PCM EVALUATION EXAM 2025/2026 QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS TAGGED A+
✔✔During her annual physical exam, a 65 year old right handed women tells you her
left thumb has been 'achy and tight' over the last several months. On further
questioning, she relates she has been knitting a lot more lately to make blankets for
babies at the local hospital. On exam, she is tender over the thumb extensor and
abductor tendons on the left. The rest of the exam of the hand, wrist and arm are
unremarkable. You suspect she as developed de Quervain's syndrome. What physical
exam maneuver will likely be reproduce her pain symptoms?
Percussion of the volar wrist
Resisted wrist supination
Thumb in palm with ulnar deviation
Phalen's test at the wrists
Weakness with PIP flexion - ✔✔Thumb in palm with ulnar deviation
✔✔An 18 year old man presents to clinic complaining of right elbow pain after pitching
at a baseball game which went into overtime. You suspect pitcher's elbow. Which
structure would you expect to be tender to palpation?
Lateral epicondyle
Medial epicondyle
Olecranon
Acromial bursa - ✔✔Medial epicondyle
Pitcher's elbow is medial elbow pain due to the motion of pitching. The medial
epicondyle is tender to palpation due to strain of the ulnar collateral ligament.
✔✔Your former community preceptor is a new patient in your office. He notes that his
olecranon bursa is inflamed. What joint do you examine?
elbow
wrist
hip
knee
shoulder - ✔✔elbow
✔✔Which one of the SITS muscles is located directly under the acromion?
Supraspinatus
Infraspinatus
Teres Minor
Subscapularis - ✔✔Supraspinatus
✔✔When assessing a patient for a rotator cuff tear, all of the following tests would be
appropriate EXCEPT:
Neer's impingement sign
,Hawkin's impingement sign
Drop-arm sign
Empty-can test
Phalen's test - ✔✔Phalen's test
Phalen's test is used to assess for carpal tunnel syndrome
✔✔A 32-year-old single mom goes to her PCP with a chief complaint of right shoulder
pain. Which of the following tests would be included in the physical examination?
Range of motion of the left elbow joint
Lachman's test of the right elbow
Range of motion of the right wrist
Neer's test of the right shoulder
Hawkin's test of the left shoulder - ✔✔Neer's test of the right shoulder
To diagnose the cause of her shoulder pain, you would examine the shoulder in
question fully including special test such as McNeer's and Hawkin's, the opposite
shoulder (not including special tests necessarily if all other tests are normal) plus one
joint above and one joint below the affected joint. There is no Lachman's test of the
elbow
✔✔Which of the following statements about crepitus is correct?
Crepitus only occurs in the knees and TMJ joints
Crepitus causes pain in the joint
Crepitus can be best appreciated when the joint is at rest
Crepitus is appreciated with movement in areas of cartilage loss
Crepitus is caused by effusions - ✔✔Crepitus is appreciated with movement in areas of
cartilage loss
Crepitus is an audible or palpable crunching during movement of tendons or ligaments
over bone or areas of cartilage loss. This may occur in joints without pain but is more
significant when associated with symptoms or signs.
✔✔A 17 year old tennis player presents to your sports medicine clinic with complaint of
several weeks of decreased ability to serve the ball. This began just after a long tennis
match when she felt a mildly painful 'pop' in the upper/back of the right shoulder. Since
then she reports weakness and pain with raising the arm back to serve. She denies
radiating pain or distal weakness. Exam reveals normal strength of the shoulder except
with external rotation. Plain x-rays are normal. Magnetic resonance imaging is likely to
show partial tear of this muscle tendon?
Biceps tendon
Supraspinatus tendon
Subscapularis tendon
, Teres major tendon
Infraspinatus tendon - ✔✔Infraspinatus tendon
✔✔A 32-year-old accountant is playing basketball with his friends over the weekend
and when he goes into the basket for a hook shot, he feels a sharp pop on the inside of
his knee. You examine the knee and find the medial side to be very swollen. It is very
tender to palpation. You perform McMurray test and feel a pop along the medial joint.
This is suggestive of:
tear of the anterior cruciate ligament
tear of the posterior cruciate ligament
tear of the medial collateral ligament
tear of the medial meniscus
tear of the medial femoral condyle - ✔✔tear of the medial meniscus
The McMurray test detects tears in the medial meniscus.
✔✔A 22 year old distance runner presents to your sports medicine clinic with complaint
of insidious onset of left knee pain over the last several months. He reports no injury, no
change in mileage or change in footwear. He has decreased his running due to the pain
but it persists. On exam, there is no erythema, ecchymosis or swelling. There is no
tenderness at the medial or lateral joint lines. What test would you perform to evaluate
for a possible meniscus etiology?
Lachman's test
Posterior drawer test
McMurray test
Valgus stress test
Patellofemoral grind test - ✔✔McMurray test is used to assess problems with the
meniscus.
✔✔The Lachman test is used to evaluate for injury to which structure?
Medial meniscus
Medial collateral ligament
Lateral collateral ligament
Anterior cruciate ligament
Posterior cruciate ligament - ✔✔Anterior cruciate ligament
✔✔Which test would you use to assess for major effusions in the knee?
