AOBIM Internal Medicine key terms

A four-component lifelong learning process for osteopathic physicians that verifies ongoing competence after initial board certification, including licensure, self-assessment, practice performance, and cognitive assessment of medical knowledge.

A continuous, spaced-question testing format used in OCC that replaces a single high-stakes recertification exam with frequent short assessments, allowing immediate feedback and identifying knowledge gaps over time.

The ongoing process by which a board-certified physician demonstrates continued competence through periodic assessment, self-evaluation, and quality improvement activities to retain board certification status.

An OCC component in which physicians measure and improve the quality of their own patient care using chart review, registry data, or quality improvement projects compared against evidence-based benchmarks.

The process of using assessment feedback, such as missed questions during longitudinal assessment, to identify weak content areas and direct targeted continuing medical education and self-study.

Formal educational activities, including Category 1 and osteopathic Category 1-A credits, that physicians complete to maintain licensure and certification and to stay current with medical advances.

A set of hands-on techniques used by osteopathic physicians to diagnose and treat somatic dysfunction, improve mobility, relieve pain, and support the body's self-regulatory and healing capacity.

Impaired or altered function of related components of the somatic system, including skeletal, arthrodial, and myofascial structures and their vascular, lymphatic, and neural elements, diagnosed on structural examination.

A systematic hands-on assessment of the musculoskeletal system for asymmetry, range of motion restriction, tissue texture change, and tenderness that guides diagnosis of somatic dysfunction and selection of manipulative treatment.

A spectrum of conditions caused by sudden myocardial ischemia, including ST-elevation myocardial infarction, non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, and unstable angina, typically presenting with chest discomfort, dyspnea, or diaphoresis.

Acute myocardial infarction with persistent ST-segment elevation on electrocardiography, indicating complete coronary artery occlusion that requires urgent reperfusion by primary percutaneous coronary intervention or fibrinolysis.

Mechanical reopening of an occluded coronary artery with balloon angioplasty and stent placement, the preferred reperfusion strategy for ST-elevation myocardial infarction when it can be performed promptly by an experienced team.

A cardiac muscle protein released into blood when myocardial cells are injured; high-sensitivity assays detect small elevations and are the preferred biomarker for diagnosing acute myocardial infarction.

Combined use of aspirin with a P2Y12 receptor inhibitor such as clopidogrel, ticagrelor, or prasugrel to prevent stent thrombosis and recurrent ischemic events after acute coronary syndrome or coronary stenting.

Heart failure accompanied by left ventricular ejection fraction of 40 percent or less, treated with guideline-directed therapy including renin-angiotensin system inhibitors, beta-blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, and SGLT2 inhibitors.

Heart failure with left ventricular ejection fraction of 50 percent or greater and evidence of elevated filling pressures, common in older adults with hypertension, obesity, or atrial fibrillation, managed with diuretics and SGLT2 inhibitors.

The combination of medication classes proven in clinical trials to reduce mortality and hospitalization in a given condition, such as the four pillars used in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

A hormone such as BNP or NT-proBNP released by stretched cardiac ventricles; elevated levels support the diagnosis of heart failure and correlate with severity and prognosis.

A supraventricular arrhythmia with disorganized atrial electrical activity producing an irregularly irregular ventricular rhythm and loss of atrial contraction, increasing risk of stroke and heart failure.

A validated risk tool that estimates annual stroke risk in atrial fibrillation using points for heart failure, hypertension, age, diabetes, prior stroke, vascular disease, and sex, guiding anticoagulation decisions.

An oral agent such as apixaban, rivaroxaban, edoxaban, or dabigatran that inhibits thrombin or factor Xa, used for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation and for treatment of venous thromboembolism.

A progressive lung disorder with persistent airflow limitation from airway and parenchymal damage, most often due to tobacco smoke, characterized by dyspnea, chronic cough, and exacerbations.

Pulmonary function testing that measures forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in one second; a post-bronchodilator FEV1 to FVC ratio below 0.70 confirms airflow obstruction.

An abrupt worsening of respiratory symptoms beyond normal day-to-day variation requiring additional therapy, commonly triggered by infection and treated with bronchodilators, corticosteroids, and antibiotics when indicated.

A metabolic emergency of insulin deficiency causing hyperglycemia, ketonemia, and high-anion-gap metabolic acidosis, managed with intravenous fluids, insulin infusion, and aggressive potassium replacement.

A severe hyperglycemic emergency with marked hyperosmolality and dehydration but minimal ketosis, occurring mainly in older adults with type 2 diabetes and carrying high mortality.

The difference between measured serum sodium and the sum of chloride and bicarbonate, used to classify metabolic acidosis and detect unmeasured anions such as ketones, lactate, or toxins.

An abrupt decline in kidney function over hours to days, defined by a rise in serum creatinine or fall in urine output, classified by cause as prerenal, intrinsic renal, or postrenal.

A calculated percentage comparing filtered to excreted sodium that helps distinguish prerenal azotemia, typically below one percent, from intrinsic kidney injury with sodium wasting.

Elevated serum potassium that can cause muscle weakness and dangerous cardiac conduction abnormalities, treated with membrane stabilization, intracellular shift, and removal of potassium from the body.

An acute lung infection acquired outside hospitals, diagnosed by compatible symptoms plus infiltrate on imaging and treated empirically according to severity and local resistance patterns.

A severity tool for pneumonia scoring confusion, urea, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and age 65 or older to guide decisions about outpatient versus inpatient or intensive care management.

Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection, identified by rising organ dysfunction scores and managed with early antibiotics, fluids, and source control.

Advanced hepatic fibrosis with nodular regeneration causing portal hypertension and synthetic dysfunction, leading to complications such as ascites, varices, encephalopathy, and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Infection of ascitic fluid without an evident intra-abdominal source, diagnosed by an elevated ascitic neutrophil count, requiring prompt antibiotics and often albumin infusion.

A reversible neuropsychiatric syndrome in liver disease caused by accumulation of gut-derived toxins such as ammonia, presenting with confusion, asterixis, and altered sleep-wake patterns.

Formation of thrombus in the venous system presenting as deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, diagnosed with imaging and D-dimer testing and treated with anticoagulation.

Occlusion of pulmonary arteries by thrombus, usually from leg veins, causing acute dyspnea, pleuritic chest pain, and right ventricular strain; risk-stratified management ranges from anticoagulation to thrombolysis.