I was also a pre-medical student, and am currently attending the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. During my senior year at Santa Clara, I led discussions on medical ethics with students interested in medicine.
The purpose of these discussions was two-fold. First, they were created to help bring current ethical issues onto our campus. Second, they were intended to help students who were interested in a career in the health sciences determine whether or not medicine is their correct calling. Most of the discussions followed a simple format. One to two cases were formulated for the students to read. Then I presented the students with various questions related to some of the ethical issues contained in the situations described.
The following cases are the ones that I presented to the groups. Each case also has a short history and summary of the ethical issues being reviewed. The questions I asked of the students are included as well. These cases and questions are public domain, and can be re-used or modified for educational purposes.
I hope that you find them useful, and that they spawn the same thoughtful enjoyment in you as they did in me. Note: The cases were not based on specific events. However, it is possible that they share similarities with actual events.
These similarities were not intended. Autonomy essentially means "self rule," and it is a patient's most basic right. As such, it is a health care worker's responsibility to respect the autonomy of her patients. However, at times this can be difficult because it can conflict with the paternalistic attitude of many health care professionals. The following two cases address patient autonomy. The first involves the rights of an individual to decide her own fate, even against her physicians' judgments.
