The ethics question in interviews

[wannabeedent]

Hey predents.... sorry if this question is inappropriate, but i blame my newness to the forum. I was wondering who felt they had a good answer to the following interview question:

"If you caught your best friend cheating on an exam what would you do?"

So this kills me... my instinct is to answer honestly... confront him and tell him how i felt and if it happened again i would not hesitate to report him. But would i be kicking myself in the balls if i answered this way?

Would the adcoms appreciate the honesty or what would be the "correct" answer more?

Anyone feel they answered this question well in an interview. Thanks!!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Destiny11]

Hey predents.... sorry if this question is inappropriate, but i blame my newness to the forum. I was wondering who felt they had a good answer to the following interview question:

"If you caught your best friend cheating on an exam what would you do?"

So this kills me... my instinct is to answer honestly... confront him and tell him how i felt and if it happened again i would not hesitate to report him. But would i be kicking myself in the balls if i answered this way?

Would the adcoms appreciate the honesty or what would be the "correct" answer more?

Anyone feel they answered this question well in an interview. Thanks!!!

Welcome to sdn! The whole point of an ethics question is to see if you can think logically and come up with an ethical answer. There is no perfect answer, and certainly no one on sdn knows it. Be yourself, you either got what they are looking for or you don't.

 

[khangreen]

An interview isn't meant to see how well of an answer you can prepare for every single question. I feel you should be yourself and answer honestly. If you deserve the position/spot, you'll get it. If you deserve it and they don't accept you, then you don't need them. But that's just my take on interviews 😛.

 

[samurai361]

An interview isn't meant to see how well of an answer you can prepare for every single question. I feel you should be yourself and answer honestly. If you deserve the position/spot, you'll get it. If you deserve it and they don't accept you, then you don't need them. But that's just my take on interviews 😛.

Yes 👍

but btw thats the correct answer. To tell your friend to turn themselves in and if they don't report them... although most likely no one does that 😛

 

[schen140]

sorry but i'd disagree about that being the correct answer

i bet if all of us were honest with ourselves, 100% of the time we would not turn in our best friend for cheating...that's called backstabbing and being shady, let's face it.

my answer: i would refuse to let him cheat off of me, and in private i would talk to him to try to persuade him to reconsider his actions, as cheating means:
-a lack of integrity towards his future patients
-foolishly putting his future at risk if anyone were to find out

the interviewers will know this is what we're all thinking, and they cant blame you for it because no one in their right mind (themselves included) will turn in their best friend especially if it means screwing over their future. answer truthfully, that's the correct answer.

more than this being an ethics question, i see it as a way for interviewers to gage if you can be honest when put under pressure

my 2 cents anyways

 

[FutureDent020]

sorry but i'd disagree about that being the correct answer

i bet if all of us were honest with ourselves, 100% of the time we would not turn in our best friend for cheating...that's called backstabbing and being shady, let's face it.

my answer: i would refuse to let him cheat off of me, and in private i would talk to him to try to persuade him to reconsider his actions, as cheating means:
-a lack of integrity towards his future patients
-foolishly putting his future at risk if anyone were to find out

the interviewers will know this is what we're all thinking, and they cant blame you for it because no one in their right mind (themselves included) will turn in their best friend especially if it means screwing over their future. answer truthfully, that's the correct answer.

more than this being an ethics question, i see it as a way for interviewers to gage if you can be honest when put under pressure

my 2 cents anyways

I like this answer. Besides the part about taking him aside and lecturing him. I think an interviewer would definitely believe this and it would go over well. Definitely better than saying you would turn him in because "it's the right thing to do".

 

[yappy]

I would turn them in. Think about the damage a dishonest dentist could do to his/her patients and the profession. In this situation the cheating party isnt concerned about your friendship by cheating off you.
So to answer this question I would say in a polite way I would report the student and tell how I handled a simular situation in my UG.

 

[UltimateHombre]

I would turn them in. Think about the damage a dishonest dentist could do to his/her patients and the profession. In this situation the cheating party isnt concerned about your friendship by cheating off you.
So to answer this question I would say in a polite way I would report the student and tell how I handled a simular situation in my UG.

No intentions of trolling and no offense.. but would you really do this?! This is your best friend your talking about, not a random person in UG. I can hardly believe that anyone would do this... I would have a hard time feeling "ethical" if i screwed over my best friends life and career, for the sake of maintaining academic integrity in one particular instance. How an adcom would react is anyone's guess... but i can only imagine that an adcom would smell BS if this was your "honest" answer.

And i guess the argument could be made that the best friend will possibly be dishonest in their practice and with patients. But can't the same thing be said about anyone of us... have we made 100% honest and ethical decisions our whole lives?! Who are we kidding?! We cannot make the assumption that based on a moment of weakness where someone cheated, that is how they will run their practice for the rest of their lives. Ya kinda sounds ridiculous huh...