Bulge sign
Balloon sign
Shifting dullness
Fluid wave
McMurray test - ✔✔Balloon sign
ANSWERS TAGGED A+
✔✔During her annual physical exam, a 65 year old right handed women tells you her
left thumb has been 'achy and tight' over the last several months. On further
questioning, she relates she has been knitting a lot more lately to make blankets for
babies at the local hospital. On exam, she is tender over the thumb extensor and
abductor tendons on the left. The rest of the exam of the hand, wrist and arm are
unremarkable. You suspect she as developed de Quervain's syndrome. What physical
exam maneuver will likely be reproduce her pain symptoms?
Percussion of the volar wrist
Resisted wrist supination
Thumb in palm with ulnar deviation
Phalen's test at the wrists
Weakness with PIP flexion - ✔✔Thumb in palm with ulnar deviation
✔✔An 18 year old man presents to clinic complaining of right elbow pain after pitching
at a baseball game which went into overtime. You suspect pitcher's elbow. Which
structure would you expect to be tender to palpation?
Lateral epicondyle
Medial epicondyle
Olecranon
Acromial bursa - ✔✔Medial epicondyle
Pitcher's elbow is medial elbow pain due to the motion of pitching. The medial
epicondyle is tender to palpation due to strain of the ulnar collateral ligament.
✔✔Your former community preceptor is a new patient in your office. He notes that his
olecranon bursa is inflamed. What joint do you examine?
elbow
wrist
hip
knee
shoulder - ✔✔elbow
✔✔Which one of the SITS muscles is located directly under the acromion?
Supraspinatus
Infraspinatus
Teres Minor
Subscapularis - ✔✔Supraspinatus
✔✔When assessing a patient for a rotator cuff tear, all of the following tests would be
appropriate EXCEPT:
Neer's impingement sign
,Hawkin's impingement sign
Drop-arm sign
Empty-can test
Phalen's test - ✔✔Phalen's test
Phalen's test is used to assess for carpal tunnel syndrome
✔✔A 32-year-old single mom goes to her PCP with a chief complaint of right shoulder
pain. Which of the following tests would be included in the physical examination?
Range of motion of the left elbow joint
Lachman's test of the right elbow
Range of motion of the right wrist
Neer's test of the right shoulder
Hawkin's test of the left shoulder - ✔✔Neer's test of the right shoulder
To diagnose the cause of her shoulder pain, you would examine the shoulder in
question fully including special test such as McNeer's and Hawkin's, the opposite
shoulder (not including special tests necessarily if all other tests are normal) plus one
joint above and one joint below the affected joint. There is no Lachman's test of the
elbow
✔✔Which of the following statements about crepitus is correct?
Crepitus only occurs in the knees and TMJ joints
Crepitus causes pain in the joint
Crepitus can be best appreciated when the joint is at rest
Crepitus is appreciated with movement in areas of cartilage loss
Crepitus is caused by effusions - ✔✔Crepitus is appreciated with movement in areas of
cartilage loss
Crepitus is an audible or palpable crunching during movement of tendons or ligaments
over bone or areas of cartilage loss. This may occur in joints without pain but is more
significant when associated with symptoms or signs.
✔✔A 17 year old tennis player presents to your sports medicine clinic with complaint of
several weeks of decreased ability to serve the ball. This began just after a long tennis
match when she felt a mildly painful 'pop' in the upper/back of the right shoulder. Since
then she reports weakness and pain with raising the arm back to serve. She denies
radiating pain or distal weakness. Exam reveals normal strength of the shoulder except
with external rotation. Plain x-rays are normal. Magnetic resonance imaging is likely to
show partial tear of this muscle tendon?
Biceps tendon
Supraspinatus tendon
Subscapularis tendon
, Teres major tendon
Infraspinatus tendon - ✔✔Infraspinatus tendon
✔✔A 32-year-old accountant is playing basketball with his friends over the weekend
and when he goes into the basket for a hook shot, he feels a sharp pop on the inside of
his knee. You examine the knee and find the medial side to be very swollen. It is very
tender to palpation. You perform McMurray test and feel a pop along the medial joint.
This is suggestive of:
tear of the anterior cruciate ligament
tear of the posterior cruciate ligament
tear of the medial collateral ligament
tear of the medial meniscus
tear of the medial femoral condyle - ✔✔tear of the medial meniscus
The McMurray test detects tears in the medial meniscus.
✔✔A 22 year old distance runner presents to your sports medicine clinic with complaint
of insidious onset of left knee pain over the last several months. He reports no injury, no
change in mileage or change in footwear. He has decreased his running due to the pain
but it persists. On exam, there is no erythema, ecchymosis or swelling. There is no
tenderness at the medial or lateral joint lines. What test would you perform to evaluate
for a possible meniscus etiology?
Lachman's test
Posterior drawer test
McMurray test
Valgus stress test
Patellofemoral grind test - ✔✔McMurray test is used to assess problems with the
meniscus.
✔✔The Lachman test is used to evaluate for injury to which structure?
Medial meniscus
Medial collateral ligament
Lateral collateral ligament
Anterior cruciate ligament
Posterior cruciate ligament - ✔✔Anterior cruciate ligament
✔✔Which test would you use to assess for major effusions in the knee?
Bulge sign
Balloon sign
Shifting dullness
Fluid wave
McMurray test - ✔✔Balloon sign
