Israel Medical Licensing Exam key terms

A structured program that promotes appropriate antibiotic selection, dose, route, and duration to improve outcomes, reduce resistance, and limit adverse effects and cost.

Treatment started before the causative organism is identified, chosen from the likely pathogens and local resistance patterns; narrowed once cultures and sensitivities return.

A periodic summary of local susceptibility rates for common pathogens, used to guide empiric antibiotic choice while awaiting individual culture results.

An infection acquired during hospital care that was not present or incubating at admission, often device- or procedure-related and caused by resistant organisms.

Pneumonia developing after at least 48 hours of mechanical ventilation, diagnosed by new infiltrate, purulent secretions, and worsening oxygenation; often caused by resistant gram-negative bacteria.

Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection, identified clinically by a rise in the SOFA score of at least two points.

Sepsis with persisting hypotension requiring vasopressors to maintain mean arterial pressure of at least 65 mmHg and a lactate level above 2 mmol/L despite adequate fluid resuscitation.

The average arterial pressure over the cardiac cycle, approximated as diastolic pressure plus one third of the pulse pressure; a target of 65 mmHg is used in shock.

Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure with bilateral opacities not explained by cardiac failure, arising within a week of a known insult, graded by the PaO2/FiO2 ratio.

Airway pressure maintained at end-expiration during mechanical ventilation that recruits collapsed alveoli, improves oxygenation, and reduces ventilator-induced lung injury.

A 3-to-15 score summing eye, verbal, and motor responses, used to grade level of consciousness after brain injury and to guide airway and monitoring decisions.

Pressure within the rigid skull, normally below about 20 mmHg; sustained elevation reduces cerebral perfusion and can cause herniation.

The pressure driving blood flow to the brain, calculated as mean arterial pressure minus intracranial pressure; it is targeted to preserve cerebral oxygenation after injury.

Continuous seizure activity or repeated seizures without recovery lasting five minutes or more, requiring immediate benzodiazepine therapy and airway support.

The time after ischemic stroke onset during which intravenous clot-dissolving therapy can be given, generally up to 4.5 hours in eligible patients selected by imaging criteria.

A standardized 0-to-42 bedside score quantifying stroke severity across consciousness, gaze, vision, motor, sensory, language, and neglect items; it guides treatment and prognosis.

A patient's voluntary agreement to an intervention after receiving and understanding information about its nature, risks, benefits, and alternatives, documented before the procedure.

A clinical determination that a patient cannot understand, retain, or weigh information needed for a specific decision, triggering surrogate decision-making for that decision.

A court-appointed legal arrangement granting a person authority to make specified decisions for someone who lacks capacity, with scope defined by the court order.

The ethical principle that competent patients have the right to make their own medical choices, including refusal of recommended treatment, consistent with their values.

A documented medical order that cardiopulmonary resuscitation should not be attempted, made with the patient or surrogate and reviewed when the clinical situation changes.

A written statement made while competent that records future treatment preferences or appoints a surrogate decision-maker, used when the patient later loses capacity.

The professional duty to keep patient information private and disclose it only with consent or when a specific legal or safety exception applies.

A legal obligation to notify authorities of defined conditions such as certain communicable diseases, child or elder abuse, or fitness-to-drive concerns, overriding ordinary confidentiality.

A disease that clinicians and laboratories must report to public health authorities, enabling surveillance, contact tracing, and outbreak control.

The proportion of people with the disease who test positive; a highly sensitive test is useful for ruling out disease when negative.

The proportion of people without the disease who test negative; a highly specific test is useful for confirming disease when positive.

The probability that a person with a positive test result truly has the disease; it rises as disease prevalence in the tested population increases.

The number of patients who must receive an intervention for one additional patient to benefit, calculated as the reciprocal of the absolute risk reduction.

A study in which participants are randomly allocated to interventions, minimizing selection bias and supporting causal inference about treatment effects.

Analysis that includes all randomized participants in their assigned groups regardless of adherence, preserving the benefits of randomization and giving conservative effect estimates.

New hypertension after 20 weeks of gestation with proteinuria or other maternal organ dysfunction, requiring close monitoring and timely delivery to prevent eclampsia.

A severe pregnancy complication with hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets, often accompanying preeclampsia and threatening mother and fetus.

New-onset generalized seizures in a patient with preeclampsia, without another identifiable cause; treated with magnesium sulfate and urgent delivery.

Blood loss of 500 mL or more after vaginal birth or 1000 mL or more after cesarean, most often from uterine atony; managed with uterotonics and volume support.

Glucose intolerance first recognized during pregnancy, diagnosed by oral glucose tolerance testing and associated with macrosomia and neonatal hypoglycemia.

Fever in a patient with severe neutropenia, a medical emergency requiring immediate empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics and cultures before treatment.

A hyperglycemic emergency with ketosis and metabolic acidosis, treated with intravenous fluids, insulin infusion, and potassium replacement guided by frequent monitoring.

A spectrum of myocardial ischemia from unstable angina to myocardial infarction, diagnosed by symptoms, serial troponin, and electrocardiography, and treated with urgent reperfusion when indicated.

Sudden severe abdominal pain with signs of peritoneal irritation, requiring prompt evaluation to identify conditions needing urgent surgery such as perforation or ischemia.

Mechanical or functional blockage of intestinal transit causing colicky pain, vomiting, distension, and absent stool, managed with resuscitation and surgery when complicated.

Inadequate weight gain or growth in a child compared with expected norms, prompting assessment of feeding, organic disease, and psychosocial factors.

Standardized curves plotting height, weight, and head circumference by age and sex, used to detect abnormal growth patterns and monitor response to intervention.

Age-specific skills in motor, language, social, and cognitive domains used to screen for developmental delay and trigger early intervention referral.

A structured inquiry into suicidal thoughts, plans, intent, means, and protective factors that guides level of care and safety planning.

Legal detention for psychiatric evaluation or treatment of a person whose mental disorder creates imminent danger to self or others, subject to statutory review.

An acute fluctuating disturbance of attention and awareness due to an underlying medical cause, frequently missed and associated with worse outcomes.

A chronic progressive decline in cognition that impairs daily function, distinguished from delirium by its insidious onset and preserved attention early on.

A framework for understanding illness through interacting biological, psychological, and social factors, guiding comprehensive assessment in family medicine.

Testing apparently healthy people to detect disease early when treatment is more effective, chosen when the condition is important and a suitable test exists.