Dilemma

Shortly after I had my family dinner, I was asked to lead a tutorial on medical ethics for our final year students.

This was not the first time I did it, and, honestly, most of the sessions were rather boring. The arrangement was simple. There were four students in my group, and, in the hour allocated, they were asked to present two cases of ethical dilemma that they recently encountered in their own patients, with an aim to stir up the discussion.

This time was no different. I must say the presentation in itself was reasonable, but the cases were hardly interesting. We probably finished in no more than 20 minutes, and then I made the conclusion, half yawning, "Your scenarios are actually very straightforward. There was hardly any dilemma in your first case. And, as to the second one, any difficulty was created by the doctor himself!"

Alas, I shouldn't be too harsh on my students. "How could they easily spot the ethical dilemma in the case that they encounter in the ward?" I said to myself.

"Professor, you may be right. But, can you outline a scenario that you consider a real ethical dilemma?" One of the student asked.

I was taken aback.