USMLE Step 2 CK Ethics and Patient Safety Practice Questions
10–15% of Step 2 CK · 46 practice questions with a note on every option
316 questions in 16 timed 30-minute blocks, with your score in ethics and patient safety and every other content area.
Free ethics and patient safety drillA 38-year-old man comes to the physician because of low back pain for 5 days that began after he moved furniture. The pain does not radiate below the knee. He has no fever, weight loss, history of cancer, injection drug use, or bladder or bowel symptoms. Neurologic examination is normal. He asks for an MRI because a coworker 'had a slipped disc.' Which of the following is the most appropriate response by the physician?
Social Sciences: Legal/Ethical Issues & Professionalism/Systems-based Practice & Patient Safety on Step 2 CK
Legal and ethical issues, professionalism, systems-based practice and patient safety together are the largest single Step 2 CK category, at 10–15% of the exam. Questions ask what a resident should do next when the medicine is clear but the situation is not.
- Share of Step 2 CK
- 10–15% of the exam, per the USMLE content outline
- On our mock exam
- 39 of 316 questions, with your score for this system in the result
- Our drill
- 10 questions from 46 ethics and patient safety questions, untimed, a note on every option; one free attempt, unlimited with a pass
What Step 2 CK ethics and patient safety questions test
- Consent, decision-making capacity, surrogate hierarchy and advance directives
- Confidentiality and its legal exceptions: duty to warn, reportable diseases, abuse reporting
- Minors, emancipation and the care adolescents can consent to themselves
- End-of-life care, withdrawing treatment and medical futility
- Disclosure of errors, handoffs, root cause analysis and preventing medication errors
- Professionalism: boundaries, gifts, impaired colleagues and conflicts of interest
Sit all 316 questions in timed blocks
316 questions in 16 timed 30-minute blocks, with your score in ethics and patient safety and every other content area.
Free ethics and patient safety drillHow to study it
- Start from patient autonomy: a capable adult decides, even when you disagree.
- Learn the short list of mandatory reporting duties and when they override confidentiality.
- For patient safety questions, prefer system fixes over blaming one person.
Common questions
Why is ethics such a large part of Step 2 CK?
The content outline puts Social Sciences: Legal/Ethical Issues & Professionalism/Systems-based Practice & Patient Safety at 10–15% of Step 2 CK, more than any single organ system. Our 316-question mock includes 39 such questions.
Does state law matter on Step 2 CK?
Questions use principles that apply across the US. Our bank avoids rules that differ from state to state.
316 questions in 16 timed 30-minute blocks, with your score in ethics and patient safety and every other content area.
Free ethics and patient safety drillThe other Step 2 CK systems
Sources
- USMLE: Step 1 (blocks, items, testing day, break time)
- USMLE: Step 2 CK (blocks, items, testing day, break time)
- USMLE: Test delivery software updates for Step 2 CK and Step 1 (May 2026)
- USMLE: Step 1 content outline and specifications
- USMLE: Step 2 CK content outline and specifications
- USMLE: Examination results and scoring (minimum passing scores)
- USMLE Bulletin: Scoring and score reporting (about 60% correct to pass; result timing)
- USMLE Bulletin: Eligibility (attempt limits)
- USMLE: Apply for exams (2026 and 2027 fees, FSMB registration, region fees)
- USMLE: Performance data (pass rates)
- Intealth ECFMG: Fees overview (ECFMG Certification)
Original practice questions written to the USMLE content outlines and current standard references. USMLE® is a joint program of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and NBME. Independent practice, not affiliated with or endorsed by the FSMB, NBME or Intealth (ECFMG). Follow current guidelines in clinical practice.