Major advances in medical technology, increased patients’ expectations, social media (and the access to both quality and fake medical information), limited healthcare resources nationally and internationally, and changing moral attitudes have combined to generate an increasing range of complex ethical and legal problems in the fields related to medical ethics. Professionals and individuals who care for patients with chronic and acute illnesses can face particularly pressing and difficult moral choices.
This module provides an opportunity to gain a deeper and more systematic understanding of these issues, and to explore the moral problems health care professionals working in these areas may face.
| START DATE |
w/c 26th September 2022
|
|---|---|
| MAJOR CODE |
MDSC400 |
| DURATION | First semester |
| CREDITS | 30 |
| CONTACT | hlscpd@liverpool.ac.uk |
The aims of this course are:
- To provide students with knowledge of the ethical theories and principles which underpin health care decision making
- To enable students to apply ethical theories and arguments to problems occurring in clinical practice
- To develop the ability of healthcare professionals to appraise and analyse the conflict between paternalism and patient autonomy taking into account patients' health literacy.
Liverpool’s School of Medicine is ideally located for access to some of the UK’s leading specialist clinical units. Students will have the advantage of being taught by ethicists together with clinical experts in hospitals such as Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, The Palliative Care Institute Liverpool, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, and The Walton Centre, the UK’s only specialist hospital trust dedicated to neurological services.
Students also benefit from the teaching expertise within the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences research institutes and research links with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and surrounding medical institutions.
This module is designed for healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, health care managers, medical students, medical and pharmaceutical researchers, radiographers, health care educators, chaplains, medical volunteers, hospice personnel and social workers).
In order to accommodate different professional and personal needs, the programme has a flexible structure. There are 3 grouped full days of face to face teaching, when the students have the opportunity to attend the lectures and workshops, to engage with ethicists and health professionals and to share their experiences and ethical dilemmas. Throughout the teaching semester, and generally for the duration of the whole programme, students will engage with teachers and students through an online learning format which will benefit from highly authentic approaches to learning and assessment.
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