The interview question bank

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

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

  Before a shift, you notice your senior resident smells of alcohol. What do you do?

  Professionalism · Patient safety

  Practice this question now
  Show sample answerHide sample answer

  Sample answer outline

  1. 1State the priority: patient safety. If the resident may be impaired, they should not see patients until that is resolved.
  2. 2Don't assume. Speak to them privately and calmly, say what you noticed, and ask how they are.
  3. 3If the concern stands, tell the attending or supervisor before the shift starts. You don't need proof to raise a safety concern.
  4. 4Show care for the colleague: impairment can signal illness or crisis. Point to physician health and support programs.
  5. 5Acknowledge your position as a trainee and follow the hospital's reporting policy.

  What makes it work

  • It balances safety, fairness and compassion instead of picking one.
  • Escalation is proportionate and quick, because patients are at stake.

  Avoid

  • Saying nothing because they are senior.
  • Confronting them in front of the team.

  Open the question page

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

  A mother refuses a life-saving blood transfusion for her 4-year-old because of her religious beliefs. What do you do?

  Autonomy and consent · Cultural humility · Patient safety

  Practice this question now
  Show sample answerHide sample answer

  Sample answer outline

  1. 1The child's best interests come first. Parents' right to refuse has limits when a child's life is at risk.
  2. 2Approach the mother with empathy, explore her beliefs and offer every acceptable alternative that is medically safe.
  3. 3Involve the senior physician, ethics and the hospital's legal team early. Courts can authorize treatment.
  4. 4In a true emergency, treat to save the child's life as the law allows.
  5. 5Protect the relationship: this family will still care for the child afterward.

  What makes it work

  • It shows exactly where autonomy ends: a parent deciding for a child.
  • It handles the family with compassion, not force alone.

  Open the question page

• EthicsAdvanced·MMI station · MD, DO, PA

  A 12-year-old asks you for birth control and begs you not to tell her parents. What do you do?

  Confidentiality · Patient safety · Communication

  Practice this question now
  Show sample answerHide sample answer

  Sample answer outline

  1. 1Notice the age. At 12, sexual activity is a safeguarding concern in most places, so the child's safety comes first.
  2. 2Before she shares more, explain honestly what you can keep private and what you can't.
  3. 3Talk gently and privately: who she is involved with, whether she feels safe, any signs of coercion or abuse.
  4. 4Follow mandatory reporting duties where they apply, with your supervisor and child protection services.
  5. 5Still meet her health needs: information, protection, and encouragement to involve a trusted adult.

  What makes it work

  • It recognizes the safeguarding issue many applicants miss.
  • Being honest about the limits of confidentiality keeps her trust.

  Avoid

  • Promising total secrecy.
  • Treating it like the same request from a 16-year-old.

  Open the question page

• 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

  Practice this question now
  Show sample answerHide sample answer

  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.

  Open the question page

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

  During rotations, you see one of your closest friends cover up a medical error they made with a patient. What do you do?

  Integrity · Patient safety · Professionalism

  Practice this question now
  Show sample answerHide sample answer

  Sample answer outline

  1. 1First check on the patient: are they at risk right now? If so, alert the team immediately.
  2. 2Speak to your friend promptly and privately. Encourage them to disclose and offer to go with them.
  3. 3If they won't, take it to your supervisor yourself. Patient safety outranks loyalty.
  4. 4Acknowledge the pull of friendship and their fear, and point out that errors are reported to fix systems, not only to punish people.

  What makes it work

  • It gives your friend the chance to do the right thing first.
  • Clear priorities: patient, honesty, then the friendship.

  Avoid

  • Staying quiet to protect the friendship.

  Open the question page

• EthicsIntermediate·MMI station · Nursing, PA, MD, DO

  A patient confides they stopped taking prescribed medications due to religious beliefs, but asks you not to tell the physician. Their condition is worsening. How do you respond?

  Confidentiality · Autonomy and consent · Patient safety

  Practice this question now
  How to approach itHide

  How to approach ethical dilemma questions

  1. 1Clarify the facts and what you would want to know before acting.
  2. 2Name who is affected and the principles in tension: autonomy, doing good, avoiding harm, fairness, confidentiality.
  3. 3Walk through realistic options, starting with the least drastic.
  4. 4Choose a course of action, explain why, and say who you would involve.

  We haven't written a sample answer for this one yet. Practice it out loud and the AI interviewer gives you feedback on your own answer.

  Open the question page