The interview question bank

Competing duties with no perfect answer: consent, confidentiality, fairness.

• EthicsAdvanced·MMI station · MD, DO

  A patient with severe depression and no terminal illness asks for medical assistance in dying. It's legal where you work. What do you do?

  Autonomy and consent · Empathy · Patient safety

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  Sample answer outline

  1. 1Respond with compassion. Take the request seriously as an expression of suffering, and assess suicide risk now.
  2. 2Assess capacity carefully: depression can affect decisions, but it does not automatically remove capacity.
  3. 3Review treatment so far and offer the best available psychiatric care. Many jurisdictions require this before mental illness alone can qualify.
  4. 4Follow the legal process: safeguards, independent assessments, waiting periods, multidisciplinary review.
  5. 5Be open about your own values; if you object, refer without obstructing.

  What makes it work

  • It treats the person, not just the request.
  • It shows you know the extra safeguards for mental illness.

  Avoid

  • Dismissing the request outright, or approving it without assessment.

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• EthicsAdvanced·MMI station · MD, DO

  A patient asks you to amputate their perfectly healthy leg because it "doesn't feel like theirs." Do you?

  Autonomy and consent · Empathy · Critical thinking

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  Sample answer outline

  1. 1Recognize body integrity dysphoria: a real, distressing condition, not a whim.
  2. 2Weigh autonomy against nonmaleficence. Doctors are not obliged to perform procedures that cause serious harm without clear benefit.
  3. 3Explore their experience, assess capacity, and refer for psychiatric support. Check for any risk of self-harm.
  4. 4Decline the surgery for now, kindly and clearly, and stay involved in their care.

  What makes it work

  • It treats the patient's distress as real while holding a clear line.

  Avoid

  • Mocking the request or ending the visit.

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• EthicsBeginner·MMI station · MD, DO, PA, Nursing, Residency

  A dying patient asks you to pray with them. You're not religious. What do you do?

  Empathy · Cultural humility · Communication

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  Sample answer outline

  1. 1Respond to the need behind the request: comfort and connection at the end of life.
  2. 2You can be present respectfully, by staying quietly, holding their hand or listening, without claiming a belief you don't hold.
  3. 3Offer the chaplain or their own faith leader.
  4. 4Keep your own views out of it; this moment is about them.

  What makes it work

  • Presence over performance: honest and kind at once.

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