AlphaMED Resources · https://alphamedicine.uk/Resources/glossary/quality-of-life
Quality of life
Quality of life is a person's own sense of how well they are living.
Summary
- It covers comfort, independence, relationships and the ability to do what matters to them.
- It is weighed alongside length of life when treatment is planned.
- People with disabilities often rate their quality of life higher than doctors expect.
- It is the quality part of a QALY, where full health scores 1 and death scores 0.
Interview questions
- Who should decide whether a patient's quality of life is acceptable?
- Would you offer a treatment that extends life by a year and leaves the patient feeling very unwell throughout?
- How would you find out what matters most to a patient?
Practise answering these with a mentor
Our interview preparation has you answer questions like these out loud, with feedback on each answer.
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More NHS hot topics, medical ethics case studies and medical school interview questions are in AlphaMED Resources, which we add to and update through the application cycle.