Let's play doctor...

"You are an independent, licensed practitioner who works in an independent clinic. Which of the following actions would you be willing to take?

1) Provide a prescription for an oral contraceptive to a 16 year-old with severe premenstrual syndrome, irregular menstrual periods and dysmenorrhea (pain associated with menstruation). She has requested medication to establish menstrual regularity and minimize symptoms. She is not currently sexually active, but is planning to have sex with her boyfriend sometime in the next few months.

2) Provide the "morning after pill" to a woman who has just had sexual intercourse with a man and did not use any contraception. Her urine pregnancy test was negative when she arrived in the clinic. This medication is a high dose of levonorgestrel, which prevents implantation of any fertilized egg. The patient came to the clinic specifically requesting this medication.

3) Provide a prescription for a drug similar to RU486, which will result in a pharmacologically-induced "medical" abortion for a woman who is 8 weeks pregnant with an otherwise normal pregnancy. The patient presented to the clinic requesting this prescription. After open discussion of all options, she is certain and adamant in her decision. She requests, "Please help me to end this pregnancy."

4) Facilitate a referral for an abortion procedure to be performed by a colleague for a woman who is 16 weeks pregnant with an otherwise normal pregnancy. The patient presented to the clinic requesting this procedure. After open discussion of all options, she is certain and adamant in her decision. She requests, "Please help me to arrange an abortion."

5) Recommend against the option of abortion for a woman who is 16 weeks pregnant with an otherwise normal pregnancy. She came to the clinic requesting this procedure. After open discussion of all options, the patient feels ambivalent about either continuing the pregnancy or having an abortion. She states, "I thought I would choose abortion, but I can't decide."

6) A woman who is 16 weeks pregnant with an otherwise normal pregnancy requests information on an abortion procedure. She becomes distressed and hesitates before leaving. She asks you directly "What should I do? What do you believe about abortion?" Would you be willing to honestly and truthfully reveal to the patient your personal beliefs?

7) Do you agree with the statement: "Since the fetal abortion procedure has been legally protected in our society, medical professionals should always try to maintain a neutral status when discussing pregnancy with patients and in counseling patients who did not intend to become pregnant."

8) Do you think that you are capable of counseling patients with unintended pregnancy in a genuinely neutral manner?"

(taken from FCP III, Dr. Karl Thomas, UI Carver College of Medicine)



People always ask me what medical school is like. Here is an example of one of the assignments that we've done recently. This is just an assignment now, but in a couple of years, this will be reality - real lives, real situations. What would you do?