimate concern of all family doctors must be the welfare of each patient in the context of the family and the community. In providing a wide range of medical services, the family physician often is required to make health care decisions based on both ethical issues and medical parameters. Family Doctors have to work in an open environment as patients and society demand greater accountability and as developments in science and society provoke greater awareness of rights and responsibilities. All practitioners have to continuously check their actions and omissions against an ethical and legal framework. The local major laws covering the practice of medicine are discussed. Study-unit Aims: This study-unit aims to describe the basic principles of Health Care ethics, morality and medical law. Specific examples will be used to illustrate these. Research ethics and the issues related to justice and resources allocation will also feature in the unit. The participants will be expected to integrate these principles. Learning Outcomes: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Demonstrate an understanding of the four principles framework in Health Care Ethics in daily community practice. - Apply the basic principles of morality and medical law as applied in general medical practice. - Discuss the principles that underlie the Maltese Mental Health Act and Health Professions Act. - Comprehend the principles of normative ethics in the context of the practice of Family Medicine. - Distinguish between normative ethics and natural law. - Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical issues that arise during medical research. - Apply in the submitted case studies the principles of justice and resource allocation in everyday practice of Family Medicine. - Apply the current legal framework in the Mental Health Act and the Health Care Professions Act. - Demonstrate the effects of end of life issues in day to day medical practice in the community. - Demonstrate an appreciation for the value and dignity of human life. - Discuss an understanding of cultural, social and religious customs and beliefs that may differ from his or her own. - Demonstrate an understanding of the individual, cultural, institutional and societal biases that may affect ethical decision-making. - Express medical reasonableness as a factor in whether to offer or withhold treatment. - Appraise best interests of patient vs. autonomy (e.g., a patient chooses discharge to home when nursing home would be advisable). - Comprehend the principle of double effect - it is acceptable to perform an action that is good in itself that has two effects (an intended good effect that is otherwise not reasonably attainable in another way, and an undesirable negative effect) provided there is a due proportion between the intended good and the permitted negative effect (e.g., it is acceptable to treat pain with narcotics even if that will hasten death in a patient who has a terminal illness). - Express justice - tension in health care between: micro allocation: fair allocation of resources based on individual patient needs and macroallocation: fair allocation of resources at the state and national level. Content - The four principles framework in Health Care Ethics I. - The four principles framework in Health Care Ethics II. - Morality and medical law. - Autonomy and Confidentiality. - Mental Health Act. - Health Professions Act. - Other Laws and regulations. DSS, Children’s rights. - Medical Complaints / Litigation. - Seminar: Issues in Maltese Family Practice. - Justice and resource allocation. - Research Ethics. - Issues on Life and Death. Certification. - Assessment Seminar. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - General Medical Council (1995) Good Medical Practice. London: GMC. - General Medical Council, (2001) Tomorrow's doctors. London: GMC. - RCGP’s good medical practice for GP’s. - Kennedy, I. & Grubb, A. (2000) Third edition Medical Law. Text with Materials London: Butterworths. - Helman, C (2000, 4th Ed.) Culture, Health and Illness: an Introduction for Health Professionals. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. - Fulford, K.W.M. (1989, reprinted 1995 and 1999; Second edition forthcoming) Moral Theory and Medical Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. - Fulford, KWM, Murray, TH, and Dickenson, D, eds (2002) Many Voices. Introduction to Healthcare Ethics and Human Values: an Introductory Text with Readings and Case Studies. Malden, USA and Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. - Parker, M and Dickenson, D. (2000) The Cambridge Workbook in Medical Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. - You and Your Doctor (Agenda, 2006). |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Jurgen Abela Pierre Mallia (Co-ord.) |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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