Providing Legal Education for Medical Students in Arab Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

Abstract

Law and medicine share an interest in the human body in terms of justice, well-being, and the preservation of physical integrity. Despite the long-lasting relationship between medicine and law, the tension between the two disciplines remains an unresolved issue; each requires the other, and almost all societies require them both. Therefore, there is a need to bring these two disciplines closer to render them more beneficial for society. This article addresses the need to introduce a medical law curriculum in medical schools, specifically in the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This article first illustrates the relationship between law and medicine by defining the discipline of medical law. Thereafter, it makes a case for including a medical law curriculum in medical school and health care education programs in GCC countries, illustrating the benefits of doing so for society, individuals, and the development of the disciplines themselves. Subsequently, this article proposes an outline for a spiral and integrated medical law curriculum based on the needs and values of GCC countries. This outline is centered around the basic and advanced core topics and encourages engagement with law-medicine activities that further bridge the conceptual gap between medicine and law. This article reasserts the need to bring medicine and law closer together for the benefit of society and the development of the disciplines. One crucial way of doing so is providing formal and structured legal education for medical students.