For aspiring doctors, confronting ethical dilemmas begins long before encountering them in clinical settings.
During the medical school interview process, applicants are often asked to discuss how they would approach hypothetical ethical scenarios. These questions help interviewers assess an applicant’s thought process and understanding of ethical principles, and observe how well they can approach ethical scenarios with nuance and empathy.
Taking the time to prepare a framework to address these complex topics in your medical school interviews can show that you are not only aware of current challenges, but also are equipped with a thoughtful, balanced approach to tackling them. Remember to focus on your reasoning, apply guiding principles and avoid absolutism in your answers.
Above all, demonstrate a willingness to engage with different perspectives and navigate ethical questions with care and reflection.
Prepare for Common Ethical Topics
To prepare for medical school interviews, it’s important to familiarize yourself with some of the common ethical issues that arise in health care. Topics like physician-assisted death, health care for undocumented immigrants, confidentiality in the age of digital records and resource allocation during public health crises — such as during the COVID-19 pandemic — are common in interviews.
Having a broad understanding of these issues, combined with the ability to apply ethical principles, will help you approach ethical scenarios with confidence.
[Here are 6 Tips to Ace a Medical School Interview]
Focus on the Process
Ethical questions in med school interviews aim to evaluate how well you can navigate difficult choices rather than your ability to arrive at a final stance.
For example, you may be asked if you would treat a patient who refuses vaccinations due to personal beliefs. Rather than focusing on your decision, emphasize how you would respect the patient’s autonomy while educating them about public health risks and exploring alternatives to protect their health.
In this situation, your ability to acknowledge the patient’s right to make their own health care decisions is important, but your responsibility to inform them about the broader implications of their choice, both for their health and the health of the community, is equally critical.
It’s important to remember that these questions often do not have a single right answer. Instead, your interviewer is likely assessing your reasoning and whether you understand the multifaceted nature of ethical scenarios. While it may feel like the goal is to choose between a “yes” or “no,” the real task is to demonstrate your ability to weigh the pros and cons and explain your reasoning clearly.
Apply the Basic Principles of Medical Ethics
As you discuss ethical dilemmas with your interviewer, ground your decision-making in the context of the four basic principles of medical ethics:
— Autonomy. — respecting a patient’s right to make their own decisions.
— Beneficence — the duty to act in the patient’s best interest and do good.
— Nonmaleficence — the duty to do no harm.
— Justice — treating all people equally and fairly.
For example, you may be asked if you would administer an experimental drug to a terminally ill patient who has exhausted all other treatment options. In applying ethical principles, you could discuss how you would balance the patient’s autonomy in trying the new drug with the potential risks involved (nonmaleficence). Acknowledge that while there might be a desire to offer hope, the safety and efficacy of the treatment must also be considered.
Applying the basic principles thoughtfully while acknowledging the difficulty of the decision shows that you have a solid understanding of medical ethics while bringing a sense of humanity in applying these principles.
[READ: Answering the ‘Why This Medical School?’ Question]
Acknowledge All Sides
In interviews, it’s crucial to acknowledge conflicting viewpoints when faced with ethical scenario questions. For instance, if asked whether to prioritize giving a limited number of COVID-19 vaccines to health care workers over elderly patients, you might identify the tension between two ethical principles.
Beneficence would suggest vaccinating health care workers first to ensure they can continue caring for others and minimize harm. However, the principle of justice might argue that elderly patients, due to their heightened risk of severe illness, should be prioritized. Express that these situations are not easily resolved and that ethical decision-making in medicine often involves finding a balance between competing values.
Ethical scenarios rarely have simple answers, and by embracing the complexity of these situations you demonstrate the critical thinking and compassion necessary to navigate challenging health care decisions. It shows that you are not only aware of different ethical principles but are also empathetic to opposing perspectives.
Be open to discussing all sides of an issue even if you ultimately lean toward one decision, as acknowledging all sides shows your capacity for critical thinking.
[Read: What to Do If You Don’t Get a Medical School Interview.]
Stay Open-Minded and Avoid Absolutes
An essential aspect of addressing ethical questions is maintaining an open-minded stance. Rigid or absolute responses can make you appear inflexible, while medical ethics often values the exploration of gray areas in decision-making.
When offering your perspective, use language that reflects the nuance of the situation. For instance, rather than stating definitively, “I would administer the experimental drug,” you might say, “Given the circumstances, I would be inclined to administer the drug if there were no better alternatives and with full informed consent, but I would first exhaust all other standard options.”
This approach shows your interviewer that you are open to re-evaluating your stance based on additional information or changing circumstances.
Finally, if you are caught off guard by an ethical question during the interview, don’t rush into an answer. It’s perfectly acceptable to take a moment to gather your thoughts.
Acknowledging that you need time to reflect shows honesty and self-awareness — qualities that are just as important as coming up with a well-reasoned answer. This approach, combined with your prepared framework for handling ethical scenarios, will make you stand out as a candidate who is well-prepared for the challenges set before you.
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Navigating Ethical Questions in Medical School Interviews originally appeared on usnews.com
