Apply medical ethics in a clinical setting.

Application should include behaviors such as

  • ensuring patients' rights
  • maintaining confidentiality
  • exhibiting honesty in all transactions
  • ensuring that medical procedures (e.g., medical asepsis, testing, and medical record-keeping) are carried out to the best of one's ability
  • developing a plan for separation of personal and professional ethics.

Application should also include

  • paying careful attention to stay within the scope of practice as a member of the medical team
  • identifying the legality and/or ethics surrounding medical issues involved in current controversies.

Process/Skill Questions: 

  • What is the difference between law and ethics?
  • What is the purpose of a code of professional ethics? What ethical principles are medical assistants expected to uphold?
  • What should a medical assistant do if he or she believes that a patient's rights have been violated?
  • How can a medical assistant be sued for malpractice?

Teacher Resource: