NAC OSCE Medical Ethics & Professionalism

Question 1

A competent 17-year-old presents requesting contraception and asks that her parents not be told. According to Canadian law and medical ethics, what is the appropriate response?

Accepted Answer

Provide confidential contraceptive counselling and prescription — mature minors have the right to consent to their own care in all Canadian provinces

Answer

Refuse until parental consent is obtained

Answer

Inform the parents regardless of the patient's wishes

Answer

Defer to provincial child welfare authorities

Question 2

A surgeon declares a conflict of interest because they own shares in a medical device company whose implants they use. According to the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Code of Ethics, what is the MOST appropriate action?

Accepted Answer

Disclose the conflict of interest to patients and the institution, and consider recusing from decisions involving that device

Answer

Continue using the device as long as it is clinically superior

Answer

Divest shares secretly without disclosure

Answer

Disclose only to the hospital administration but not to patients

Question 3

A patient with capacity refuses a blood transfusion on religious grounds despite being told it may be life-saving. What is the ethically and legally correct response in Canada?

Accepted Answer

Respect the refusal, document it thoroughly, and explore alternative treatments

Answer

Override the refusal because life preservation takes precedence

Answer

Seek emergency court order to transfuse

Answer

Ask the family to consent on the patient's behalf

Question 4

Under Canadian mandatory reporting laws, which situation REQUIRES a physician to report to authorities regardless of patient confidentiality?

Accepted Answer

Reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect

Answer

A patient with diabetes who drives occasionally

Answer

An elderly patient with mild cognitive impairment

Answer

A patient with well-controlled epilepsy on medication

Question 5

A physician is asked to complete a medical-legal report for a patient involved in a motor vehicle accident. What is the physician's primary obligation according to the CPSO and CMA?

Accepted Answer

To provide an honest, objective, and accurate report based on clinical findings — not to advocate for the patient's legal position

Answer

To support the patient's claim as their treating physician

Answer

To refuse all medical-legal work as it creates conflicts of interest

Answer

To defer entirely to the patient's lawyer for framing the report

Question 6

According to the Canadian federal law (MAID legislation, Bill C-7 2021), which patient is eligible for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) under Track 1?

Accepted Answer

An adult with a grievous and irremediable medical condition where natural death is reasonably foreseeable

Answer

Any adult with a terminal illness regardless of decision-making capacity

Answer

A minor aged 16-17 with parental consent

Answer

A patient with a mental illness as the sole underlying condition