All questions are in the A-type multiple-choice format, that is, the single best answer of the five options
given.
When visual material has been turned on its side, an arrow on the page indicates the orientation of the
visual material.
Questions do not necessarily appear in the order in which they were first printed.
Answers
A table of answers is located at the end of each paper.
Scoring
A correct answer will score one mark and an incorrect answer zero. There is no negative marking in
the FRACP Written Examination.
Queries
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Please note that with changes in medical knowledge, some of the information may no longer be
current.
All Written Examination papers are copyright. They may not be reproduced in whole or part without
written permission from The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, 145 Macquarie Street, Sydney,
Australia.
QUESTION 1
To what event in the cardiac cycle does the third heart sound relate?
A. Atrial systole.
B. Bulging of the atrioventricular valves into the atria during isovolumetric contraction.
QUESTION 2
Which of the following is the most common order of events for puberty in a female?
QUESTION 3
A seven-year-old girl presents for medical assessment following alleged sexual assault.
The most common normal anatomical configuration of a pre-pubertal hymen at this age is:
A. annular.
B. crescentic.
C. fimbriated.
D. septated.
E. sleeve.
QUESTION 4
In children with moderate chronic upper airway obstruction, the most likely morbidity is which of the
following?
C. Failure to thrive.
D. Pulmonary hypertension.
E. Systemic hypertension.
QUESTION 5
A 14-year-old boy with severe haemophilia A and a high titre factor VIII inhibitor requires surgery. The
peri-operative replacement coagulation product of choice is:
A. cryoprecipitate.
QUESTION 6
A six-year-old patient with coeliac disease undergoes dual sugar intestinal permeability testing. Two
sugars, rhamnose and lactulose, are administered orally and the subsequent urinary excretion is
measured over five hours. Rhamnose is actively absorbed by the small intestinal villus, whereas
lactulose is absorbed via passive paracellular transport.
Which of the following findings in urine indicate poor adherence to a gluten-free diet?
Rhamnose Lactulose
A. Decreased Decreased
B. Decreased Normal
C. Increased Decreased
D. Increased Normal
E. Normal Increased
QUESTION 7
A five-week-old male infant presents with a ten-day history of increasing vomiting and poor weight
gain. Serum electrolytes and a venous blood gas show:
pH 7.62 [7.36-7.44]
pCO2 69 mmHg [35-45]
bicarbonate 58 mmol/L [18-24]
base excess +6.2 mmol/L [0-2.0]
B. Gastroenteritis.
C. Gastro-oesophageal reflux.
D. Paracetamol toxicity.
E. Pyloric stenosis.
QUESTION 8
Thiopentone is frequently used as an induction agent for controlled endotracheal intubation. The
mechanism of action of thiopentone is best described by which of the following?
A. Binds with stereospecific receptors at sites within the central nervous system.
QUESTION 9
A 12-year-old boy presents with a one-week history of increasing shortness of breath, cough and
exercise intolerance. On examination he is tachypnoeic and has marked cervical adenopathy and
moderate hepatosplenomegaly. A fine needle aspirate of a cervical node is consistent with non-
Hodgkin lymphoma. The computerised tomography (CT) scan of his chest is shown above. Which
one of the following chemotherapeutic agents is contraindicated with these CT findings?
A. Cyclophosphamide.
B. Cytosine arabinoside.
C. Doxorubicin (adriamycin).
D. Methotrexate.
E. Vincristine.
QUESTION 10
A one-month-old infant is suspected of having central apnoeas and undergoes overnight sleeping
oximetry. The most appropriate ‘averaging time’ for the oximeter is which of the following?
A. 2 seconds.
B. 6 seconds.
C. 10 seconds.
D. 15 seconds.
E. 20 seconds.
QUESTION 11
In the normal term infant, immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels are lowest in which of the following age
ranges?
A. 0 – 2 months.
B. 3 – 5 months.
C. 6 – 8 months.
D. 9 – 11 months.
E. 12 – 14 months.
QUESTION 12
What is the strongest environmental risk factor for acute otitis media in young urban children?
D. Pacifier use.
E. Parental smoking.
QUESTION 13
At approximately what age does total daily duration of crying peak in healthy term infants?
A. 2 weeks.
B. 6 weeks.
C. 10 weeks.
D. 14 weeks.
E. 18 weeks.
QUESTION 14
QUESTION 14 (continued)
A 12-year-old boy presents to the emergency department with persistent productive cough and fever
despite three days of oral amoxycillin at an appropriate dose. His pulse oximetry on room air is 97%
and he has a respiratory rate of 24/minute, heart rate of 110/minute and temperature of 38.2ºC. His
chest X-ray is shown opposite.
A. Intravenous cefotaxime.
B. Intravenous penicillin.
C. Intravenous vancomycin.
D. Oral cefaclor.
E. Oral roxithromycin.
QUESTION 15
An obese 14-year-old girl is commencing antiepileptic medication.
