Doctors face ethical dilemmas everyday, and almost all medical school interviews will include questions about ethics and law. As such, it is important for your success in interviews and as a practising doctor, that you understand the ethical principles and laws related to medicine.

Ethics

 Ethics is a system of moral principles which should guide your actions as a doctor

 Ethics are not always enforceable in the same way as laws

 There are 4 ethical principles which you must be aware of (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice)

Autonomy

 Autonomy is the right to independence and self governance

 In medicine, this refers to the need to both consider and respect the decisions and wishes of individuals

 In other words, as a doctor you must respect a patient’s decisions

Beneficence

 ‘Bene’ in Latin means ‘good’

 Beneficence means balancing the benefits and risks of the care you provide

 In other words, you should always attempt to do good

Non-maleficence

 Maleficent in Latin means evil, and so non-maleficent means non-evil

 As a doctor, you should avoid causing harm, and where harm is unavoidable, the harm should not outweigh the benefits of the action

 In other words, you should not harm your patients

Justice

 Justice is the act of being fair or just

 As a doctor, you must treat everyone equally and fairly

 Justice refers to the fair distribution of resources, costs, benefits and risks 

Confidentiality

 In medical scenarios, confidentiality refers to the rules that mean that anything a patient discusses with a doctor must be not be shared with anyone else (there are just a few exceptions to this)

 This is not one of the four ethical principles, however, it is important to understand it

 It overlaps with autonomy which is why it is not considered a separate principle

 In accordance with autonomy, you must accept a patient’s decisions about allowing others to have access to their personal information

 The concept of patient confidentiality has always existed, for example, it was included in the Hippocratic Oath!

 Patient confidentiality is important as it makes patients feel more confident about seeking medical attention, as they are not concerned about who will find out

 However, you should be aware that confidentiality does raise certain ethical questions

Law

 Whilst you do not need to have an extensive understanding of legal cases, it is important to understand key areas related to medicine

Medical negligence

 In order to prove a doctor has acted negligently, a 'victim' must prove all of the following:

1. The doctor owed them a duty of care
2. The doctor breached this duty of care
3. They suffered harm as a result of this breach

 It is often difficult to prove that the victim's suffering was directly caused by the doctor’s actions, however, if the doctor is found guilty, the victim will be awarded damages (for pain, suffering and loss of earnings)

 The GMC is another disciplinary body which can reprimand doctors outside of the law, for example, they can put doctors on probation, revoke their license and hold disciplinary hearings

Medical School Interview Question example topics

 Consent (e.g. refusal of life saving treatment)

 Confidentiality (e.g. giving teenagers contraception)

 Resource allocation (e.g. self inflicted disease)

 Abortion (e.g. law and personal stance)

 Fertility (e.g. IVF)

 Medical Research (e.g. animal testing)

 End of life issues (e.g. euthanasia)

 Child safety issues (e.g. suspected child abuse)

 Click here to view the top 200 medical school interview questions!

Summary

1. There are 4 main ethical principles (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice) which should guide your understanding of how a doctor should approach ethical problems
2. Medical negligence is an important aspect of the law which doctors should be aware of
3. Most medical school interviews will include some questions about medical ethics and/or law