CERTIFIED MEDICAL ASSISTANT
Medical Assistant Certification
ExamLatest 2026/2027 Version | 100%
Verified with Correct Questions and
Answers
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY QUESTIONS
MEDICAL HISTORY, VITAL SIGNS, AND
PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
1. What are the 4 parts to a patient's medical
history?
CORRECT ANSWER: Chief complaint (CC), history
of present illness (HPI), past, family and social history
(PFSH), and review of systems (ROS).
2. Vital signs reflect the functions of what three body
processes necessary for life?
,CORRECT ANSWER: Body temperature, respiration,
and heart function.
3. What are the 4 vital signs of body function?
CORRECT ANSWER: Temperature, pulse,
respiration, and blood pressure.
4. Give the normal temperature ranges for the
following sites: rectal, oral, axillary, and tympanic
membrane.
CORRECT ANSWER: Rectal: 98.6–100°F; Oral:
97.6–99.6°F; Axillary: 96.6–98.6°F; Tympanic:
approximately 98.6°F.
5. Febrile vs. afebrile.
CORRECT ANSWER: Febrile is the presence of
fever; afebrile is the absence of fever.
6. What are the 3 types of fever?
CORRECT ANSWER: Intermittent, remittent, and
continuous.
,7. Oral temperature is not taken from which
patients?
CORRECT ANSWER: Infants and children younger
than 6 years, patients who have had face, neck, nose, or
mouth surgery, patients receiving oxygen, patients with
altered mental status, and others for whom oral
temperature measurement is contraindicated.
8. How long should you wait for patients who just
finished eating, drinking, or smoking before taking
their temperature?
CORRECT ANSWER: 30 minutes.
9. What method of taking temperature is the least
accurate?
CORRECT ANSWER: Axillary (underarm).
10. What is the normal adult pulse range?
CORRECT ANSWER: 60–100 beats per minute
(BPM).
, 11. What is the site most commonly used for taking a
pulse?
CORRECT ANSWER: Radial artery in the wrist.
12. What is the normal range for adult respirations?
CORRECT ANSWER: 12–20 respirations per minute.
13. What are 3 respiratory rate abnormalities?
CORRECT ANSWER: Apnea—temporary complete
absence of breathing; tachypnea—abnormally rapid
breathing; bradypnea—decreased rate of respirations.
14. What are two abnormalities in respiratory
rhythm?
CORRECT ANSWER: Cheyne-Stokes—regular
pattern of irregular breathing with periods of apnea;
orthopnea—difficulty breathing unless in an upright
position.
15. What does depth of respiration refer to?
CORRECT ANSWER: The amount of air that is
inspired and expired during respiration.
Medical Assistant Certification
ExamLatest 2026/2027 Version | 100%
Verified with Correct Questions and
Answers
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY QUESTIONS
MEDICAL HISTORY, VITAL SIGNS, AND
PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
1. What are the 4 parts to a patient's medical
history?
CORRECT ANSWER: Chief complaint (CC), history
of present illness (HPI), past, family and social history
(PFSH), and review of systems (ROS).
2. Vital signs reflect the functions of what three body
processes necessary for life?
,CORRECT ANSWER: Body temperature, respiration,
and heart function.
3. What are the 4 vital signs of body function?
CORRECT ANSWER: Temperature, pulse,
respiration, and blood pressure.
4. Give the normal temperature ranges for the
following sites: rectal, oral, axillary, and tympanic
membrane.
CORRECT ANSWER: Rectal: 98.6–100°F; Oral:
97.6–99.6°F; Axillary: 96.6–98.6°F; Tympanic:
approximately 98.6°F.
5. Febrile vs. afebrile.
CORRECT ANSWER: Febrile is the presence of
fever; afebrile is the absence of fever.
6. What are the 3 types of fever?
CORRECT ANSWER: Intermittent, remittent, and
continuous.
,7. Oral temperature is not taken from which
patients?
CORRECT ANSWER: Infants and children younger
than 6 years, patients who have had face, neck, nose, or
mouth surgery, patients receiving oxygen, patients with
altered mental status, and others for whom oral
temperature measurement is contraindicated.
8. How long should you wait for patients who just
finished eating, drinking, or smoking before taking
their temperature?
CORRECT ANSWER: 30 minutes.
9. What method of taking temperature is the least
accurate?
CORRECT ANSWER: Axillary (underarm).
10. What is the normal adult pulse range?
CORRECT ANSWER: 60–100 beats per minute
(BPM).
, 11. What is the site most commonly used for taking a
pulse?
CORRECT ANSWER: Radial artery in the wrist.
12. What is the normal range for adult respirations?
CORRECT ANSWER: 12–20 respirations per minute.
13. What are 3 respiratory rate abnormalities?
CORRECT ANSWER: Apnea—temporary complete
absence of breathing; tachypnea—abnormally rapid
breathing; bradypnea—decreased rate of respirations.
14. What are two abnormalities in respiratory
rhythm?
CORRECT ANSWER: Cheyne-Stokes—regular
pattern of irregular breathing with periods of apnea;
orthopnea—difficulty breathing unless in an upright
position.
15. What does depth of respiration refer to?
CORRECT ANSWER: The amount of air that is
inspired and expired during respiration.
