Teaching & modules
Modules
Course structure
Courses are divided into modules. You will normally take modules totaling 180 credits, including the dissertation module (60 credits).
Required Modules - Medical Ethics & Law MA
If taking the MA in Medical Ethics & Law, you are required to take:
- Dissertation in Medical Ethics and Law (60 credits)
- Medical Law I: Consent, Refusal and Request (15 credits)
- Moral Theory and Medical Ethics (15 credits)
Required Modules - Medical Law MA
If taking the MA in Medical Law, you are required to take:
- Dissertation in Medical Law (60 credits)
- Medical Law I: Consent, Refusal and Request (15 credits)
Optional Modules - Medical Ethics & Law MA
If taking the MA in Medical Ethics & Law, in addition you are required to take a further 45 credits of Law modules and 45 credits of Ethics modules:
Law modules offered may include:
- Mental Health and Capacity Law: The Civil Context (15 credits)
- Law at the End of Life (15 credits)
- Law and Reproduction (15 credits)
- Medical Law II: Negligence and Misadventure (15 credits)
- Criminal Law and Mental Disorder (15 credits)
- Law and Health in Contemporary Societies (15 credits)
Ethics modules may include:
- Mental Health Ethics (15 credits)
- Ethics and Politics of the Body (15 credits)
- Global Health Ethics (15 credits)
- Public Health, Autonomy and Resource Allocation (15 credits)
- Reproductive Ethics (15 credits)
- Disability (15 credits)
Optional Modules - Medical Law MA
If you are taking the MA in Medical Law, in addition to the required modules, you are required to take 105 credits from a range of optional modules, which may include:
- Mental Health and Capacity Law: The Civil Context (15 credits)
- Law at the End of Life (15 credits)
- Law and Reproduction (15 credits)
- Medical Law II: Negligence and Misadventure (15 credits)
- Criminal Law and Mental Disorder (15 credits)
- Law and Health in Contemporary Societies (15 credits)
You can take a maximum of two Ethics modules. One must be:
- Moral Theory and Medical Ethics (15 credits)
You can take a second optional module, which typically includes a choice of:
- Mental Health Ethics (15 credits)
- Ethics and Politics of the Body (15 credits)
- Global Health Ethics (15 credits)
- Public Health, Autonomy and Resource Allocation (15 credits)
- Reproductive Ethics (15 credits)
- Disability (15 credits)
For the MA in Medical Law only, there may be the option to study one or two other modules from the Law School suite of modules. A recent example is Human Rights Law. Note, however, that all of the Law modules above will raise human rights issues to some degree.
Teaching methods - what to expect
Teaching
You will largely be taught through seminar-style teaching in sessions of two hours per module per week. Each module consists of 10 weeks. There may be one or two additional modules available to students taught by other members from The Dickson Poon School of Law or from across King’s College London, the timetable for which varies from year to year.
Full-time:
For both the MA in Medical Ethics & Law and the MA in Medical Law, you will take 8 semester-long (15 credit) taught modules across the year, which makes an average of 4 taught modules per semester or 8 seminar hours a week (2 hours per module). However, this will vary depending on which modules you choose to take and in which semester they are taught.
Contact time is based on 24 academic weeks (typically there is one reading week per semester), whereas self-study time is based on 31 academic weeks.
Part-time:
For the MA in Medical Ethics & Law, you will study Ethics modules in your first year (usually mostly on Thursdays), and Law modules in your second year (usually mostly on Tuesdays). You will work on your dissertation mainly in your second year.
For the MA in Medical Law, you will study Law modules in both years and have the option to take two Ethics modules. You must take Medical Law I: Consent, Refusal and Request in your first year. You will work on your dissertation mainly in your second year.
Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.
Assessment
- Coursework
- Examinations
Your performance will be assessed through a combination of coursework and examination. Forms of assessment may typically include essays, examinations and dissertation.
Application closing date guidance
Key Information
Course type:
Master's
Delivery mode:
On campus
Study mode:
Full time / Part time
Duration:
One year full-time, September to September, two years part-time
Application status:
Open
Start date:
September 2025