AAMC Medical Ethics and Professionalism 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which ethical framework focuses primarily on duties, rules, and obligations regardless of consequences?
- Utilitarianism
- Virtue ethics
- Deontology (Correct answer)
- Consequentialism
Correct answer: Deontology
Deontological ethics, associated with Immanuel Kant, holds that certain actions are inherently right or wrong based on rules and duties, independent of outcomes.
Question 2: When a patient lacks decision-making capacity and has no advance directive, who typically serves as the surrogate decision-maker?
- The attending physician
- The hospital ethics committee
- The closest available next of kin (Correct answer)
- A court-appointed legal guardian only
Correct answer: The closest available next of kin
In the absence of an advance directive, the next of kin (typically a spouse, then adult children, then parents, etc.) is generally recognized as the default surrogate decision-maker.
Question 3: Medical futility is best defined as a treatment that:
- Is too expensive for the patient to afford
- Is experimental and not yet approved by the FDA
- Cannot reasonably be expected to provide patient benefit or achieve the goals of care (Correct answer)
- Requires informed consent from more than one family member
Correct answer: Cannot reasonably be expected to provide patient benefit or achieve the goals of care
Medical futility refers to interventions that are unlikely to produce any meaningful clinical benefit or fulfill the patient's goals, providing the ethical basis for withholding or withdrawing them.
Question 4: Which of the following best exemplifies the principle of justice in healthcare?
- A physician always telling patients the truth about their diagnosis
- Distributing healthcare resources fairly across a population (Correct answer)
- Minimizing side effects when prescribing a new medication
- Obtaining a patient's signature before surgery
Correct answer: Distributing healthcare resources fairly across a population
Justice in medical ethics concerns fair allocation and distribution of healthcare resources, benefits, and burdens across individuals and populations.
Question 5: A physician who continues to provide care to a patient without the patient's consent after the patient has clearly terminated the relationship may be guilty of:
- Medical futility
- Assault (Correct answer)
- Patient abandonment
- Breach of confidentiality
Correct answer: Assault
Treating a patient without consent constitutes battery (or assault in some legal frameworks), as it violates the patient's bodily autonomy.
Question 6: Which of the following is a key distinction between voluntary active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide?
- In physician-assisted suicide, the physician administers the lethal agent directly
- In active euthanasia, the patient self-administers the means provided by the physician
- In physician-assisted suicide, the patient self-administers the means provided by the physician (Correct answer)
- There is no meaningful ethical distinction between the two
Correct answer: In physician-assisted suicide, the patient self-administers the means provided by the physician
In physician-assisted suicide, the physician provides the means (e.g., a lethal prescription) but the patient administers it themselves, whereas in voluntary active euthanasia, the physician directly causes death.
Question 7: Which document specifically records a patient's wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment in the event they become incapacitated?
- A HIPAA authorization form
- A living will (Correct answer)
- A physician's standing order
- A durable power of attorney for finances
Correct answer: A living will
A living will is an advance directive that specifies a patient's preferences for life-sustaining treatment, guiding clinicians if the patient loses decision-making capacity.
AAMC Medical Ethics and Professionalism 2
Which ethical framework focuses primarily on duties, rules, and obligations regardless of consequences?