Professional Ethics and Standards Flashcards
7 cards from real OSCE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Professional Ethics and Standards flashcards as text
A patient refuses a blood transfusion on religious grounds despite a life-threatening hemorrhage. Which ethical principle is the clinician most obligated to respect?
Answer: Autonomy
Competent adult patients have the right to refuse treatment, and respecting that decision upholds the principle of autonomy even when clinicians disagree.
During an OSCE station, a student observes a peer copying notes from a hidden cheat sheet. What is the most appropriate immediate action?
Answer: Report it to the examiner or institution
Academic integrity policies require students to report observed misconduct to the appropriate authority rather than ignoring it.
A clinician learns that a colleague is practicing while impaired by alcohol. What is the most ethically appropriate response?
Answer: Report the colleague to the appropriate licensing board or supervisor
Clinicians have a professional and ethical duty to report impaired colleagues to protect patient safety.
Which document should a clinician consult first when a patient cannot make decisions and no advance directive exists?
Answer: The patient's closest next of kin as surrogate decision-maker
When a patient lacks decision-making capacity and has no advance directive, a surrogate decision-maker—typically the next of kin—is identified according to state law.
A pediatric patient's parents demand a treatment that the clinical team believes is futile. The most ethical course of action is to:
Answer: Engage the family in a goals-of-care conversation and involve the ethics committee if needed
When clinicians and families disagree about futility, structured communication and ethics consultation are the recommended steps.
Veracity in clinical practice refers to:
Answer: Telling patients the truth about their diagnosis and prognosis
Veracity is the ethical duty to be truthful with patients, including about diagnoses, prognoses, and treatment limitations.
A medical student is asked by an attending physician to sign off on a procedure the student did not perform. The student should:
Answer: Refuse and report the request if the attending insists
Falsifying medical records is fraud; the student must refuse and escalate the request to the appropriate authority.
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