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MD POST study materials
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MD POST practice questions

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Question 1Reading Comprehension

A patient's chart notes 'BP 128/84, HR 72, RR 16, T 98.6°F.' Which reading corresponds to the respiratory rate?

  1. 72
  2. 128
  3. 16 Correct answer.
  4. 84

Explanation

RR stands for respiratory rate, the number of breaths per minute, recorded here as 16. The other values follow the standard vital-sign order: blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature.

Question 2Reading Comprehension

In a clinical note, the phrase 'pt c/o SOB and CP x 2 days' most likely means the patient:

  1. reports shortness of breath and chest pain lasting two days Correct answer.
  2. requests a supply of oxygen and compression pressure for two days
  3. shows signs of shortness of breath and cough productive for two days
  4. complains of sore throat and cold symptoms for two days

Explanation

The abbreviation 'c/o' means complains of, 'SOB' means shortness of breath, 'CP' means chest pain, and 'x' means for a duration. Together the phrase documents two days of those symptoms.

Question 3Reading Comprehension

A passage states: 'Although the trial showed reduced mortality, its single-center design limits generalizability.' What is the author's main point about the trial?

  1. The mortality benefit is promising but the study design weakens how broadly the results apply. Correct answer.
  2. The mortality benefit should be disregarded because the study was conducted at one center.
  3. The single-center design was chosen specifically to improve generalizability.
  4. The trial should be repeated at the same center to confirm the mortality benefit.

Explanation

The concessive 'although' sets up a positive finding followed by a limitation on its applicability. The author accepts the mortality result while cautioning that a single-center design restricts generalization to wider populations.

Question 4Reading Comprehension

A sentence in a patient handout reads: 'Take the tablet with food, and avoid alcohol while on this medication.' What is the purpose of the second clause?

  1. It gives an additional instruction that applies during treatment. Correct answer.
  2. It explains why the tablet must be taken with food.
  3. It describes a side effect that has already occurred.
  4. It states a condition that ends the medication course.

Explanation

The coordinating conjunction 'and' joins two parallel imperatives, so both are instructions the patient must follow. The second clause adds a restriction that applies for the duration of treatment.

Question 5Reading Comprehension

A discharge summary reads: 'Patient ambulated independently on POD 2.' What does 'POD' refer to in this context?

  1. Postoperative day Correct answer.
  2. Point of discharge
  3. Prescription on demand
  4. Primary outpatient department

Explanation

In surgical and inpatient documentation, POD stands for postoperative day, so POD 2 means the second day after surgery. It anchors the timing of the patient's independent ambulation to the operation.

Question 6Reading Comprehension

Read this sentence: 'The nurse noted that the wound had healed, however, the surrounding skin remained erythematous.' Which statement best describes the sentence's structure?

  1. Two independent clauses are joined by a comma and a conjunctive adverb, producing a comma splice. Correct answer.
  2. An independent clause is followed by a participial phrase modifying the wound.
  3. Two dependent clauses are joined by a subordinating conjunction, forming a complete sentence.
  4. A single independent clause contains a nonrestrictive relative clause set off by commas.

Explanation

'The nurse noted that the wound had healed' and 'the surrounding skin remained erythematous' are both independent clauses. Joining them with only a comma before 'however' creates a comma splice; a semicolon or period is required.

Question 7Reading Comprehension

A note reads: 'Patient denies fever, chills, or night sweats.' What does the word 'denies' signal in clinical documentation?

  1. The patient refuses to answer questions about these symptoms.
  2. The clinician observed these symptoms but did not record them.
  3. The patient is unable to communicate these symptoms.
  4. The patient reports the absence of these symptoms. Correct answer.

Explanation

In medical writing, 'denies' is a conventional verb meaning the patient reports not having the listed symptoms. It documents a negative review of systems rather than refusal or inability to communicate.

Question 8Reading Comprehension

A short passage states: 'Hand hygiene is the single most effective measure for reducing hospital-acquired infection. Yet compliance among staff remains inconsistent.' Which word best captures the relationship between the two sentences?

  1. Cause
  2. Sequence
  3. Example
  4. Contrast Correct answer.

Explanation

The second sentence sets up a tension between proven effectiveness and inconsistent practice, signaled by 'Yet.' That transition marks a contrast between expectation and observed behavior.

