Excel in 38 Family Medicine Residency interview questions covering patient care, continuity, and your clinical philosophy.
Question 16 of 38
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Audra Kresinske is an educator with over 7 years experience teaching English and employment readiness skills.
In a family practice setting, working closely with patients for many years can pose ethical challenges for physicians. Your interviewers want to know how you solved your biggest ethical problem in medicine to get a sense of how you will behave ethically in their residency program.

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
This is not a trick question. Your answer should demonstrate that you know what is ethical and non-ethical and where you need to intervene and how. The patient-physician relationship puts the patient first, but not at the expense of the physician's ethics. Explain that you will be an ethical and competent Family Medicine Resident.

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
"Having been born and raised in India, I realize that I have many cultural beliefs that are different from your patient base here. I want you to be confident that I would never allow cultural differences to hinder my ability to do what is best for every patient. I'm confident that my cultural differences can make a positive impact on my patients."
"One ethical dilemma I had was when a patient confided in me that they were having suicidal thoughts. This patient asked me to not tell anyone. This was difficult, however, I knew the right thing to do for their safety was to tell my attending physician. This decision ultimately helped this patient get the help they needed."

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Written by Ryan Brunner
38 Questions & Answers • Family Medicine Residency

By Ryan

By Ryan