Ethics Case Studies & Education Resources

ACP Ethics Case Study Series

Each case study draws on an ethical challenge encountered by physicians in everyday practice, teaching or research. Free CME/MOC credits are available from ACP’s Online Learning Center. Free CME/MOC credits are available for completion of case studies on Medscape as indicated (a free Medscape login is required for access and completion).

• Chaperones, Professional Boundaries and the Potential for Misunderstandings CME/MOC
• “Why Can’t I Be There?” Ethics Regarding Restrictions on Visitation/Family Caregiver Presence CME/MOC
• Pain Management Near the End-of-Life: What Would Mom Want? CME/MOC
• Ethics, Professionalism, Physician Employment and Health Care Business Practices CME/MOC
• Show Codes, Slow Codes, Full Codes, or No Codes: What Is a Doctor to Do? CME/MOC
• When Resources Are Limited During a Public Health Catastrophe: Nondiscrimination and Ethical Allocation Guidance CME/MOC
• Patient Prejudice? The Patient Said What?... and What Comes Next CME/MOC
• Lab Results Reporting, Ethics, and the 21st Century Cures Act Rule on Information Blocking CME/MOC
• Physician Suicide Prevention: The Ethics and Role of the Physician Colleague and the Healing Community CME/MOC
• Ethics, Electronic Health Record Integrity and the Patient-Physician Relationship CME/MOC
• Ethics, Professionalism, and the Physician Social Media Influencer CME/MOC
• Professional Attire and the Patient-Physician Relationship CME/MOC
• When the Family Caregiver Is a Physician: Negotiating the Ethical Boundaries CME/MOC
• ”Doctor, Can’t You Just Phone a Prescription In?” and Other Ethical Challenges of Telemedicine Encounters CME/MOC
• Serving as an Expert Witness: Is there a Duty? CME 

Ethics Manual (CME/MOC)

The ACP Ethics Manual is the core of College ethics policy. The seventh edition examines issues in medical ethics, reflecting on the ethical tenets of medicine and their application to emerging challenges while also revisiting older issues that are still very pertinent. It helps physicians be prepared to deal with ethical challenges: to identify and reaffirm the fundamentals of medical ethics—such as the patient-physician relationship—and apply principles and reasoned arguments in resolving dilemmas and in debate about ethics topics.

A 25-question quiz module on the seventh edition of the Ethics Manual is available for up to 10 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM and MOC Points. The activity is free for ACP members and Annals subscribers.

Annals of Internal Medicine offers the following CME/MOC activity for ACP members and Annals subscribers:

• Ethical and Professionalism Implications of Physician Employment and Health Care Business Practices (Ann Intern Med. published online 15 March 2021) CME/MOC

Additional position papers cover a broad range of health care ethics issues and can be used as a teaching tool.

Additional Ethics Case Studies

• Pandemic Treatment Resource Allocation Ethics and Nondiscrimination
• Confidentiality and Privacy: Beyond HIPAA to Honey, Can We Talk? 
• Secret Recordings of Office Visits by Patients 
• Addressing a Colleague's Unprofessional Behavior During Sign-Out 
• Patient Requests for Specific Care: 'Surely You Can Explain to My Insurer That I Need Boniva?' 
• Maintaining Medical Professionalism Online: Posting of Patient Information 
• Banning Harmful Health Behaviors as a Condition of Employment: Where There's Smoke There's Fired? 
• Addressing a Colleague's Sexually Explicit Facebook Post 
• Wellness Programs and Patient Goals of Care 
• Resident Duty Hours: To Hand Over or Gloss Over?
• When an Aging Colleague Seems Impaired 
• Preventive Health Screening, Ethics and the Cognitively Impaired Patient 
• Stewardship of Health Care Resources: Allocating Mechanical Ventilators During Pandemic Influenza 
• Copied and Pasted and Misdiagnosed (or Cloned Notes and Blind Alleys) 
• Stewardship of Health Care Resources: Responding to a Patient’s Request for Antibiotics
• Who Should Get What? Mammography and the Stewardship of Health Care Resources 
• Patient/Physician/Family Caregiver Relationships: When the Family Caregiver Is a Physician 
• Physician Work Stoppages and Political Demonstrations -- Economic Self-Interest or Patient Advocacy? Where Is the Line? 
• To Be or Not to Be: Should I Serve as an Expert Witness? 
• Author! Author! Who Should Be Named in a Published Study? An Ethics Case Study 
• The Difficult Patient: Should You End the Relationship? What Now? An Ethics Case Study 
• Dealing with the "Disruptive" Physician Colleague 
• Must You Disclose Mistakes Made by Other Physicians?
• Providing Care to Undocumented Immigrants
• Twenty-eight additional case studies are published in the book Ethical Choices: Case Studies for Medical Practice (2nd edition)