​​​​​​​​​​​Division of ​Medical Ethics and Law​​

Teaching and Learning

The DMEL is involved in undergraduate teaching during the first, second, third and fifth years of the MBChB program. The 5th year ethics module that runs for three weeks is our flagship undergraduate offering comprising interactive lectures presented by a diverse group of ethicists, clinicians, lawyers and human rights specialists. Vibrant case study discussions occur in groups and group assignments.​

MPS debate

Medical_Protection_Society (sun.ac.za)

Resources for undergraduate students

https://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/healthsciences/cmel/Pages/Education/Undergraduate_Education/Resources_for_students.aspx

ARESA Bioethics Leadership Program

https://blogs.sun.ac.za/aresa/


Short courses

The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) requires all health professionals to attend compulsory CPD activities to the value of 30 points per year.  FIVE of the 30 points are compulsory ethics, human rights, and medical law points. Any CPD ETHICS activity of an hour's duration is accredited for 1 CPD point.


GCP Refresher training: Online (ERECCA) Program

The ERECCA course is being hosted on the SUNOnline platform. The course is registered as an official short course with Stellenbosch University. The duration and content of the courses follow guidelines from the National Hea lth Research Ethics Council. The course is CPD accredited with 10 Ethics and 2 General CPD points. For registration and further information on the ERECCA course please email bioethics@sun.ac.za or call 021 938960


Bioethics Short Course

Bioethics, medical law and human rights form an integral part of clinical medicine in South Africa. Several factors have prompted the demand for postgraduate ethics education:  demand: the compulsory ethics CPD requirement of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), unprecedented medical litigation in the private and public health care spheres and a heightened awareness of the pervasiveness of ethical challenges in clinical practice.

This online ethics CPD program has been developed in response to the growing demand for postgraduate education in bioethics, medical law and human rights in urban, peri-urban and rural South Africa.

https://medicalethics.co.za/


Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course

This research ethics course has the goal of introducing researchers to developments in the conduct of research to foster a growing understanding of the impact of the broader research environment by exploring the following topics:

  1. Introduction to responsible conduct of research
  2. Welfare of research participants
  3. Responsible conduct of research with animals
  4. Responsible data management
  5. Collaborative research
  6. Conflicts of interest
  7. Research integrity
  8. Responsible publication
  9. Mentoring
  10. Generative AI tools​

For registration and further information on the RCR course please email celestey@sun.ac.za or call 021 9277051.


Ethical, legal and social implications of biobanking course

Biobanking research provides ongoing opportunities for advancement in medical sciences, but such initiatives must also take into account the ethico-legal dilemmas as well as the associated social implications. For registration and further information on the RCR course please email celestey@sun.ac.za or call 021 9277051.​