EthicsBeginnerMMI station
A dying patient asks you to pray with them. You're not religious. What do you do?
Ethical dilemma: Competing duties with no perfect answer: consent, confidentiality, fairness.
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Sample answer outline
- Respond to the need behind the request: comfort and connection at the end of life.
- You can be present respectfully, by staying quietly, holding their hand or listening, without claiming a belief you don't hold.
- Offer the chaplain or their own faith leader.
- Keep your own views out of it; this moment is about them.
What makes it work
- Presence over performance: honest and kind at once.
How to approach ethical dilemma questions
- Clarify the facts and what you would want to know before acting.
- Name who is affected and the principles in tension: autonomy, doing good, avoiding harm, fairness, confidentiality.
- Walk through realistic options, starting with the least drastic.
- Choose a course of action, explain why, and say who you would involve.
What it tests
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