Refusing to treat abusive patients
- Topic
- Physician wellbeing
- Kind
- Policy and health systems
Prompt
Should physicians be allowed to refuse to treat patients who are abusive toward staff?
Practice this question
After you practice: what this question tests and how to approach it
What this question tests
- Ethical reasoning
- Professionalism and integrity
How to approach this question
This panel question tests how you balance a physician's duty to care for everyone against the safety and dignity of the staff who work alongside them. Separate the cases: abuse that comes from illness, confusion or fear, and abuse that is deliberate. Weigh the patient's right to care, especially in an emergency, against staff wellbeing and the effect on other patients. Consider middle options like clear behavior agreements, security support, or transferring care to another physician. Land on a clear position, and explain when you think refusal could be justified and when it couldn't.
More on physician wellbeing
All 9 questions on this topicMock interviews
If you want to practice with a person, we run mock MMI and panel interviews with feedback on every answer.
