Prompt
You are home for the summer after your second year of university. Your 84-year-old grandmother has an illness that her doctors say will end her life within a few months, and she has told the family she wants to die at home, in the house she has lived in for 50 years. Your mother, her only child, has cared for her every day for a year while working part time. Your mother has told you privately that she is exhausted and does not think she can manage the final months. A care home nearby has a bed available now, but it may not have another for months. At a family dinner, your grandmother asks you, in front of your mother, to promise that she will not be sent away. How would you respond?
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After you practice: what this question tests and how to approach it
What this question tests
- Empathy and compassion
- Communication
- Ethical reasoning
How to approach this question
This MMI station tests whether you can respond with care when your grandmother's wish to die at home collides with your mother's exhaustion, and a promise is being asked of you in front of both of them. Recognize that the decision isn't yours alone, so a promise you can't keep would hurt everyone at the table. Acknowledge your grandmother's fear and her wish with warmth, and avoid agreeing or refusing on the spot. Suggest a family conversation where your mother can speak honestly, and raise options like bringing in outside help at home. When a follow-up asks you to give up time or plans of your own, weigh your future honestly against the family's need, and explain your choice with the same care you'd want from others.
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