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Med Board Challenge Sample Questions

Question in Anxiety Disorders:
The DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for acute stress disorder include most of the criteria for PTSD, but they add and emphasize one of the following groups of symptoms. Which group?
Answers:
1) Dissociative symptoms
2) Psychotic symptoms
3) Neurotic symptoms
4) Depressive symptoms
5) Cognitive symptoms

Reason:
The diagnostic criteria for acute stress disorder emphasize dissociative symptoms like depersonalization, derealization, and dissociative amnesia.

Question in Neurology:
Which of the following is not a feature of migraine?
Answers:
1) Occurrence in the evening
2) Aggravation by oral contraceptives
3) Onset at menarche
4) Higher incidence in women
5) Relief during pregnancy

Reason:
In contrast to tension headaches, which tend to occur in the evening, migraine headaches begin in the early morning. They are more common in women and start at menarche, occur premenstrually, and are aggravated by oral contraceptives. The majority of women experience relief from the symptoms during pregnancy.

Question in Geriatric Psychiatry:
Which of the following is found with use of tricyclics in treatment of depression in the elderly?
Answers:
1) Decreased plasma half-life
2) Increased steady-state levels
3) Reduced volume of distribution
4) Reduced risk of postural hypotension
5) Reduced sensitivity to antimuscuranic side effects

Reason:
With tricyclics in the elderly, all of the following are increased: plasma half-life, steady-state levels, volume of distribution, incidence of postural hypotension, and susceptibility to antimuscuranic side effects.

Question in Eating Disorders and Sexual Disorders:
Patients suffering from anorexia nervosa have a high incidence of which of the following psychiatric conditions?
Answers:
1) Obsessive-compulsive disorder
2) Major depression
3) Social phobia
4) Decreased sexual interest
5) All of the above

Reason:
Patients suffering from anorexia nervosa have been shown to have a high comorbidity of major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety, and decreased sexual interest. Patients with comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder develop that disorder after the onset of anorexia.

Question in Schizoprenia:
Which of the following brain regions has consistently been shown to have abnormal volume measurements?
Answers:
1) Occipital and parietal regions
2) Parietal region
3) Temporal region
4) Frontal and temporal regions

Reason:
It has consistently been shown persons with schizophrenia have decreased volume of the frontal and temporal regions. Schizophrenia has also been implicated in reduced volume of the superior temporal gyrus, hippocampus, and thalamus.