Postgraduate - UnitFOR4003 - Ethics, medicine and the law

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine
Offered	Southbank First semester 2014 (Off-campus)
Coordinator(s)	Emeritus Professor Louis Waller

Quota applies

This unit is quota restricted. Selection is on a first-in, first enrolled basis. For further information please contact the Postgraduate Course Administrator via email postgrad.courses@vifm.org or phone 03 9684 4115.

Synopsis

The unit aims to help students become familiar with the tools and vocabulary of ethical discourse in medicine. A framework for this discourse is built, based on the four basic principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. The elements which go to make up the Australian Legal System are covered as well as those particular areas of law relating to forensic medical practice, i.e. consent, confidentiality and disclosure, issues at both the beginning and end of life.

Outcomes

The aims of this unit are:

to develop the student's awareness and understanding of the ideas and issues in medical ethics so that in practice, the interests of their patients/clients are safeguarded;
to develop the student's knowledge and understanding of relevant areas of the law so that in practice their contribution to the justice system is optimal.