Professional Practice and Ethics
What this domain tests
This domain tests ethical reasoning in real clinical situations: consent, confidentiality, boundaries, truthfulness, resource allocation, and professional duties. Items often ask what you should do first or how to document a decision.
Core rules
- Core principles: autonomy (respect the patient's choice), beneficence (act for benefit), nonmaleficence (avoid harm), justice (fairness), veracity (truthfulness), and fidelity (keep promises).
- Informed consent requires capacity, disclosure of material information, voluntariness, and documentation. A patient may refuse care; document the refusal, alternatives, and follow-up.
- Confidentiality is limited by the need to protect others and by law. Share only the minimum necessary information with authorized people.
- Avoid dual relationships and boundary crossings that exploit the therapeutic relationship. Declare conflicts of interest.
- If a colleague is impaired or practicing outside scope, protect patients first and follow reporting channels.
Worked example
A competent patient with shoulder pain refuses the recommended exercise program and asks for passive treatment only. The physiotherapist explains the risks of inactivity, offers a modified plan, and documents the refusal and the agreed follow-up. Reasoning: autonomy permits refusal, but the therapist still has duties to inform, offer alternatives, and record the decision.
Traps
Paternalistically overriding a competent refusal. Discussing a patient in a public area. Falsifying or backdating documentation. Ignoring a colleague's impairment because reporting feels disloyal.