Graduate Diploma in Health and Medical Law

Melbourne Law School’s graduate program in health and medical law is suited to medico-legal practitioners or health professionals and administrators who wish to hone their legal knowledge and skills. The opportunity to examine health and medical legal problems at an advanced level will be of vital importance to your career. Issues of interest include medical litigation and liability, and the laws concerning the relationship between doctor and patient. Bioethics and laws relating to particular procedures, such as in-vitro fertilisation, transplants and genetic testing, are also examined.

The graduate programs in health and medical law focus on:

• Relevant aspects of health and medical law
• The theoretical framework surrounding health and medical law, and contemporary ethical and theoretical issues
• The law concerning the relationship between doctor and patient as well as that relating to particular procedures
• The provision of concise legal advice to plaintiffs and defendants in medical litigation
• An ethical evaluation of health and medical law and the development and interpretation of theoretical legal arguments
• Advanced communication in health and medical law, orally and in writing
• Conducting effective legal research in the area of health and medical law.

Students must complete four subjects from the prescribed list. Students who do not have a law degree from a common law system or any prior legal studies or experience are also expected to complete the two-day preliminary subject Australian Legal Process and Legal Institutions.

The following subjects require students to write a research paper on a topic related to health and medical law, jointly approved by the instructor and the Director of Studies.

• Current Developments in Negligence
• Privacy Law

Melbourne Law School’s graduate program in health and medical law is suited to medico-legal practitioners or health professionals and administrators who wish to hone their legal knowledge and skills. The opportunity to examine health and medical legal problems at an advanced level will be of vital importance to your career. Issues of interest include medical litigation and liability, and the laws concerning the relationship between doctor and patient. Bioethics and laws relating to particular procedures, such as in-vitro fertilisation, transplants and genetic testing, are also examined.

The graduate programs in health and medical law focus on:

• Relevant aspects of health and medical law
• The theoretical framework surrounding health and medical law, and contemporary ethical and theoretical issues
• The law concerning the relationship between doctor and patient as well as that relating to particular procedures
• The provision of concise legal advice to plaintiffs and defendants in medical litigation
• An ethical evaluation of health and medical law and the development and interpretation of theoretical legal arguments
• Advanced communication in health and medical law, orally and in writing
• Conducting effective legal research in the area of health and medical law.

Students must complete four subjects from the prescribed list. Students who do not have a law degree from a common law system or any prior legal studies or experience are also expected to complete the two-day preliminary subject Australian Legal Process and Legal Institutions.

The following subjects require students to write a research paper on a topic related to health and medical law, jointly approved by the instructor and the Director of Studies.

• Current Developments in Negligence
• Privacy Law