Question 9Reading Comprehension

A patient education sheet says: 'If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember unless it is almost time for your next dose; in that case, skip the missed dose.' What should a patient do if the next dose is due in one hour?

  1. Double the next scheduled dose to make up for the missed one.
  2. Take the missed dose now and also take the next dose in an hour.
  3. Take half the missed dose now and half in an hour.
  4. Skip the missed dose and take the next scheduled dose. Correct answer.

Explanation

The instruction creates a conditional exception: when the next dose is nearly due, the patient should skip the missed dose. One hour qualifies as almost time, so the patient waits and resumes the schedule.

Question 10Reading Comprehension

A study abstract reports: 'Of 400 participants, 120 received the intervention; the remainder served as controls.' How many participants were in the control group?

  1. 120
  2. 400
  3. 280 Correct answer.
  4. 320

Explanation

The control group is 'the remainder,' so subtract the 120 intervention participants from the total of 400. That yields 280 controls.

Question 11Reading Comprehension

A passage says: 'The drug's efficacy was demonstrated in vitro; whether it achieves therapeutic levels in human tissue is unknown.' What limitation does the author identify?

  1. The drug cannot be tested outside a laboratory setting.
  2. Therapeutic levels in tissue have been measured but not published.
  3. Laboratory results may not translate into effective treatment in patients. Correct answer.
  4. The drug has already been shown to fail in human trials.

Explanation

'In vitro' means studied outside a living organism, so efficacy in that setting does not establish that the drug reaches therapeutic concentrations in human tissue. The author is flagging an evidence gap between lab and clinical effect.

Question 12Reading Comprehension

Which sentence uses 'which' correctly to introduce a nonrestrictive clause in a clinical report?

  1. The patient was started on metformin which was tolerated well.
  2. The patient was started on metformin, that was tolerated well.
  3. The patient was started on metformin, which was tolerated well. Correct answer.
  4. The patient was started on metformin; which was tolerated well.

Explanation

A nonrestrictive clause adds supplementary information and is set off by a comma before 'which.' The comma signals that the clause is not essential to identifying the drug.

Question 13Reading Comprehension

A passage states: 'The incidence of the condition rose sharply in winter months, but the authors caution that the correlation may reflect seasonal reporting patterns rather than a true increase in disease.' What do the authors imply about the seasonal rise?

  1. It proves that cold weather directly causes the condition.
  2. It should be ignored because correlation never provides useful information.
  3. It demonstrates that reporting patterns are unrelated to observed incidence.
  4. It may be an artifact of how cases are reported rather than a real change in disease frequency. Correct answer.

Explanation

The authors accept the observed rise but propose an alternative explanation: seasonal differences in reporting. This cautions against inferring a true biological increase from the correlation.

Question 14Reading Comprehension

A medication label reads: 'Maximum 4 g per 24 hours in divided doses.' A patient has taken 1.5 g in the morning and 1.5 g at midday. What is the maximum additional amount permitted in the remaining 24-hour period?

  1. 1.5 g
  2. 4 g
  3. 1 g Correct answer.
  4. 2.5 g

Explanation

The patient has taken 3 g of the 4 g daily maximum, leaving 1 g available. The remaining allowance must be calculated against the 24-hour total, not against a single dose.

Question 15Reading Comprehension

A clinical note reads: 'The patient's pain was described as sharp, radiating to the left arm, and worse on exertion; these features raise concern for a cardiac cause.' Which feature is presented as the basis for the concern?

  1. The combination of radiation and exertional worsening Correct answer.
  2. The use of the word 'described' in the note
  3. The absence of any aggravating factors
  4. The patient's description of the pain as sharp

Explanation

The clause after the semicolon attributes the concern to 'these features,' referring to the preceding descriptors. Radiation to the arm and worsening with exertion are the classic features that point toward a cardiac origin.

Question 16Reading Comprehension

In the sentence 'The physician, having reviewed the imaging, ordered further testing,' what is the function of 'having reviewed the imaging'?

  1. It is an independent clause that could stand alone as a sentence.
  2. It is a restrictive clause identifying which physician acted.
  3. It is a participial phrase describing an action completed before the main verb. Correct answer.
  4. It is a noun phrase serving as the object of 'ordered.'