I am going with Schen on this one... Cheers!! 😀😀😀

 

[redchesus]

And i guess the argument could be made that the best friend will possibly be dishonest in their practice and with patients. But can't the same thing be said about anyone of us... have we made 100% honest and ethical decisions our whole lives?! Who are we kidding?! We cannot make the assumption that based on a moment of weakness where someone cheated, that is how they will run their practice for the rest of their lives. Ya kinda sounds ridiculous huh...

Totally agree! Not everything is so black and white. Most people aren't 100% good or 100% bad all the time. It's definitely situational, but if given that it is the first time I caught them cheating and it is my *best* friend, there's no way I would turn them in.

If it were the actual best friend I have in real life, he would get a huge scolding later on.

 

[slm266]

Totally agree! Not everything is so black and white. Most people aren't 100% good or 100% bad all the time. It's definitely situational, but if given that it is the first time I caught them cheating and it is my *best* friend, there's no way I would turn them in.

If it were the actual best friend I have in real life, he would get a huge scolding later on.

Sorry, but the whole scolding your bff made me laugh.

If I were to scold my bff, I'd prob throw in a swat on the wrist to let him know that I'm serious. Maybe even wag a finger in his face as I scold him.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[redchesus]

Sorry, but the whole scolding your bff made me laugh.

If I were to scold my bff, I'd prob throw in a swat on the wrist to let him know that I'm serious. Maybe even wag a finger in his face as I scold him.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Oh, there would definitely be wags of the finger, no doubt about that.

Or maybe I would pull off some elaborate scheme to teach him a moral lesson, like they always do on Scrubs (with dramatic music at the end and everything).

 

[UltimateHombre]

Oh, there would definitely be wags of the finger, no doubt about that.

Or maybe I would pull off some elaborate scheme to teach him a moral lesson, like they always do on Scrubs (with dramatic music at the end and everything).

👍

Could you end the scolding with a mild slap to the face with a sobbing cry of "how could you?!"

 

[Valiant]

I really think you guys are missing the point. The bottom line is that cheating ultimately hurts the patient and compromises their care.

 

[Oracle DMD]

I really think you guys are missing the point. The bottom line is that cheating ultimately hurts the patient and compromises their care.

this is really the point of the queston: can you understand the effects on future patient care.

if you can get that across in your answer, great. we asked that question a billion times last year and i've seen adcoms almost demand that the applicant answer that they would turn in their friend. during one particular interview, the applicant who was having a very good interview IMO said that he would not turn in his friend, but would confront him about it. after the interview, the adcom thought that not turning in his friend was a weakness of the interview, but i argued that maybe i would rather have someone be honest at the interview and say they wouldn't do it vs have someone lie and tell me they would, because in reality not many people have the stones to turn in ANYBODY, especially not their bff.

so i guess it's a bit of a catch 22. come off as anti-cheating and pro-patient and i think you'll be fine.

 

[iamgosu]

I really think you guys are missing the point. The bottom line is that cheating ultimately hurts the patient and compromises their care.

eh? how does cheating on an exam relate to hurting the patient at all?
i mean, this could simply be a CALCULUS exam. Are you seriously going to do derivatives and integration later on as a dentist? NO!

either way, I definitely wouldn't turn my friend in. What if he decides to backstab and then tell the prof that I cheated instead?

 

[FutureDent020]

I really think you guys are missing the point. The bottom line is that cheating ultimately hurts the patient and compromises their care.

this is really the point of the queston: can you understand the effects on future patient care.

if you can get that across in your answer, great. we asked that question a billion times last year and i've seen adcoms almost demand that the applicant answer that they would turn in their friend. during one particular interview, the applicant who was having a very good interview IMO said that he would not turn in his friend, but would confront him about it. after the interview, the adcom thought that not turning in his friend was a weakness of the interview, but i argued that maybe i would rather have someone be honest at the interview and say they wouldn't do it vs have someone lie and tell me they would, because in reality not many people have the stones to turn in ANYBODY, especially not their bff.

so i guess it's a bit of a catch 22. come off as anti-cheating and pro-patient and i think you'll be fine.

I know people getting paid under the table so the company can avoid taxes. I know people who cheated in college. I know people who buy children's tickets for R-rated movies to save money. Have I turned any of them in, no. Do I care, no. Will I be an unethical, lying dentist, NO. These questions are dumb in interviews, because like Oracle said, honesty does not always pay off. It's not like the students who say 'no, I would not turn my friend in' will ultimately lie to a patient. It's a lousy way to judge someone's character.

 

[darkwalk]

I agree its a dumb question. We all know that the vast majority of people will not turn their buddy in, pure and simple. However, I think it's best to just answer the question correctly (cheating is wrong, I will not hesitate to turn someone in even if its my mother, etc...) to be safe.

 

[alanan84]

Cheaters drive me crazy.

 

[Oracle DMD]

i think you all will be suprised at the amount of scumbags you'll see in dental school.

in regards to it being a lousey question, i agree because it forces liers to lie even more. i disagree that cheating on a test/ or what you would do about it, doesn't speak to character though. if you cheat on a calculus test or an oral surgery test or a spelling test, you're a scumbag. yes there's a sliding scale of scumminess, but it's all garbage none-the less. the kind of person you are now (to a great extent) will be the kind of dentist you will be when you graduate.

i guess, everytime i heard the question asked in the interview, i watched to see if the applicant would lie to my face about what they would do. i understand that the lie might be a safer play in that situation, but then again life doesn't always reward the safest players, and adcoms are generally not fools.

