Afghanistan Comprehensive Specialization Exam key terms

The branch of pharmacology describing how the body handles a drug over time - absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion - and how these processes shape plasma concentration and therefore dosing.

A calculated apparent volume relating the total amount of drug in the body to its plasma concentration; large values indicate wide distribution into tissues rather than confinement to blood.

The time required for plasma drug concentration to fall by half during elimination; it guides dosing intervals and predicts that roughly four to five half-lives are needed to reach steady state.

The difference between measured serum cations and anions, calculated as sodium minus chloride and bicarbonate; a raised gap signals accumulation of unmeasured acids such as ketones, lactate or toxins.

An acute metabolic emergency caused by absolute or relative insulin deficiency, producing hyperglycaemia, ketonaemia and a high anion gap acidosis; treated with intravenous fluid, insulin and careful potassium replacement.

A spectrum of myocardial ischaemia ranging from unstable angina to myocardial infarction, usually from plaque rupture and thrombosis; urgent ECG and troponin testing guide reperfusion decisions.

Kidney damage or reduced glomerular filtration persisting at least three months, staged by estimated GFR; complications include anaemia, metabolic acidosis, hyperkalaemia and fluid overload.

The interval after symptom onset, generally up to about four and a half hours, during which intravenous thrombolysis may be offered for ischaemic stroke after imaging has excluded intracranial haemorrhage.

A chronic bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, most often affecting the lungs; diagnosed by sputum microscopy, molecular testing or culture and treated with a standard multi-drug regimen.

Sudden severe abdominal pain of short duration that often signals a condition requiring urgent surgical assessment, such as perforation, obstruction, ischaemia or generalised peritonitis.

A systematic first assessment of the injured or critically ill patient addressing Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability and Exposure, treating each immediately life-threatening problem before moving to the next step.

A staged operative strategy for physiologically unstable patients: rapid control of bleeding and contamination, temporary abdominal closure, intensive care resuscitation, then planned definitive reconstruction at a later operation.

Infection arising within thirty days of an operation, or up to ninety days when an implant is left in place, classified as superficial incisional, deep incisional or organ space.

A WHO and UNICEF strategy that manages sick children under five through simple symptom-based algorithms covering danger signs, pneumonia, diarrhoea, fever, ear problems, nutrition and immunization status.

A low-osmolarity glucose and electrolyte solution given by mouth or nasogastric tube to replace diarrhoeal losses, paired with a ten to fourteen day zinc course that shortens episodes and reduces recurrence.

Defined by severe wasting, nutritional oedema or a very low weight-for-height score; managed in phases with cautious low-energy therapeutic feeding, broad-spectrum antibiotics and correction of hypoglycaemia and hypothermia.

The national schedule of routine childhood vaccines delivered through fixed and outreach sessions, depending on an intact cold chain, reliable recording and tracing of children who default.

New hypertension arising after twenty weeks of pregnancy together with proteinuria or maternal organ dysfunction; it may progress to seizures and requires close monitoring and timely delivery.

The anticonvulsant of choice for treating and preventing seizures in eclampsia and severe pre-eclampsia, given as loading and maintenance doses with monitoring of reflexes, respiration and urine output; calcium gluconate is the antidote.

Blood loss of 500 mL or more after vaginal birth, or 1000 mL or more after caesarean, or any loss causing haemodynamic compromise; managed with uterine massage, uterotonics, tranexamic acid and escalation to surgery.

A bundle comprising a prophylactic uterotonic, controlled cord traction and uterine massage around delivery of the placenta, intended to shorten the third stage and reduce postpartum bleeding.

A single chart recording cervical dilatation, descent, contractions, fetal heart rate, maternal vital signs and urine output during labour, used to detect slow progress and obstructed labour early.

A vesicovaginal or rectovaginal communication caused by prolonged obstructed labour, producing continuous urinary or faecal leakage; it is largely preventable through labour monitoring and timely caesarean section.

Afghanistan's defined package of primary and district-level care covering maternal and newborn health, child health, immunization, nutrition, communicable disease control, mental health, disability and essential drugs, delivered by contracted providers.

Afghanistan's complementary package specifying the secondary and tertiary services expected at provincial and regional hospitals, designed to support and receive referrals from the Basic Package of Health Services.

A trained village-based provider, typically one of two attached to a health post under the Basic Package of Health Services, offering basic treatment, referral and health education in underserved areas.

A community council that supports the local health facility, helps select and supervise community health workers, and mobilises villagers around vaccination, hygiene and maternal care.

The number of maternal deaths in a given period per 100,000 live births in the same period, counting deaths from pregnancy-related causes during pregnancy or within forty-two days of its end.

Sensitivity is the proportion of truly diseased people whom a test correctly labels positive; specificity is the proportion of truly healthy people whom it correctly labels negative. Both are intrinsic test properties.

Distortion of the apparent association between an exposure and an outcome by a third factor that is related to both, creating a spurious link unless addressed in study design or analysis.

The continuous temperature-controlled system of storage, transport and monitoring that keeps vaccines potent from manufacturer to injection, failing which immunization gives poor or no protection.

The tuberculosis control strategy in which a trained observer watches the patient swallow each dose, combined with sputum testing, secure drug supply, recording and reporting to protect adherence and limit resistance.

A patient's voluntary authorisation of an investigation or treatment after understandable information about its nature, risks, benefits, alternatives and consequences, given by someone with decision-making capacity.

The professional duty to keep patient information private, disclosing it only with consent, when the law requires it, or when necessary to prevent serious harm to the patient or others.

A failure to meet the standard of care expected of a reasonably competent clinician that results in harm; proving it requires establishing duty, breach, causation and damages.

The process of ranking patients by urgency so that scarce staff, beds, blood or equipment are used to maximise benefit and fairness, particularly during mass casualties or chronic shortages.

The principle that health workers treat the sick and injured without discrimination, never abandon patients, and are neither targets nor participants in hostilities, even during armed conflict.

An independent body that reviews research proposals before they begin, weighing risks against expected benefits and checking consent procedures, confidentiality safeguards and protection of vulnerable participants.