Explanation

The phrase is a perfect participial construction modifying 'the physician,' and it indicates the review happened before the order was placed. It is set off by commas because it is nonessential to identifying the subject.

Question 17Reading Comprehension

A passage argues: 'Because triage decisions must be made in minutes, protocols that require extensive laboratory confirmation are impractical in mass-casualty settings.' Which assumption underlies this argument?

  1. Protocols without laboratory confirmation are always clinically superior.
  2. Mass-casualty events rarely involve patients who need triage.
  3. Laboratory confirmation cannot be obtained quickly enough to inform rapid triage. Correct answer.
  4. Laboratory testing is never useful in emergency medicine.

Explanation

The argument moves from time pressure to the impracticality of lab-dependent protocols, which only works if lab results cannot arrive within the required minutes. That unstated premise is the assumption supporting the conclusion.

Question 18Reading Comprehension

A sentence reads: 'Neither the resident nor the attending physicians was aware of the allergy.' Which revision corrects the subject-verb agreement?

  1. Neither the resident nor the attending physicians be aware of the allergy.
  2. Neither the resident nor the attending physicians were aware of the allergy. Correct answer.
  3. Neither the resident nor the attending physicians has been aware of the allergy.
  4. Neither the resident nor the attending physicians is aware of the allergy.

Explanation

With 'neither...nor,' the verb agrees with the nearer subject. 'Physicians' is plural, so the plural verb 'were' is required.

Question 19Reading Comprehension

A passage describes a drug as having 'a narrow therapeutic index.' What does this mean for clinical reading?

  1. The drug has few side effects across the usual dose range.
  2. The drug's benefits are limited to a short treatment period.
  3. Small differences between effective and toxic doses make careful dosing essential. Correct answer.
  4. The drug is effective against only a narrow range of diseases.

Explanation

Therapeutic index compares the toxic dose with the effective dose; a narrow index means those doses are close together. Clinicians must therefore monitor dosing closely to avoid toxicity.

Question 20Reading Comprehension

A paragraph opens: 'Contrary to earlier assumptions, postoperative mobilization does not increase the risk of wound dehiscence.' What does the opening phrase signal about the paragraph's content?

  1. It will revise a previously accepted belief. Correct answer.
  2. It will describe a procedure step by step.
  3. It will compare two surgical techniques in detail.
  4. It will summarize a well-established consensus.

Explanation

'Contrary to earlier assumptions' explicitly sets the new claim against prior belief, signaling a correction. The paragraph that follows is expected to support the revised understanding.

Question 21Reading Comprehension

A research summary states: 'The intervention reduced readmissions by 20% relative to usual care, though absolute readmission rates fell from 25% to 20%.' Which interpretation is accurate?

  1. The absolute reduction is 20%, corresponding to a relative reduction of 5 percent.
  2. The relative reduction is 20%, corresponding to an absolute reduction of 5 percentage points. Correct answer.
  3. Both the relative and absolute reductions are 20%.
  4. The absolute reduction cannot be determined from the figures given.

Explanation

A drop from 25% to 20% is 5 percentage points in absolute terms. Relative to the 25% baseline, that 5-point drop represents a 20% relative reduction.

Question 22Reading Comprehension

A passage states: 'The guideline recommends screening beginning at age 45, a threshold lowered from 50 in the previous version.' What does the passage indicate about the change?

  1. Screening now starts five years earlier than under the prior guideline. Correct answer.
  2. Screening now starts five years later than under the prior guideline.
  3. The previous guideline recommended screening at age 45.
  4. The eligible age range has been narrowed at both ends.

Explanation

Lowering the starting age from 50 to 45 moves the threshold five years earlier. The passage attributes the prior threshold of 50 to the previous version of the guideline.

Question 23Reading Comprehension

A clinical note reads: 'Patient reports intermittent chest discomfort. No diaphoresis, dyspnea, or syncope. Family history negative for premature coronary disease.' Which conclusion is best supported by this excerpt?

