About the Course

We assume that doctors are experts in medical matters. Yet whilst there's no doubt that medicine has advanced hugely in its technology and functional understanding of the body, most doctors are woefully out of their depth. As Professor Radcliffe-Richards explains, deciding on a patient's treatment doesn't just require knowing cause and effect, but also being able to make subtle, yet crucial, value judgements. And why should we think that doctors would be particularly good at that?

Who should get to decide what counts as medical ethics? Why has advancing technology actually made it more difficult to tell when somebody is dead? How should we think through the moral implications of selling organs? When do we need a doctor and when is it time to call in a moral philosopher? And how has the ethical treatment of patients changed through history?

Oxford Professor of Practical Philosophy Janet Radcliffe-Richards takes us on a deep dive into the murky moral underworld of modern medicine.

By the end of the course, you will have learned:

• What exactly doctors are experts in (and what they are not)
• How medical practices have evolved, from Hippocrates to now
• The incentives that prevent doctors from making good value judgements
• How to rigorously respond to apparent ethical dilemmas
• What actually happens at medical conferences
• How to tell when somebody has died (almost)

As part of the course there are in-video quiz questions to consolidate your learning.

IAI Academy courses are designed to be challenging but accessible to the interested student. No specialist knowledge is required.