Congratulations on receiving an offer to study with us at The Dickson Poon School of Law. We look forward to welcoming you to our community in September.

If you have anything you’d like to ask about Medical Ethics & Law, Medical Law, or Mental Health Law & Ethics then email me at jillian.craigie@kcl.ac.uk 

- Dr Jillian Craigie, Senior Lecturer in Medical Ethics 

We know students often want to get a jump start before joining us in September.

There is no required reading before starting the programme, but we've put together a list of optional readings for Medical Ethics modules and Medical Law modules. 

Medical Ethics modules - optional advance reading

None of the books below are required reading at this point, but you might like to dip into a few to get a taste of the subject and the sorts of material we use in the medical ethics modules.

Most of these have been chosen because they are interesting, instructive and accessible. Some of the books listed appear quite often on the module reading lists. 

Books on Medical Ethics:

• T Hope: Medical Ethics: a very short introduction, 2004.
• J Glover: Causing Death and Saving Lives, 1977. 
• J Harris: The Value of Life, 1985. 
• B Goldacre: Bad Science, 2009.

Books of interest to those studying Mental Health Ethics & Law MSc: 

• G Szmukler, Men in White Coats (2018)
• N N Potter, Mapping the Edges and the In-between: A critical analysis of Borderline Personality Disorder (2009)
• J Glover, Alien Landscapes? Interpreting Disordered Minds (2014)
• W Glannon, Psychiatric Neuroethics (2018)

Ethics in general: 

• J Wolff: Ethics and Public Policy: A Philosophical Inquiry, 2011.
• J Rachels: The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 4th edition, 2002. 
• P Benn: Ethics, 1998.
• T Tannsjo: Understanding Ethics: an introduction to moral theory, 2002.

 Books that appear quite often on reading lists:

• B Steinbock, J D Arras and A J London (eds): Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine, 6^th edition, 1981.
• H Kuhse and P Singer (eds): Bioethics: an anthology, 1999
• M Cohen, T Nagel and T Scanlon (eds): Medicine and Moral Philosophy, 1981
• S Scheffler: Consequentialism and its Critics, 1988.
• P Singer: Rethinking Life and Death, 1994.
• B Steinbock and A Norcross: Killing and Letting Die, 1991.
• J Savulescu and N Bostrom (eds): Human Enhancement, 2009
• R Dworkin: Life’s Dominion: an argument about euthanasia and abortion, 1993.
• A Buchanan and D Brock: Deciding for Others: the ethics of surrogate decision-making, 1989

 Medical Law modules - optional advance reading

The following contains a list of the main texts on medical law which it may be useful to consult during the year.

The library collection contains many more both on English law and the law in other jurisdictions. The list also contains some information for those without a legal background.

For those studying Mental Health Ethics & Law MSc: 

• Kong and Ruck Keene, Overcoming Challenges in the Mental Capacity Act (2018)

For all students: 

• Blackstone’s Statutes on Medical Law (11^th ed) (Oxford University Press, 2021)
• Bartlett, Blackstone’s Guide to the Mental Capacity Act (2^nd ed) (Oxford University Press, 2008)
• Blackstone’s Guide to the Human Rights Act (7^th ed) (Oxford University Press, 2015)

Other helpful works:

• Brazier & Cave, Medicine, Patients and the Law (6^th ed) (Penguin, 2016)
• Herring, Medical Law and Ethics (9^th ed) (Oxford University Press, 2022)
• Laurie, Harmon and Dove, Mason & McCall Smith’s Law and Medical Ethics (11^th ed) (Oxford University Press, 2019)
• Pattinson, Medical Law and Ethics (Thomson Sweet & Maxwell, 2020)
• Stauch & Wheat, Text, Cases and Materials on Medical Law & Ethics (6^th ed) (Routledge, 2018)
• Wicks, Human Rights and Healthcare (Hart, 2007)

For those with no previous background in law - introductory works: 

• Holland & Webb, Learning Legal Rules (11^th ed) (Oxford University Press, 2022)

(Note that sections of this book constitute required reading for those without a law background for an Introductory seminar in the first week of semester).

• Berlins & Dyer, The Law Machine (5^th ed) (Penguin, 2000)
• Smith, Glanville Williams’ Learning the Law (17^th ed) (Sweet & Maxwell, 2020)

Medical Law required reading exceptions

Non-lawyers:

If you have not yet studied Law, you will be required to read parts of Holland and Webb (see above) in advance.

You'll be contacted with an Advance Pack for Non-Lawyers in late August/early September with more information about this.

Those taking Medical Ethics & Law or Medical Law: 

You must buy: Jackson, Medical Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (6th ed) (Oxford University Press, 2022). 

This is textbook for the required module Medical Law 1: Consent, Refusal and Request, and also used in some other modules.

If a new edition is available in August (updated from 2022) you must buy this. 

Finding the books 

Most of these texts are available in large book stores (particularly those serving a student population such as University-based shops) or online stores such as Amazon.

There are two stores which stock a wide range of medical law books:

Wildy’s:

• Address: Lincoln’s Inn Archway, Carey Street, London WC2A 2JD
• Number: 020 7353 3907
• Email: info@wildy.com 

Waterstones 

• Address: 82 Gower St, London WC1E 6EQ
• Number: 020 7636 1577
• Email: gowerst@waterstones.com 

Get in touch

• Chat with Sophie, a current Law & Professional Practice student on Unibuddy.
• Email Jillian at jillian.craigie@kcl.ac.uk  

Upcoming events

In June, we'll be holding a postgraduate Law networking event on campus and online Q&A panel for you to meet the team and other students.

Keep an eye on your emails and this hub for details.

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