ADVANCED PHYSICAL ASSESSMENT MIDTERM- EXAM QUESTIONS
WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS (LATEST 2025- 2026)
The approach to a clinical encounter is both:
clinician centered and patient centered
What is a symptom-focused clinician centered approach?
where the clinician takes charge of the interaction to meet his or her
own need to acquire the symptoms, their details, and other data that
will help him or her identify a disease
Disadvantages of a symptom-focused clinician centered approach?
-if used exclusively, can often bypass the personal dimensions of the
illness
-emphasizes the features of pathologic disease at the risk of
understanding the highly individual needs and perspectives of each
patient
-As a consequence, information required to understand and manage
patients' problems may never be elicited
What is the patient centered approach?
following the patient's lead to understand their thoughts, ideas,
concerns and requests, without adding additional information from the
clinician's perspective
Advantages of the patient-centered approach?
recognizes the importance of patients' expressions of personal
concerns, feelings, and emotions and evokes the personal context of
the patient's symptoms and disease
,What is disease?
the explanation that the clinician uses to organize symptoms that leads
to a clinical diagnosis
What is illness?
a construct that explains how the patient experiences the disease,
including its effects on relationships, function, and sense of well-being.
The clinical interview needs to incorporate what?
both the clinician's and the patient's views of reality, disease, and
illness.
Five major steps of the Calgary-Cambridge Guide?
-initiating the session
-information gathering
-the physical examination
-explaining and planning
-closing the session
Five stages of the clinical encounter
1. initiating the encounter
2. gathering information
3. performing the physical exam
4. explaining and planning
5. closing the encounter
What is the mnemonic to explore the patient's perspective on the
illness?
,FIFE
Feelings, Ideas, effect on Function, and Expectations
What is cultural humility?
a process that requires humility as individuals continually engage in self-
reflection and self-critique as lifelong learners and reflective
practitioners in an effort to address power imbalances and to advocate
for others
What is nonmaleficence?
("first, do no harm") directive that health care professionals should
avoid causing harm to patients and minimize the negative effects of
treatments
What is beneficence?
dictum that clinicians are to act for the patients' good by preventing or
treating disease.
What is respect for autonomy?
commitment to accept the choices patients with decisional capacity
make about which treatments to undergo, including to reject
treatment. The addition of this value to medical ethics changed the
clinician-patient relationship from a paternalistic one to a more
collaborative one.
What is decisional capacity?
ability to make an autonomous choice that clinicians should respect.
What is justice?
, value that all patients with similar medical needs should receive similar
medical treatment and should be treated fairly by clinicians.
What is the difference between capacity and competence?
-Capacity is a clinical designation and can be assessed by clinicians
-competence is a judicial determination and can only be decided by a
court.
What are the elements of decisional capacity?
Patients must have the ability to:
- Understand the relevant information about proposed diagnostic tests
or treatment
- Appreciate their situation (including their underlying values and
current clinical situation)
- Use reason to make a decision
- Communicate their choice
How do you transition from open to focused questions when
interviewing?
-Start with open ended questions (what brings you in today)
-move to focused questions (Can you tell me more about what
happened when you took the medicine)
-lastly, pose closed questions (Did the new medicine cause any
problems)
we should avoid leading questions that contain _______?
an answer or suggested response like: "Has your pain been improving?"
or "You don't have any blood in your stools, do you?"
Should we use multiple choice questions with pts?
WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS (LATEST 2025- 2026)
The approach to a clinical encounter is both:
clinician centered and patient centered
What is a symptom-focused clinician centered approach?
where the clinician takes charge of the interaction to meet his or her
own need to acquire the symptoms, their details, and other data that
will help him or her identify a disease
Disadvantages of a symptom-focused clinician centered approach?
-if used exclusively, can often bypass the personal dimensions of the
illness
-emphasizes the features of pathologic disease at the risk of
understanding the highly individual needs and perspectives of each
patient
-As a consequence, information required to understand and manage
patients' problems may never be elicited
What is the patient centered approach?
following the patient's lead to understand their thoughts, ideas,
concerns and requests, without adding additional information from the
clinician's perspective
Advantages of the patient-centered approach?
recognizes the importance of patients' expressions of personal
concerns, feelings, and emotions and evokes the personal context of
the patient's symptoms and disease
,What is disease?
the explanation that the clinician uses to organize symptoms that leads
to a clinical diagnosis
What is illness?
a construct that explains how the patient experiences the disease,
including its effects on relationships, function, and sense of well-being.
The clinical interview needs to incorporate what?
both the clinician's and the patient's views of reality, disease, and
illness.
Five major steps of the Calgary-Cambridge Guide?
-initiating the session
-information gathering
-the physical examination
-explaining and planning
-closing the session
Five stages of the clinical encounter
1. initiating the encounter
2. gathering information
3. performing the physical exam
4. explaining and planning
5. closing the encounter
What is the mnemonic to explore the patient's perspective on the
illness?
,FIFE
Feelings, Ideas, effect on Function, and Expectations
What is cultural humility?
a process that requires humility as individuals continually engage in self-
reflection and self-critique as lifelong learners and reflective
practitioners in an effort to address power imbalances and to advocate
for others
What is nonmaleficence?
("first, do no harm") directive that health care professionals should
avoid causing harm to patients and minimize the negative effects of
treatments
What is beneficence?
dictum that clinicians are to act for the patients' good by preventing or
treating disease.
What is respect for autonomy?
commitment to accept the choices patients with decisional capacity
make about which treatments to undergo, including to reject
treatment. The addition of this value to medical ethics changed the
clinician-patient relationship from a paternalistic one to a more
collaborative one.
What is decisional capacity?
ability to make an autonomous choice that clinicians should respect.
What is justice?
, value that all patients with similar medical needs should receive similar
medical treatment and should be treated fairly by clinicians.
What is the difference between capacity and competence?
-Capacity is a clinical designation and can be assessed by clinicians
-competence is a judicial determination and can only be decided by a
court.
What are the elements of decisional capacity?
Patients must have the ability to:
- Understand the relevant information about proposed diagnostic tests
or treatment
- Appreciate their situation (including their underlying values and
current clinical situation)
- Use reason to make a decision
- Communicate their choice
How do you transition from open to focused questions when
interviewing?
-Start with open ended questions (what brings you in today)
-move to focused questions (Can you tell me more about what
happened when you took the medicine)
-lastly, pose closed questions (Did the new medicine cause any
problems)
we should avoid leading questions that contain _______?
an answer or suggested response like: "Has your pain been improving?"
or "You don't have any blood in your stools, do you?"
Should we use multiple choice questions with pts?