  1. The patient's chest discomfort is confirmed to be noncardiac in origin.
  2. The patient has a strong family history of premature coronary disease.
  3. The patient has been diagnosed with an acute coronary syndrome.
  4. The documented review of systems and family history are negative for the associated features listed. Correct answer.

Explanation

The note records the presence of chest discomfort and then documents the absence of specific associated symptoms and family history. That supports only a negative review of those listed features, not a diagnosis or a determination of cause.

Question 24Reading Comprehension

A passage argues: 'Handoff errors often arise not from missing information but from information delivered in an unstructured way. Standardized handoff tools therefore address the root of the problem.' Which criticism most directly weakens this argument?

  1. Handoff errors are rare in most clinical settings and need little attention.
  2. Standardized tools can impose structure while still omitting critical information, so structure alone may not address the root cause. Correct answer.
  3. Some clinicians prefer verbal handoffs to written summaries.
  4. Standardized tools have been used in other industries for decades.

Explanation

The argument's conclusion depends on structure being the root problem. If structured tools can still omit critical content, then imposing structure may not remedy the actual cause, which undercuts the inference.

Question 25Reading Comprehension

A passage states: 'The association between the exposure and the outcome persisted after adjustment for age, sex, and smoking, but the study relied on self-reported exposure.' What is the most accurate appraisal?

  1. Confounding by the adjusted variables is reduced, but exposure misclassification remains a concern. Correct answer.
  2. Adjustment for age, sex, and smoking eliminates all bias in the study.
  3. Self-reported exposure invalidates the association entirely.
  4. The persistence of the association proves a causal relationship.

Explanation

Adjustment addresses the measured confounders named, supporting the association's robustness against them. Self-reported exposure, however, introduces the possibility of misclassification, which adjustment does not resolve.

Question 26Reading Comprehension

A clinical guideline states: 'The recommendation is conditional: it applies to most patients, but clinicians should tailor the decision to individual values and preferences.' What does the word 'conditional' signal about the strength of this recommendation?

  1. The recommendation is weak and allows for individualized decision-making. Correct answer.
  2. The recommendation is conditional on the patient's insurance coverage.
  3. The recommendation is strong and should be applied to all patients without exception.
  4. The recommendation is based only on expert opinion rather than evidence.

Explanation

In guideline terminology, a conditional recommendation indicates that the benefits and harms are closely balanced or that patient values vary, so clinicians should engage in shared decision-making. It is not a statement about evidence quality alone, nor about coverage. The word signals flexibility rather than a mandate.

Question 27Reading Comprehension

Read this excerpt from a study: 'Participants were randomized to receive either the new drug or placebo. The primary outcome was the change in symptom score from baseline to week 12.' What does 'primary outcome' mean in this context?

  1. The outcome that was most important to the patients, regardless of the study design.
  2. The main result the study was designed to measure and analyze. Correct answer.
  3. The outcome that showed the largest difference between groups.
  4. The first measurement taken after randomization.

Explanation

The primary outcome is the prespecified main endpoint used to determine whether the intervention works; it drives the sample size and the main analysis. It is not simply the first measurement or the largest observed effect. Patient importance may inform choice of outcome but does not define 'primary' in a trial.

Question 28Reading Comprehension

A passage notes: 'The authors report a number needed to treat (NNT) of 50 for the new antihypertensive.' How should a clinician interpret this NNT?

  1. The treatment reduces blood pressure by 50 mmHg in the average patient.
  2. The treatment causes harm in 1 out of 50 patients.
  3. The treatment benefits 50% of patients who receive it.
  4. On average, 50 patients must be treated for one additional patient to benefit. Correct answer.

Explanation

NNT is the reciprocal of the absolute risk reduction: it estimates how many patients need to receive the intervention for one additional person to experience the beneficial outcome. It is not a percentage of beneficiaries, a harm rate, or a measure of effect size in mmHg.

Question 29Reading Comprehension

A discharge summary reads: 'Patient was started on apixaban 5 mg BID. Follow-up in 2 weeks.' Which detail is missing that is most critical for safe continuation of therapy?

  1. The patient's insurance authorization number.
  2. The patient's preferred pharmacy.
  3. The indication for anticoagulation and the planned duration. Correct answer.
  4. The name of the prescribing physician's supervisor.

