Hello there,
It’s been already Week 5 and so many things are happening in Kent LLM program. Inductions, seminars, additional voluntary seminars or conferences and the overall chance to have valuable and critical information gathered all around the place. Firstly one of the positive matters that I have greatly appreciated in the LLM Program at Kent was the opportunity of the introduction to each of the available modules thought the entire range of LLM courses or as what as was called the ‘Taste Week’. This was profoundly beneficial for me since I had the availability of examining possible combinations of my Course with modules from other Courses where finally I have added an Intellectual Property Law module within my Medical Law Course. Who knows maybe the second semester I might combine Medical law Course with one of the Human Rights modules. My personal choice on LLM in Medical Law and Ethics was indeed a critical one since from one perspective one may say that the choice of LLM is a customized fixation of personal demands in the general legal field. Broadly speaking, choices define us and especially as much as it concerns pure matters as academic knowledge, they may define us a lot more than one can see.
From a personal view, my choice in LLM in Medical Law and Ethics was based on various reasons. The general reason is that this LLM is dedicated to an area that is not so much explored in certain jurisdictions. I am afraid that my jurisdiction is possibly one of them. Medico-legal problems are indeed more complicated than one may find at the first sight. The biggest problem is that there aren’t any fixed correct answers especially when it comes to ethical problems. Of course one may say that this is a common problem that applies to all legal fields and yes that would be a correct statement. However I truly believe that when matters are related to the person itself, not to its liberty or property but to its own life, then matters may actually seem quite complicated indeed.
As I have been aware from my recent student experience at University of Kent, Medical Law and Ethics program is divided to a theoretical and practical part. Despite that as a person I might be more interested in practical matters, I think that the particular division in this program has an important role to play. As I can roughly describe it, it seems to be that the combination of the theoretical background of medical law ethics in conjunction with the practical application of medico legal knowledge, such as matters in medical negligence cases, would be a promising and fruitful buddle of knowledge in order to have better chances in establishing a solid, firmed and valid argument in relation to that particular legal field.
During these weeks through LLM’s seminar participations, I have been engaged to various intriguing concepts in the medico legal area such as ‘defining death’, or examining insignias of capacity that may manifest patient’s wishes. In relation to such an interesting content, a partly made admission can be that engaging to concepts of Medical Law, might sometimes require a ‘bit of a stomach’ but this possibly provides an additional realistic view on the complexity of such matters. Apart from the LLM current seminars, there is the availability of attending additional conferences that periodically take place. One of these that was relevant to my field, was the 4th Brain Injury Conference that took place in Kent Hospital where it provided a multidisciplinary framework of its subject matter.
In a summed up way, a common view may be that the LLM program reflect various academic needs but an important aspect that may additionally be mentioned is that the extent of the LLM benefits is reflected on personal demands and expectations. The harder you drill down the hole, the more water will possibly seep.