Free ABFM Family Medicine Exam Flashcards

Pain with photophobia or vision loss suggests keratitis, uveitis, or another vision-threatening process and warrants urgent eye evaluation.

Bulging with acute inflammatory symptoms supports acute otitis media; effusion alone, without acute inflammation, is not the same diagnosis.

A viral upper-respiratory illness is more likely; cough and rhinorrhea reduce the likelihood of group A streptococcal pharyngitis.

Brief vertigo triggered by head position with a characteristic positional nystagmus supports BPPV; persistent neurologic deficits or inability to walk call for central evaluation.

Median-nerve paresthesias in the thumb, index, and middle fingers, often worse at night; thenar weakness may develop in advanced disease.

Leg discomfort provoked by standing or walking and relieved by sitting or lumbar flexion favors neurogenic claudication.

A positive Thompson test—absent plantar flexion when the calf is squeezed—supports complete Achilles rupture and needs prompt immobilization and referral.

Joint-line tenderness with a provocative maneuver such as McMurray may support meniscal injury; a locked knee or major acute trauma changes urgency.

Croup, an upper-airway illness. Stridor at rest, increased work of breathing, or poor air movement signals greater severity.

Recurrent moderate-to-severe headache with nausea or sensitivity to light or sound favors migraine; a new neurologic deficit is a separate red flag.

A low ferritin supports depleted iron stores. Interpret ferritin with the clinical context because inflammation can raise it.

Measure serum TSH to evaluate for hypothyroidism; symptoms alone are nonspecific and cannot establish the diagnosis.

Fever or flank pain with costovertebral-angle tenderness suggests upper urinary tract infection rather than infection limited to the bladder.

Steady right-upper-quadrant or epigastric pain after meals that resolves between episodes suggests gallstone-related biliary colic; fever or jaundice requires evaluation for complications.

Prolonged morning stiffness and warm, swollen joints suggest inflammatory arthritis; osteoarthritis more often causes activity-related pain and brief stiffness.

Allergic contact dermatitis is a delayed hypersensitivity reaction; distribution matching the exposure helps separate it from a generalized eruption.

Recurrent retrosternal burning or regurgitation, often after meals or when supine, suggests reflux; dysphagia, bleeding, or weight loss calls for further evaluation.

Objective weakness of external rotation or abduction, particularly after injury, raises concern for a tendon tear; pain alone is less specific.

Albuminuria adds independent prognostic information about kidney and cardiovascular risk; CKD assessment considers both eGFR and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio.

A drug in this class with demonstrated benefit can slow CKD progression and reduce cardiovascular events, subject to kidney function and individual contraindications.

They treat airway inflammation and reduce exacerbation risk; relying on bronchodilation alone does not address that underlying inflammation.

COPD requires persistent airflow obstruction after bronchodilator testing; asthma often shows variable airflow limitation, although the two can coexist.

Follow congestion, weight trend, blood pressure, kidney function, electrolytes, and treatment tolerance; deterioration may precede dramatic symptom change.

Confirm accurate measurement, adherence, home or ambulatory pressures, interfering drugs, and secondary causes before labeling hypertension resistant.

Delirium has an acute, fluctuating course with impaired attention; dementia generally develops gradually and attention is often relatively preserved early.

Rate or rhythm symptom control does not eliminate thromboembolic risk; anticoagulation decisions require separate stroke-risk and bleeding-risk assessment.

Continue treatment long enough to reduce relapse risk, then individualize ongoing therapy by episode history, recurrence risk, adverse effects, and patient preference.

Combine behavioral support with evidence-based pharmacotherapy when appropriate; a brief recommendation alone is less effective than supported treatment.

Assess gait and balance, orthostatic symptoms, vision, medications, home hazards, and injury risk; falls usually have multiple modifiable contributors.

Anti-inflammatory therapy treats the flare; urate-lowering therapy prevents future flares and tophi when indicated, with follow-up of serum urate and adherence.

Intramuscular epinephrine in the mid-outer thigh. Antihistamines and steroids do not replace epinephrine or airway and circulatory support.

Activate emergency stroke evaluation and establish last-known-well time; rapid imaging and eligibility assessment determine time-sensitive treatment.

ST-segment elevation in an appropriate clinical pattern warrants emergency STEMI evaluation and reperfusion planning; do not wait for a troponin rise.

A reproductive-age patient with possible pregnancy plus pelvic pain or bleeding needs pregnancy testing and urgent evaluation if unstable or peritoneal signs are present.

Septic arthritis can rapidly destroy cartilage and cause sepsis; urgent joint aspiration, cultures, and treatment are needed.

New urinary retention or saddle anesthesia with back pain or leg neurologic findings requires emergent spinal assessment.

Give parenteral glucagon or IV dextrose and reassess glucose; oral carbohydrate is unsafe when the patient cannot protect the airway.

Ketosis and metabolic acidosis, often with dehydration, distinguish DKA; it requires urgent fluids, insulin, electrolyte monitoring, and precipitant assessment.

Marked work of breathing, exhaustion, altered mental status, or a silent chest signals critical airflow limitation and need for emergency care.

Maintain safety and arrange urgent psychiatric or emergency evaluation; do not leave the person alone or rely only on a routine follow-up appointment.

Age 45. Screen routinely through 75; offer selective screening at 76–85 based on health, prior screening and preferences, and discontinue screening after 85.

Biennial mammography. Patients at substantially increased hereditary risk need a separate risk-based plan.

Age, cumulative pack-years, and time since quitting or current smoking status; the recommendation applies to eligible adults ages 50–80 with at least 20 pack-years who smoke or quit within 15 years.

One-time ultrasound is recommended for men who have ever smoked; selectively offer it to never-smokers based on risk factors.

Tdap during each pregnancy, preferably early in gestational weeks 27–36, regardless of prior Tdap history.

A daily supplement containing 0.4–0.8 mg (400–800 micrograms) for average-risk people, starting at least one month before conception and continuing through the first 2–3 months of pregnancy. Higher-risk regimens need individualized guidance.

A stool test identifies possible bleeding or neoplastic markers but cannot locate or remove a lesion; diagnostic colonoscopy completes the screening process.

Home or ambulatory measurements help confirm sustained hypertension and distinguish white-coat effects before long-term labeling and treatment decisions.

Sensitivity is the proportion of people with disease who test positive; specificity is the proportion without disease who test negative.

Control-group event risk minus treated-group event risk over a defined period. For a positive ARR, NNT = 1/ARR with ARR expressed as a proportion: 5% = 0.05, giving NNT = 20; round a noninteger NNT upward.