 

[Destiny11]

I am sure very few ethics questions are asked during the interview and that there will be unethical applicants that can slip through the cracks. Do you think with a school like MWU-CDMA that has a heavy curriculum on ethics can really influence a student who is not ethical?

i think you all will be suprised at the amount of scumbags you'll see in dental school.

in regards to it being a lousey question, i agree because it forces liers to lie even more. i disagree that cheating on a test/ or what you would do about it, doesn't speak to character though. if you cheat on a calculus test or an oral surgery test or a spelling test, you're a scumbag. yes there's a sliding scale of scumminess, but it's all garbage none-the less. the kind of person you are now (to a great extent) will be the kind of dentist you will be when you graduate.

i guess, everytime i heard the question asked in the interview, i watched to see if the applicant would lie to my face about what they would do. i understand that the lie might be a safer play in that situation, but then again life doesn't always reward the safest players, and adcoms are generally not fools.

 

[UltimateHombre]

I know people getting paid under the table so the company can avoid taxes. I know people who cheated in college. I know people who buy children's tickets for R-rated movies to save money. Have I turned any of them in, no. Do I care, no. Will I be an unethical, lying dentist, NO. These questions are dumb in interviews, because like Oracle said, honesty does not always pay off. It's not like the students who say 'no, I would not turn my friend in' will ultimately lie to a patient. It's a lousy way to judge someone's character.

Well stated 👍 .... when us as human beings have made unethical decisions our whole lives. I just can't understand how an adcom could believe you if you said yes to this question.

I think it has already been said, but the biggest problem with this question is that it tempts the honest/ethical people to lie in order to have a "good" interview.

I really would like to know what is accomplished by this question?!

 

[yappy]

Ethical questions can be used to observe your thinking process. Can you defend your answer logically.

I think a better ethical question would relate to patient care.
"If you observed a fellow student intentionally omit a clinical mistake from a patients chart what would you do?"

 

[Oracle DMD]

also, think about the question as it is an ethics test in and of itself. will you lie about what you'd do in a given situation? idk....you never really know someone, so the adcoms try to do the best they can with the 15-45 min they have w/ you.

 

[UltimateHombre]

I think a better ethical question would relate to patient care.

"If you observed a fellow student intentionally omit a clinical mistake from a patients chart what would you do?"

👍

 

[Vicviper]

If I heard someone say without hesitation that they would turn their friend in, I'd instantly suspect that they were lying. It is a very stupid question, and although I guess they ask it at Midwestern, I didn't have it at any of my interviews.

My plan (and the fact that you have to have a plan for this type of question even shows how invalid it is) for this type of question was to spin the answer to say something like, "If I suspected that a friend was cheating on an exam, I would confront them with my suspicions, and tell them that if I saw something that hinted at cheating again, I would turn them in." Especially in very large classes, I highly doubt a teacher would take accusations of cheating against one student particularly seriously because there is no proof - other than to watch the student closely on the next exam. I reported cheating once because the curve setters in the class were totally cheating, and this was hurting everyone else in the class, and the teacher said that the only thing he could do about it was to make a seating chart for the test.

 

[darkwalk]

If I heard someone say without hesitation that they would turn their friend in, I'd instantly suspect that they were lying. It is a very stupid question, and although I guess they ask it at Midwestern, I didn't have it at any of my interviews.

My plan (and the fact that you have to have a plan for this type of question even shows how invalid it is) for this type of question was to spin the answer to say something like, "If I suspected that a friend was cheating on an exam, I would confront them with my suspicions, and tell them that if I saw something that hinted at cheating again, I would turn them in." Especially in very large classes, I highly doubt a teacher would take accusations of cheating against one student particularly seriously because there is no proof - other than to watch the student closely on the next exam. I reported cheating once because the curve setters in the class were totally cheating, and this was hurting everyone else in the class, and the teacher said that the only thing he could do about it was to make a seating chart for the test.

This stuff happens a lot in dental school? I thought the stakes are high enough to deter such behavior.

 

[Vicviper]

This stuff happens a lot in dental school? I thought the stakes are high enough to deter such behavior.

I was referring to an experience in undergrad with a lecture hall of over 400 students - though it's not to say that cheating is unheard of in dental school. You're right though, the high stakes do make people think twice.

 

[Oracle DMD]

This stuff happens a lot in dental school? I thought the stakes are high enough to deter such behavior.

there is cheating in every dental school in the country, specifically because the stakes are so high. people tend to turn peole in less because of the the stakes, and the pressure you're under makes cheating likely for those prone to cheat or are desperate for a passing result.

faculty are also weary of vigorously investingating/ punishing cheating due to the publicity/ bad press/ impending lawsuits if they enforce cheating standards.

also, dental schools have a high ratio of ...lets say....more passive students that lack the ability to act on even the most blatent cheating.