Non-clinical psychosocial topics tested on USMLE Step 1 including physician-patient ethics, informed consent, and health care delivery concepts, distinct from clinical psychiatric diagnosis.
40 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.
- What are the four required elements of valid informed consent?
- Disclosure of information, patient understanding, voluntariness, and decision-making capacity.
- Under what circumstance can a physician treat a patient without obtaining informed consent?
- A life-threatening emergency in which the patient cannot give consent and no surrogate is available.
- What is therapeutic privilege?
- Withholding certain information from a patient when disclosing it would likely cause serious psychological harm.
- What happens to the informed consent requirement if a patient explicitly waives their right to be informed?
- The physician may proceed with treatment without giving the usual detailed disclosure.
- Who gives informed consent for a patient who lacks decision-making capacity and has no advance directive?
- A surrogate decision-maker, typically a legally authorized family member.
- Who determines whether a patient has decision-making capacity?
- The treating physician.
- Who determines whether a patient is legally competent?
- A judge, in a court of law.
- List the criteria that make a minor legally emancipated.
- Being married, serving in the military, being self-supporting and living independently, or having a child of their own.
- For which categories of care can a minor consent to treatment without parental involvement?
- Sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy-related care, substance abuse treatment, and emergency care.
- When a patient has no advance directive, who is generally first in line to act as surrogate decision-maker?
- The patient's spouse.
- What is a living will?
- A written advance directive stating what treatments a patient does or does not want if they become unable to communicate.
- What is a durable power of attorney for health care?
- A legal document naming a specific person to make medical decisions for a patient who becomes incapacitated.
- What does the Tarasoff ruling establish about a therapist's duty when a patient makes a credible threat against an identifiable person?
- The therapist has a duty to warn and protect the identified potential victim, which can override confidentiality.
- Is suspected child abuse an exception to physician-patient confidentiality?
- Yes, physicians are legally required to report suspected child abuse regardless of patient consent.
- What is the ethical principle of beneficence?
- The obligation to act in the best interest of the patient.