Explanation

For high-risk medications such as anticoagulants, the discharge summary should state the indication and planned duration so the next clinician can assess appropriateness and avoid premature discontinuation or unnecessary extension. Pharmacy, supervisor, and insurance details are administrative and do not affect clinical safety at follow-up.

Question 30Reading Comprehension

A passage states: 'The incidence of pressure injuries was 4.2 per 1,000 patient-days in the intervention unit and 6.8 per 1,000 patient-days in the control unit.' What does the unit 'per 1,000 patient-days' allow readers to do?

  1. Identify which individual patients are at highest risk.
  2. Determine the total number of patients who developed pressure injuries.
  3. Compare rates across units with different lengths of stay and patient volumes. Correct answer.
  4. Calculate the cost of treating each pressure injury.

Explanation

Expressing incidence per patient-days standardizes the denominator for time at risk, enabling fair comparison between units with different census or length of stay. It does not give absolute counts, costs, or individual risk. The reader still needs the raw numbers to compute totals.

Question 31Reading Comprehension

A clinical note reads: 'Patient denies chest pain. However, he reports intermittent palpitations that wake him from sleep.' What does the word 'however' do in this note?

  1. It indicates that the patient is unreliable in reporting symptoms.
  2. It signals a contrast between the denial of chest pain and the presence of another cardiac symptom. Correct answer.
  3. It marks the palpitations as less clinically important than the chest pain.
  4. It introduces a cause-and-effect relationship between chest pain and palpitations.

Explanation

'However' is a contrastive conjunctive adverb; here it highlights that despite the absence of chest pain, another potentially relevant symptom is present. It does not imply unreliability, causation, or relative importance. The reader should note both statements when assessing the patient.

Question 32Reading Comprehension

A study reports: 'The hazard ratio for mortality was 0.75 (95% CI 0.60–0.94) for the treatment group compared with placebo.' How should this confidence interval be interpreted?

  1. The data are compatible with a true hazard ratio between 0.60 and 0.94, and the result is statistically significant at the 0.05 level. Correct answer.
  2. The treatment reduces mortality by exactly 25% in every patient.
  3. There is a 95% chance that the true hazard ratio is exactly 0.75.
  4. The confidence interval includes 1.0, so the result is not statistically significant.

Explanation

A 95% confidence interval gives a range of plausible values for the true effect; because the interval excludes 1.0, the result is statistically significant at the two-sided 0.05 level. It does not give the probability that the true value equals the point estimate, nor does it describe individual effects. The interval here does not include 1.0.

Question 33Reading Comprehension

A patient information leaflet says: 'Take this medicine with food to reduce stomach upset. Avoid grapefruit juice while taking it.' What is the purpose of the second instruction?

  1. To increase the absorption of the drug.
  2. To prevent an allergic reaction to the drug.
  3. To prevent a food–drug interaction that could alter drug levels. Correct answer.
  4. To improve the taste of the medication.

Explanation

Grapefruit juice can inhibit intestinal CYP3A4 and increase plasma concentrations of some drugs, so avoidance is a food–drug interaction precaution. It is not about taste, enhanced absorption, or allergy. The leaflet is giving a specific pharmacokinetic warning.

Question 34Reading Comprehension

A passage states: 'The guideline panel made a strong recommendation against routine use of the test, citing high false-positive rates and downstream invasive procedures.' Which conclusion is best supported?

  1. The test has no role in any clinical circumstance.
  2. The panel judged that the harms of routine testing outweigh the benefits for most patients. Correct answer.
  3. The panel found that the test is inaccurate in all populations.
  4. The panel based its recommendation solely on cost.

Explanation

A strong recommendation against routine use reflects a judgment that harms outweigh benefits for most patients in the specified context. It does not mean the test is never useful, nor that it is inaccurate everywhere. Cost is not cited in the passage.

Question 35Reading Comprehension

A note reads: 'Patient is afebrile, but tachycardic at 112 bpm. Lungs clear. Abdomen soft, non-tender.' Which finding is most consistent with an early compensatory response?

  1. Clear lungs
  2. Afebrile state
  3. Tachycardia Correct answer.
  4. Non-tender abdomen

Explanation

Tachycardia can be an early compensatory response to decreased cardiac output, pain, fever, or volume depletion, even when other vital signs are normal. Afebrile status, clear lungs, and a non-tender abdomen are reassuring findings rather than compensatory signs. The reader must connect the isolated abnormal vital sign to possible underlying physiology.

