Hello, I am in high school right now and I aim to pursue a medical career, hopefully as an MD or DO, but I have some very strong opinions on ethics that I fear may be problematic. My issue is that I have no problem with people trying to kill themselves and refuse to be a part of involuntarily committing anyone for that reason. As you may have guessed from my name, I currently hold an EMT-B license, but I have stopped volunteering for this reason. So my question is, how likely is it that I will run into that kind of situation in rotations? Is there any way to avoid ER and psych rotations? I do not plan on pursuing a specialty in anyway related to either of them. I am still haunted by being complicit in what I feel to be a gross civil rights abuse on multiple occasions. Basically, I only want to help people who want my help. After sitting in the back of an ambulance with a woman literally begging me to kill her for half an hour, I want to avoid any situation like that like the plague.
Ethical Questions
- Thread starter PAEMT
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Everyone in medicine has their own opinions. That doesn't stop you from being a doctor. You can have strong beliefs and be a health care provider. Also, that is why they have DNR.. But no, you can't avoid ER and psych rotations probably.
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This is not an ethical problem. This is a legal problem. As a provider if the person is a suicide risk (imminently) then you are legally bound to provide certain measures (varies by state). Failure on your part to provide said measures can lead to big problems on your part.
You can have the personal belief that it's ok for people to kill themselves, but your state's laws may dictate that you act differently when you take care of one of these people.
