Iran Medical Residency Entrance Exam key terms

The proportion of people who truly have a disease and are correctly identified as positive by a test. A highly sensitive test rarely misses disease, so it is useful for screening and for ruling out a diagnosis.

The proportion of people without the disease who are correctly identified as negative by a test. A highly specific test rarely produces false positives, so it is useful for confirming a diagnosis after a positive screening result.

The probability that a person with a positive test result actually has the disease. It depends on disease prevalence as well as test sensitivity and specificity, so it falls when a test is used in a low-prevalence population.

The number of patients who must receive a treatment for one additional patient to benefit, calculated as the reciprocal of the absolute risk reduction. Smaller values indicate a more effective intervention.

The arithmetic difference in event rates between a control group and a treated group, expressed as a percentage or proportion. Unlike relative risk reduction, it reflects the actual size of benefit in the population studied.

A patient's voluntary agreement to a medical intervention after receiving adequate information about its nature, benefits, risks, and alternatives, and after demonstrating capacity to decide. It must be documented and can be withdrawn at any time.

A patient's ability to understand relevant information, appreciate the consequences of choices, reason about options, and communicate a consistent decision. Capacity is assessed for a specific decision and does not require a psychiatric diagnosis.

The professional duty to keep patient information private and share it only with those involved in care or when legally required. Breach may be justified by serious public health risk or explicit patient authorization.

Failure to meet the accepted standard of care that causes harm to a patient, established through four elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. It is judged against what a reasonably competent physician would do.

The level and type of care that a reasonably competent practitioner with similar training would provide in similar circumstances. It is usually established through expert testimony and clinical guidelines rather than by outcome alone.

The process of sorting patients by urgency so that limited resources go first to those who will benefit most. In mass-casualty settings it uses rapid physiologic and anatomic criteria rather than order of arrival.

A structured primary survey of airway, breathing, circulation, disability, and exposure used in resuscitation and emergency assessment. Each step is treated before moving on, and the sequence is repeated whenever the patient deteriorates.

A state of inadequate tissue perfusion and oxygen delivery that produces cellular dysfunction and organ injury. It is classified as hypovolemic, cardiogenic, distributive, or obstructive, and treatment targets the underlying cause.

Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. It is recognized by signs such as altered mentation, hypotension, and elevated lactate, and requires prompt antibiotics and source control.

An abrupt decline in glomerular filtration over hours to days, shown by rising creatinine or falling urine output. Causes are prerenal, intrinsic renal, or postrenal, and management depends on the mechanism.

Serum potassium above the normal range, which can cause peaked T waves, widened QRS complexes, and fatal arrhythmia. Emergency treatment includes calcium for membrane stabilization, insulin with glucose, and removal of potassium from the body.

Death of heart muscle caused by prolonged ischemia, usually from acute coronary artery occlusion. Diagnosis rests on characteristic symptoms, ischemic ECG changes, and a rise in cardiac troponin.

Sudden focal neurologic deficit caused by infarction or hemorrhage in the brain. Immediate noncontrast imaging distinguishes ischemic from hemorrhagic stroke and determines whether thrombolysis or thrombectomy is safe.

A severe, rapidly developing systemic hypersensitivity reaction involving airways, breathing, or circulation, often with skin changes. Intramuscular epinephrine is the first-line treatment and should not be delayed for further testing.

An immediate immunoglobulin E-mediated reaction in which mast cells and basophils release histamine after allergen cross-linking. It produces urticaria, bronchospasm, and anaphylaxis within minutes of exposure.

Programmed cell death that removes damaged or unwanted cells without inflammation. It is energy-dependent, shows cell shrinkage and chromatin condensation, and is regulated by caspases and Bcl-2 family proteins.

Uncontrolled cell death from injury that triggers inflammation and loss of membrane integrity. Subtypes include coagulative, liquefactive, caseous, and fat necrosis, each with characteristic tissue appearance.

New abnormal tissue growth that persists after the stimulus is removed and escapes normal growth control. It may be benign or malignant, and malignancy is defined by invasion and metastatic potential.

Classification of cancer extent using tumor size, nodal involvement, and distant metastasis, summarized by the TNM system. Stage guides prognosis and treatment choice more reliably than histologic grade alone.

What the body does to a drug, described by absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination. These processes determine the plasma concentration-time curve and the dosing interval needed for therapeutic effect.

What a drug does to the body, including receptor binding, signal transduction, and the resulting dose-response relationship. It explains potency, efficacy, and the mechanism of adverse effects and interactions.

The time required for plasma drug concentration to fall by half during elimination. It determines how long a drug acts, how often it is dosed, and how many doses are needed to reach steady state.

Metabolism of an orally administered drug in the intestinal wall and liver before it reaches systemic circulation. It lowers oral bioavailability and explains why some drugs require much larger oral than intravenous doses.

A mitochondrial pathway that oxidizes acetyl-CoA to carbon dioxide while producing NADH, FADH2, and GTP. It links carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism to the electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation.

The cytoplasmic breakdown of glucose to pyruvate, yielding a small amount of ATP and NADH. Under anaerobic conditions pyruvate is converted to lactate, regenerating NAD+ so glycolysis can continue.

ATP production driven by the mitochondrial electron transport chain and the resulting proton gradient. Oxygen is the final electron acceptor, and uncoupling or inhibition causes rapid energy failure and cell death.

A network of spinal nerve roots C5 to T1 that supplies the shoulder and upper limb. Its cords and branches are named by relation to the axillary artery, and injury produces characteristic patterns of weakness.

A structured assessment of the twelve cranial nerves testing smell, vision, eye movements, facial sensation and movement, hearing, swallowing, and tongue movement. Findings localize lesions within the brainstem or at the skull base.

New hypertension with proteinuria or maternal organ dysfunction after 20 weeks of gestation. Delivery is the definitive treatment, and magnesium sulfate prevents or treats associated seizures.

The occurrence of generalized tonic-clonic seizures in a patient with preeclampsia, without another identifiable cause. Magnesium sulfate is the treatment of choice, followed by stabilization and delivery.

Glucose intolerance first recognized during pregnancy, usually screened at 24 to 28 weeks. It increases risks of macrosomia, shoulder dystocia, and neonatal hypoglycemia, and is managed first with diet and activity.

Age-specific skills in gross motor, fine motor, language, and social domains used to monitor child development. Persistent delay in one or more domains warrants further evaluation for underlying causes.

Inadequate physical growth in infancy or childhood, shown by weight or height falling across percentile lines over time. Causes include inadequate intake, malabsorption, and chronic illness, and assessment requires a feeding and growth history.