Question 36Reading Comprehension

A research abstract states: 'This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.' What does 'double-blind' mean in this context?

  1. The statisticians were unaware of the group assignments, but clinicians were not.
  2. The participants knew their assignment, but the investigators did not.
  3. Neither the participants nor the investigators knew which treatment was assigned. Correct answer.
  4. The trial was conducted at two separate sites.

Explanation

Double-blind means both participants and outcome assessors or investigators are masked to treatment allocation to reduce bias. It does not refer to the number of sites or to masking only one party. The term is about who is unaware of assignment.

Question 37Reading Comprehension

A passage argues: 'Because the diagnostic test has a high sensitivity but low specificity, a negative result is most useful for ruling out the condition.' Which statement best explains this reasoning?

  1. A highly sensitive test produces few false positives, so a positive result confirms the disease.
  2. A highly sensitive test is always more accurate than a specific test.
  3. A highly sensitive test produces few false negatives, so a negative result makes the disease unlikely. Correct answer.
  4. A highly sensitive test is useful only when the disease is very common.

Explanation

Sensitivity is the proportion of diseased patients who test positive; a highly sensitive test has a low false-negative rate, so a negative result is good for exclusion (SnNout). Specificity, by contrast, drives rule-in (SpPin). The passage is applying the rule-out logic of high sensitivity.

Question 38Reading Comprehension

A clinical note reads: 'Patient reports shortness of breath. No orthopnea or paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea.' What is the function of the second sentence in this documentation?

  1. It documents the patient's social history.
  2. It provides a definitive diagnosis.
  3. It contradicts the first sentence.
  4. It records pertinent negatives that help narrow the differential diagnosis. Correct answer.

Explanation

Pertinent negatives are symptoms the patient denies that are relevant to the chief complaint; they help exclude conditions such as heart failure. They do not contradict the positive finding, establish a diagnosis, or constitute social history. Good documentation includes both positives and pertinent negatives.

Question 39Reading Comprehension

A passage states: 'The study found an association between nurse staffing ratios and patient falls, but the authors caution that the relationship may be confounded by unit acuity.' What does 'confounded by unit acuity' mean?

  1. The study was underpowered to detect any association.
  2. A third variable, unit acuity, may explain part or all of the observed association. Correct answer.
  3. The association is definitely causal.
  4. Unit acuity was measured inaccurately.

Explanation

Confounding occurs when an extraneous variable is associated with both the exposure and the outcome and distorts their apparent relationship. Unit acuity could influence both staffing and falls, so the observed association may not be causal. This is a caution about interpretation, not about measurement error or power.

Question 40Reading Comprehension

A medication order reads: 'Give 1 unit of packed red blood cells over 2 hours. Vital signs before, 15 minutes after start, and at completion.' What is the main purpose of the specified vital sign checks?

  1. To verify that the unit was stored correctly.
  2. To confirm the patient's blood type.
  3. To measure the hematocrit response.
  4. To detect a transfusion reaction early during the infusion. Correct answer.

Explanation

Vital signs at baseline, shortly after starting, and at the end of a transfusion are used to detect acute transfusion reactions such as febrile or allergic reactions and hemolytic events. They do not confirm blood type, measure hematocrit, or verify storage. Early detection allows prompt stopping of the transfusion.

Question 41Writing and Grammar

In a clinical case report about one patient, which sentence uses the possessive apostrophe correctly and has no inappropriate pronoun reference?

  1. The patient's symptoms resolved, and its chart was updated.
  2. The patients symptoms resolved within forty-eight hours.
  3. The patients' symptoms resolved after the doctor's ordered rest.
  4. The patient's symptoms resolved within forty-eight hours. Correct answer.

Explanation

A singular noun takes an apostrophe plus s to mark possession, so 'the patient's symptoms' is correct. The report concerns one patient, so the plural possessive 'patients'' is unsuitable. This sentence also avoids using 'its' to refer inappropriately to a person.

