Healthcare Ethics and Law - Intercalated Degree

Summary

What is an intercalated Degree?

As a medical student, you may choose to take a year out from your medical course and study on one of intercalated Bachelor in Medical Science degree programmes. During this year you will acquire skills in analysing and interpreting research papers and you will also gain substantial, direct experience of novel medical or clinical research (either in a research laboratory or in the community).

Other BMedSc programmes are also available - see:

Key facts

Duration: 1 year Full Time

Start date: September / October annually depending on published term dates (Check to see if this course is receiving applications for September 2012)

Places available: 12 (approximately 12 students per year)

Entry requirements

Birmingham applicants students must have completed the first 2 years of the MBChB programme at the point they commence their intercalated year. Applications will be accepted from individuals wishing to intercalate after year 2, 3 or 4 of their medical studies.

Applications From Students Not Currently Registered at Birmingham

We are happy to consider applications for any of the programmes within the Population Sciences and Humanities subjects from students from other institutions. We have a strong track record over recent years in supporting these students and facilitating integration into their new institution.

Applications from students from other universities should be made on our standard application form and must be accompanied by a transcript of marks from your current institution. Should an offer of a place be made to you further admission forms will be sent from the University via our Course Administrator.

We are always happy to discuss our programmes with students from other universities. If you have any queries or wish to discuss the opportunities available to you in Birmingham please contact us.

Contact details

If after reviewing the information contained in these pages you have any further questions please contact either Dr Jon Ives, Healthcare Ethics and Law Programme Lead at j.c.ives@bham.ac.uk or Julie Shore, Course Administrator at j.l.shore@bham.ac.uk    

How to apply

To apply, please down load and complete the application form.

Fees and funding

Standard Fees Apply

All students are entitled to reclaim up to £500 project expenses for conduction of their research. Claims must be accompanied by original receipts. Further to this students who incur travel costs are eligible to apply for an Arthur Thompson Travel Award (up to £500). Applications for these awards will be considered at the end of the programme of study and are not guaranteed. These sources of funding are available to all students irrespective of their primary University of study.

Internal bursaries:

 All students who are registered on the MBChB or Dental Programmes at the University of Birmingham are eligible to apply for a bursary to support them during their period of study. The intention to apply should be indicated on the application form and students expressing an intention will receive further information. Bursaries are currently set at £3,000 and are limited. Students with an overall mean mark of <65% in year 2 of their programme of study are unlikely to be awarded a bursary.

Our funding sources mean that we are unable to offer bursaries to students from outside of Birmingham.

External bursaries:

The College usually receives an invitation each year from the Royal College of Physicians to submit a limited number of applications for their Wolfson intercalated programme. The deadline for this is usually the end of March which means the programme needs to shortlist by mid-March. Bursaries are up to £5000 and are nationally competitive. Our students have a very good record in securing such awards. Any student interested in applying needs to contact the Admissions Tutor (Dr Lesley Roberts, l.m.roberts@bham.ac.uk) by the 31st of January in the year in which they plan to apply.

Eligible students should:

Demonstrate a consistent and outstanding academic track record (an overall mean mark >70% in year 2 and consistently high marks in other years). N.B. Because of the need to show consistent academic achievement it is expected that students will be in year 3 or 4 at the time of application. A second year applicant who can demonstrate excellence may be considered but should contact the admissions tutor at the earliest opportunity to discuss this).

Be applying for an intercalation in one of our science programmes (International Health, Psychological Medicine or Public Health and Population Sciences). As this bursary relates to science projects students on humanities programmes (Health care ethics and law and History of Medicine) should not apply (but should make contact with the relevant programme lead to enquire whether there are any discipline specific bursaries currently available nationally).

Have a research focus or area of interest (Support will be given during February to develop this into an application).

Be prepared to work on their application (including designing a research project) during February and early March.

All eligible students who express an interest will have the opportunity to meet with the Admissions Tutor to discuss the application and receive guidance in drafting an application. Further to this there will be the opportunity to submit one draft application by the 28th February for comment. All students will then be required to submit their application by the specified deadline (varies annually but likely to be mid-March). Students will be informed if their application has been selected for submission to the Royal College within 2 weeks. Any student submitted will receive an early and unconditional place on the programme. Unsuccessful applicants will be able to use their work in their application for an internal bursary.

Programme overview

Health care ethics and law cover a range of inherently interesting themes. The range of ethical and legal issues and cases is ever expanding. The role of the media in raising public awareness about the provision of health care has both positive and negative effects on what people expect from doctors. In the MBChB sessions on ethics and law we cover the basic principles and issues that all professionals ought to be aware of. If you enjoyed that part of the curriculum but want to explore issues in greater depth, this is the course for you!

