Practice Set 8: Ethical Dilemma Scenarios

Ethical dilemmas are scenarios where two or more ethical principles conflict and there is no option that satisfies all of them perfectly. The SJT is built on the four pillars of medical ethics — autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice — and dilemma questions test whether you can navigate the tension between them.

Common ethical tensions in the SJT include: a patient's autonomy versus their safety, confidentiality versus public protection, doing what a patient wants versus what is medically best for them, and fair resource allocation when demand exceeds supply. There is rarely a "perfect" answer in these scenarios — the best answer is the one that manages the tension most professionally.

When ethical principles conflict, the SJT generally applies a hierarchy: patient safety (non-maleficence) is the overriding priority, followed by patient autonomy, beneficence, and justice. However, this hierarchy is not absolute — the specific circumstances of each scenario determine which principle takes precedence.