Question 42Writing and Grammar

Which revision best corrects the comma splice in this case-note sentence: 'The wound was clean, the sutures were removed.'?

  1. The wound was clean, the sutures were removed, and dressed.
  2. The wound was clean, and the sutures, were removed.
  3. The wound was clean; the sutures were removed. Correct answer.
  4. The wound was clean the sutures were removed.

Explanation

Two independent clauses can be joined by a semicolon without a conjunction. A comma alone cannot separate them, which is why the original creates a splice.

Question 43Writing and Grammar

A physician writes 'The patient denied chest pain he reported shortness of breath.' Which punctuation mark most precisely repairs the fused sentence?

  1. A colon after 'pain'
  2. A dash after 'pain' with no other change
  3. A comma after 'pain'
  4. A semicolon after 'pain' Correct answer.

Explanation

A semicolon joins two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction. A comma alone would create a splice, and a colon would signal an explanation rather than a second parallel finding.

Question 44Writing and Grammar

Which sentence maintains subject-verb agreement in a clinical summary?

  1. The list of medications were reviewed at admission.
  2. The list of medications are reviewed at admission.
  3. The list of medications have been reviewed at admission.
  4. The list of medications was reviewed at admission. Correct answer.

Explanation

The subject is 'list,' which is singular, so the verb must be singular. The prepositional phrase 'of medications' does not change the number of the subject.

Question 45Writing and Grammar

In a discharge summary, which word correctly completes the sentence: 'The patient was advised to ___ the prescribed antibiotic for seven days'?

  1. accept Correct answer.
  2. except
  3. access
  4. expect

Explanation

'Accept' means to take or receive something, which fits taking the medication. 'Except' is a preposition meaning 'excluding' and cannot function as the verb here.

Question 46Writing and Grammar

Which sentence uses the colon correctly in a clinical report?

  1. The differential included: pneumonia, bronchitis, and asthma.
  2. The differential: included pneumonia, bronchitis, and asthma.
  3. The differential included three diagnoses: pneumonia, bronchitis, and asthma. Correct answer.
  4. The differential included pneumonia: bronchitis, and asthma.

Explanation

A colon should follow a complete independent clause and introduce what follows. In the correct sentence, 'The differential included three diagnoses' is a full clause before the colon.

Question 47Writing and Grammar

Which sentence uses parallel structure in a list of patient instructions?

  1. The patient was told to rest, hydrate, and call if symptoms worsened. Correct answer.
  2. The patient was told to rest, hydrate, and to call if symptoms worsened.
  3. The patient was told to rest, to hydrate, and calling if symptoms worsened.
  4. The patient was told resting, hydration, and to call if symptoms worsened.

Explanation

Items in a series should share the same grammatical form. Here, three bare infinitives ('rest,' 'hydrate,' 'call') follow 'to' and create a balanced series.

Question 48Writing and Grammar

In a medical manuscript, which sentence uses 'affect' or 'effect' correctly?

  1. The drug had a significant effect on blood pressure. Correct answer.
  2. The drug significantly effected blood pressure readings.
  3. The drug's effect was to affect the results were inconclusive.
  4. The drug had a significant affect on blood pressure.

Explanation

'Effect' is usually a noun meaning result, while 'affect' is usually a verb meaning to influence. In this sentence, the noun 'effect' follows the article and adjective.

Question 49Writing and Grammar

Which sentence correctly uses a hyphen in a compound modifier within a clinical note?

  1. The patient had a well, documented history of asthma.
  2. The patient had a well documented-history of asthma.
  3. The patient had a well documented history of asthma.
  4. The patient had a well-documented history of asthma. Correct answer.

Explanation

A compound adjective that precedes the noun it modifies should be hyphenated to prevent misreading. 'Well-documented' modifies 'history' as a single unit.

Question 50Writing and Grammar

Which sentence correctly uses a pronoun with an unclear antecedent resolved?

  1. The resident told the nurse that she would review the chart.
  2. The resident told the nurse that the resident would review the chart. Correct answer.
  3. The resident told the nurse that they would review the chart.
  4. The resident told the nurse that it would review the chart.

Explanation

Repeating the noun removes ambiguity when two people of the same gender are mentioned. Pronouns like 'she' or 'they' could refer to either the resident or the nurse.