We will examine the role that moral and legal frameworks play in helping to understand and resolve ethical and legal dilemmas. We will also focus on specific areas of interest, such as research, beginning of life, end of life and psychiatry and forensic medicine. There will be opportunity to examine public policy, professional regulation, religious and cultural issues and the role of the media in more detail.

The course will equip you to critically analyse practical dilemmas and academic work, culminating in the dissertation. We are also offering the opportunity to develop qualitative research skills culminating in an empirical bioethics project.

The course attracts students from other Universities in the UK as we are one of only 4 programmes nationally to offer Health Care Ethics and Law as an intercalating degree.

Aims: 

  • To provide you with a systematic understanding of contemporary issues in health care ethics and law.
  • To enable you to evaluate opposing arguments, to formulate and consider the best arguments for different views and to identify the weakest elements of the most persuasive argument (ie critical analysis skills)
  • To enable you to develop precision of thought and expression in the analysis of complex problems within health care
  • To enable you to identify how your own personal moral values affect your approaches to decision making
  • To enable you to identify new themes and emerging issues in contemporary health care
  • To provide you with an integrated approach that combines the disciplines of medicine, law and philosophy.
  • To provide a learning environment that supports originality in more able students
  • To enable and encourage sufficient independent learning in ethics and law for continuing professional and personal development
  • To develop in you the confidence and ability to identify and challenge unprofessional behaviour in clinical practice, and be able to provide practical solutions
  • To encourage you to identify and develop a range of transferable skills.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the programme, you should have knowledge and understanding of:

  • a broad range of contemporary issues in health care ethics and law 
  • central ethical theories, principles and arguments relevant to contemporary health care ethics
  • core health care law including central legal principles, Statutes and case law
  • the inter-relationships between ethics, law and health care practice
  • relevant texts and authors important in the field of health care ethics

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Semester one

During Semester one you will undertake three specialist modules in:

Biomedical Ethics and Law (30 credits) 
In this module you will cover the basics of moral and legal theory. You will learn about ethical theories (such as deontology, virtue theory, utilitarianism etc.) and also cover key issues in applied ethics (such as abortion, ethics at the end of life, public health ethics, reproductive ethics etc.). You will also cover key topics in medical law (such as negligence, body as property, the Mental Health Act, human rights. This module is assessed by two essays, one on ethical theory and one on applied ethics, and a legal case presentation.

Research Methods in Bioethics (30 credits) 
In this module you will be introduced the various kinds of methodology used in medical etches and law, covering the following key skills: 

  • Writing philosophical and legal essays 
  • How to analyse and construct a good argument 
  • Searching legal databases 
  • Empirical methods in bioethics (how to integrate empirical and ethical analysis)

This module is assessed by two mini-assignments (essay planning and analysing and analogy), an interview based empirical bioethics project, contribution to a formal debate, and a research protocol.

Ethics in Research (10 credits) 
In this module you will cover key issues in research ethics, including: research on vulnerable populations; informed consent; research governance; research in developing countries; payment, risk and exploitation; the use of animals in research. This module is assessed by a single essay.

Semester two

During Semester 2 you will undertake a unique research project (worth 50 credits), supervised by a member of staff. Research projects are selected over the summer prior to starting the degree, and you will normally have been working on setting up and designing the project during Semester 1 (many of the semester one assignments are designed to help you develop your research project). You can choose a research project that focuses on philosophical ethics, law, or a combination of empirical data collection and ethical/legal analysis.

Support and supervision

Every student will have at least one academic supervisor who will work with them closely during their research project. The programme lead, Dr Jonathan Ives, will offer general support on all aspects of the course, and other members of staff will provide support and guidance on their teaching areas. Students will also have access to regular research clinics, both in ethics and qualitative research. These clinics are timetabled, and operate a booking system.

Past projects

Below are some examples of past research projects undertaken by Health Care Ethics and Law students:

  • How should we manage extremely premature neonates born at the limits of viability? An ethical analysis. 
  • Mapping the terrain in empirical bioethics 
  • Should UK law be changes to allow financial incentives for organ donors 
  • How can I be sure that you are sure that I am dead? 
  • Conscientious objection and its role in the NHS 
  • When autonomy should not rule: How the Israeli Patient’s Rights Act could inspire English healthcare policy in the case of patients who refuse life-saving treatment 
  • Ought medical students be allowed in the delivery room? An interview Study. 
  • An ethical analysis of altruistic living kidney donation in the UK 
  • Parental perceptions and attitudes on facial reconstruction surgery in Down’s Syndrome 
  • What is the ethical basis for publicly funding reproductive technologies?

Student testimonials

“Very Challenging. Very rewarding and instructive experience”
“It has made me a much more independent learner and has given me more confidence in both reading research and negotiating my own”
“Broadened my knowledge and perspective”
“Teaching was great and interactive”