Font Size
A
A
A

Informed Consent (cont.)

Competency

Competency is a legal term used to indicate that a person has the ability to make and be held accountable for their decisions. The term is often used loosely in medicine to indicate whether a person has decision-making capacity, as described previously. Technically, a person can only be declared "incompetent" by a court of law.



Next: Informed Consent, The Right to Refuse Treatment »

Printer-Friendly Format  |  Email to a Friend


Women's Health

Find out what women really need.

Are You Depressed? Take the Quiz


Read What Your Physician is Reading on eMedicine

Perioperative Management of the Geriatric Patient »

Advances in surgical and anesthetic techniques combined with sophisticated perioperative monitoring are factors that have contributed to an expanding number of older adults undergoing surgery.

Read More on eMedicine »

Medical Dictionary