Overview
Welcome to the Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine (VELiM).
VELiM is a centre for academic research, for teaching and learning in bioethics and the medical humanities, and for ethical consultation and discussion. We aim to stimulate creative thought, dialogue and action. Our work engages different disciplinary perspectives and fosters a community based on collegiality and critical inquiry.
Research and Teaching
VELiM's research activity spans many areas and disciplines of scholarship and research including but not limited to:
- public health ethics
- experience of illness and healthcare
- ethics of science and biotechnology
- philosophy of medicine, science, language and knowledge
- ethical, socio-political and epistemic aspects of public discourse about science and medicine
- ethics of patient care, health services and health policy
- medical humanities
- research ethics
More information about VELiM's research streams can be found here.
Teaching and learning at VELiM occurs through
- an innovative postgraduate program in bioethics and the medical humanities
- training of researchers at postgraduate level and beyond
- dialogue and collaboration between senior researchers.
Our Services
VELiM provides a range of services to the University and wider community, including:
- consultancy
- media services
- community
- research
- teaching
- research
- resources
- advocacy
- advice
Our Engagement with the Wider Community
Community is an important feature of what the Centre is and does.
In every area of its work, VELiM seeks to engage with the community and place itself within it. In doing so we recognise that ‘the community’ is really composed of many different communities – each with its own values, beliefs, languages, customs, ideals and interests. These communities are always the beginning and end of our work – be it research into the experience of people undergoing transplant or trying to understand the risk of cancer, or projects aimed at providing educational resources to patients, consumers, health professional and policy-makers.
Please see our Values Statement, here.