Bioethics and medical law — in the LEK question base
The Polish Code of Medical Ethics, consent, medical confidentiality, patients rights, medical experiments, forensic medicine.
- Questions in base
- 145
- Share of base
- 4.7%
- Roughly on the paper
- ~7
The "on the paper" figure assumes the 140 questions drawn from the base are distributed in proportion to its composition. CEM does not publish per-field quotas, so treat it as an order of magnitude rather than a promise.
Required reading — bioethics and medical law
The list CEM publishes for this field. Questions are written from these titles, so where a lecture and a listed textbook disagree, the textbook decides.
They appear here in Polish, exactly as CEM lists them — these are the specific editions that count, and most have no English translation. That is not an oversight on our part; it is the central practical problem of sitting this exam in English.
- 01 Paweł Łuków, Tomasz Pasierski — Etyka medyczna z elementami filozofii, PZWL, 2014
- 02 Joanna Różyńska, Weronika Chańska (red.) — Bioetyka, Wolters Kluwer, 2013
- 03 Kodeks Etyki Lekarskiej
- 04 Konwencja o ochronie praw człowieka i godności istoty ludzkiej (Oviedo, 1996)
- 05 Deklaracja Helsińska WMA (2013), Tokijska WMA (2016), Madrycka WPA (2011)
- 06 Mirosław Nesterowicz — Prawo medyczne, wyd. 10, 2013
- 07 Rafał Kubiak — Prawo medyczne, wyd. 4, 2021
- 08 Leszek Bosek (red.) — Ustawa o prawach pacjenta i Rzeczniku Praw Pacjenta. Komentarz, 2020
- 09 Eleonora Zielińska (red.) — Ustawa o zawodach lekarza i lekarza dentysty. Komentarz, 2022
- 10 Justyna Zajdel-Całkowska — Prawo medyczne, 2019
- 11 Grzegorz Teresiński (red.) — Medycyna sądowa, t. I–III, PZWL, 2019–2021
Source: the CEM reading list . As at August 2026 — check before your session in case CEM has revised it.
Sample questions from the base
Ten items from CEM's public listing for this field, in the official English wording used on the exam paper. The correct answer is highlighted. Detailed explanations live in our Polish application (source of preparation).
Is the doctor obliged to report to the police an attempt to kill a man if they obtained this information during medical examination?
- A doctor never has such an obligation.
- B reporting a patient is a matter of choice not duty.
- C doctor in this kind of situation is obliged to inform the Medical Chamber.
- D law does not address such issues.
- E doctor is obliged to do so because the matter concerns an activity that is forbidden by Art. 240 § 1 of the Penal Code. ✓
A patient dissatisfied with the way he has been treated demands the doctor hold a consultation. The patient, other doctors, a priest and a homeopath healer who has been "curing" the patient's family for years should take part in the consultation. According to the Code of Medical Ethics the doctor should:
- A agree to the patient's demand.
- B hold the consultation without a priest.
- C hold the consultation without the healer.
- D hold the consultation without the healer and a priest. ✓
- E refuse to hold such a consultation.
A hospital offers a contract of employment to a doctor. The employer has informed the doctor that employment would be based on the co-called equivalent working time system. This means that: 1) daily working time norm can be extended up to 12 hours; 2) daily working time norm can be extended up to 18 hours; 3) weekly working time norm is extended to 48 hours; 4) as a rule, the time calculation period is 1 month; 5) as a rule, the time calculation period is 6 months. The correct answer is:
- A 1,3.
- B 2,4.
- C 3,5.
- D 2,5.
- E 1,4. ✓
A pregnant woman had previously given birth to a child with hypochondroplasia, a genetic disease manifesting itself in dwarfism combined with joint and bone deformities. Fearing that this disease will occur in another child, she was referred by a gynecologist to a consultation clinic for women with high-risk pregnancies where she asked the physician for a referral to prenatal testing. The physician refused. Was that decision justified?
- A yes, because the physician assumed that once this genetic disease is confirmed, the woman would terminate the pregnancy.
- B yes, because the physician acknowledged that in order to exercise their professional freedom they were entitled to refuse to do so.
- C no, because physician's refusal to refer the patient violated the patient's right to information and medical services. ✓
- D no, because prenatal testing is compulsory for pregnant women.
- E yes, because patient's wish is not a sufficient reason to refer her to prenatal testing.
Is the doctor allowed to reject or discontinue the treatment of the patient?
- A yes, in exceptional cases, and they have to inform the patient about the possibility to receive help elsewhere. ✓
- B no, it is the doctor's duty to always help the patient.
- C they are allowed to do that after obtaining their head of hospital department's consent.
- D they are allowed to do that after obtaining their hospital director's consent.
- E regulations do not cover this matter.
In accordance with the Act of 5 December 2008 on preventing and combating infections and infectious diseases in humans, a Canadian citizen while in Poland is exempted from the obligation to undergo protective vaccinations (except post-exposure vaccinations) if their length of stay is not longer than:
- A 1 month.
- B 2 months.
- C 3 months. ✓
- D 4 months.
- E 6 months.
A doctor can issue the death certificate: 1) on the basis of their own tests and conclusions; 2) on the basis of the documentation of post-mortem examination made by another doctor; 3) on the basis of patient's medical documentation made before their death; 4) only after autopsy; 5) on the basis of the information obtained from the deceased's close persons. The correct answer is:
- A 1,2. ✓
- B 2,3.
- C only 4.
- D 3,5.
- E only 5.
What measures should the doctor take while examining the patient or providing them with other medical services without the patient's consent (due to their poor health condition or age)?
- A they should inform the head of hospital department.
- B they should inform the hospital director.
- C doctor does not have any particular obligations in this case.
- D they should obtain the consent of the guardianship court.
- E they should register such activities in the patient's medical records and, if possible, consult their actions with another doctor. ✓
Which of the following state organs is to announce the Preventive Vaccination Program for a given year?
- A Polish law does not have such a document/program in the offing.
- B such a document is announced by the Chief Sanitary Inspector in the Official Journal of the Minister of Health. ✓
- C such activities are the responsibility of the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector.
- D Ombudsman for Patients' Rights is obliged to announce such a program once a year.
- E announcement of the Program is the responsibility of the Minister of Health.
According to the Act of 5 December 1996 on the profession of doctors and dentists, prescriptions are to be given to the patient or: 1) patient's legal representative; 2) authorized person (indicated name and family name) by the patient; 3) other party with no specified identity authorized by the patient; 4) in the case of e-prescription in the form of a printout, authorized person (indicated name and family name) by the patient; 5) in the case of e-prescription in the form of a printout, other party with no specified identity authorized by the patient. The correct answer is:
- A 1,2.
- B 1,2,3.
- C 1,2,4.
- D 1,2,4,5.
- E all the above. ✓
Full listing for this field contains 145 questions — these ten are a preview. Detailed rationales, spaced-repetition scheduling and citations are in the Polish app (English coverage is in progress).
How to get through this field
145 questions is a finite, countable set — at twenty a day you are through it in 8 days. The difficulty is not the volume. It is that the CEM listing gives you the questions and nothing else: no answer key, no explanation and no indication which of the books above the answer came from.
In our bank every question in this field carries an explanation and a citation to its source. Instead of memorising a letter you see why the other four options are wrong — and that is the part which transfers to the 60 unpublished questions you cannot prepare for in advance. The English edition is in progress; these pages come first.