Medical Ethics and Law

Our Medical Ethics & Law MA course focuses on the ethical and legal questions raised by medical practice and science. These include debates about conflicts between mother and foetus, physician-assisted suicide, psychiatry, the allocation of scarce medical resources, the boundaries of the market in medicine and the law and ethics of medical research. The course was established in 1978 and constitutes an important part of the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics, which is the first of its kind in the UK.

Key benefits:

• In-depth philosophical analysis and the most up-to-date legal scholarship applied to a very wide range of medical issues.
• The course discusses controversial issues such as euthanasia and abortion with a balanced approach.
• Supported by the UK's first centre of Medical Law and Ethics and its distinguished team of academic staff members.

Our Medical Ethics & Law course is designed for medical/legal professionals, graduates of a relevant discipline, those going on to research and for anyone wanting to think about some of the hardest human decisions.

2:1 undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline, e.g. law, medicine, philosophy, theology, social science, one of the life sciences, dentistry or nursing studies.

MA

Courses are divided into modules. All students will normally take modules totalling 180 credits. Part-time students complete 60 credits of ethics modules in Year 1 and 60 credits of law modules as well as the dissertation in Year 2.

Required Modules:

Courses are divded into modules. All students will normally take modules totalling 180 credits.

Students are required to take the following modules:

• Moral Theory and Medical Ethics (20 credits)
• Medical Law I (20 credits)
• Dissertation (60 credits)

Optional Modules:

In addition, students are required to take 80 credits from a range of optional modules , of which 40 credits must be ethics and 40 credits must be law. These may typically include:

• Ethics at the End of Life (20 credits)
• Topics in Medical Ethics I and II (20 credits each)
• Mental Health Ethics (20 credits)
• Criminal Law and Mental Disorder: Doctrine and Philosophy (20 credits)
• Mental Health Law: The Civil Context (20 credits)
• Medical Law II: Negligence and Misadventure (20 credits)
• Topics in Medical Law I and II (20 credits)
• Law at the End of Life (20 credits)
• Law at the End of Life I: Assisted Dying (20 credits)
• Law at the End of Life II: End of Life Decision-Making (20 credits)
• Law and Reproduction (20 credits)

Fees:

• Full time overseas fees:

King's College London is one of the top 10 UK universities in the world (QS World University Rankings, 2018/19) and among the oldest in England.

King's vision is to make the world a better place, building on our history of pioneering research that has advanced and shaped modern life, such as: the discovery of the structure of DNA; research to better understand autism and develop life-changing therapies; informing air pollution awareness and policy; research that led to the development of radio, radar, television and mobile phones; and making maths available to the underprivileged. These are all ways that we are having a transformational impact on society.

Our intellectually rigorous teaching environment is coupled with a commitment to providing a rich and supportive student experience. We have more than 31,000 students (of whom nearly 12,800 are postgraduates, with 1,000 students enrolled in online masters courses) from 150 countries worldwide, meaning that students are part of a truly international community. Our 8,500 members of staff collaborate with students to help them get the most out of their degree. Many of our academics are also researchers working within and influencing their industries, meaning that students learn the latest thinking and understand its practical and contemporary relevance.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas'​, King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services.