A. Carbamazepine.
B. Clobazam.
C. Lamotrigine.
D. Phenytoin.
E. Sodium valproate.
QUESTION 16
Which of the following percentages most closely approximates the chance of spontaneous closure of a
small muscular ventricular septal defect in the first decade of life?
A. 10%.
B. 30%.
C. 50%.
D. 70%.
E. 90%.
QUESTION 17
The principle of informed consent relates to which ethical standard?
A. Autonomy.
B. Beneficence.
C. Justice.
D. Non-maleficence.
E. Privacy.
QUESTION 18
A 15-year-old obese girl complains of recurrent numbness in her right hand at night. On further
questioning, the numbness is confined to the 4th and 5th fingers.
Examination of her hands is normal except for mild sensory abnormalities of the 5th finger of the right
hand.
A. axillary.
B. median.
C. musculocutaneous.
D. radial.
E. ulnar.
QUESTION 19
Which one of the following pharmacokinetic parameters is most important in the optimal prescribing of
beta-lactam antibiotics?
C. AUC/MIC ratio.
QUESTION 20
In the pedigree shown above, a diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is made in a three-
year-old boy (IV:1). The family history reveals that a maternal uncle (II:I) died of DMD aged 19, and
that the proband’s aunt (III:4) is currently at 30 weeks of gestation in her first pregnancy.
What is the risk that the baby (IV:2) will be affected by DMD?
B. 1 in 8.
C. 1 in 4.
D. 1 in 2.
E. 2 in 3.
QUESTION 21
A schematic diagram of the immunoglobulin G (IgG) molecule is shown above. The circled area best
represents the:
A. antigen-binding region.
B. complement-binding region.
C. Fc portion.
QUESTION 22
Proximal tubular sodium reabsorption is enhanced by which one of the following?
B. Dopamine.
C. Insulin.
D. Spironolactone.
E. Vagal activity.
QUESTION 23
At what stage of development in the human female does X-inactivation first occur?
A. During oogenesis.
B. At fertilization.
QUESTION 24
Serum IgA antigliadin antibody testing is used to screen for coeliac disease in 1000 otherwise healthy
relatives of patients with the condition. The test results are shown below.
Coeliac disease
positive negative
Antigliadin antibody
positive
100 60 160
negative
20 820 840
QUESTION 25
Which of the following anticonvulsants is most likely to cause a clinically important drug interaction
with lamotrigine?
A. Carbamazepine.
B. Clonazepam.
C. Gabapentin.
D. Sodium valproate.
E. Vigabatrin.
QUESTION 26
A 28-week gestation infant with hyaline membrane disease is receiving flow-triggered ventilation,
using the assist/control mode with volume guarantee (3 mL/kg tidal volume). The infant’s gas
exchange is stable at 24 hours of age. Shortly after this time, there is a decrease in the infant’s lung
compliance.
QUESTION 27
Which of the following conditions is most commonly co-morbid with attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) in primary school children?
A. Conduct disorder.
B. Depression.
E. Tic disorder.
QUESTION 28
In which of the following immune deficiency disorders is there is an increased risk of anaphylaxis to
blood products?
B. Hyper-IgE syndrome.
C. IgA deficiency.
QUESTION 29
Glucokinase plays a critical role in the beta cell of the pancreas. Which of the following reactions is
primarily controlled by the enzyme glucokinase?
QUESTION 30
The rhythm strip shown above was obtained from an infant who was delivered by emergency
caesarean section for fetal bradycardia. Which of the following best describes the rhythm
demonstrated?
C. Mobitz type I.
QUESTION 31
A three-year-old boy is brought to the emergency department with alcohol intoxication following a
family party at home. Which of the following best describes the primary hepatic metabolic pathway for
alcohol?
QUESTION 32
Which of the following drugs is most likely to affect skin prick testing results?
A. Cetirizine.
B. Montelukast.
C. Prednis(ol)one.
D. Salbutamol.
E. Sodium cromoglycate.
QUESTION 33
When treating an adolescent with a substance misuse disorder, assessment of motivation using the
“stages of change” model is regarded as a key step.
A. Contemplation.
B. Maintenance.
C. Precontemplation.
D. Preparation.
E. Resignation.
QUESTION 34
Which one of the following steps in the design of a clinical trial of a new therapeutic agent most
reduces the chance of a type II error?
C. Random allocation.
QUESTION 35
Which of the following aspects of development in pre-school aged children correlates most strongly
with later cognitive assessment scores?
A. Emotional regulation.
C. Receptive language.
D. Social skills.
E. Speech.
QUESTION 36
Microscopy of a stool sample from a six-month-old infant with persistent diarrhoea reveals the
following findings:
A. Bacterial gastroenteritis.
C. Cystic fibrosis.
D. Intestinal lymphangiectasia.
E. Liver cirrhosis.
QUESTION 37
Eleven representative pedigrees of a disorder are shown above. The families are not related. The
most likely mode of inheritance for this disorder is:
A. autosomal dominant.
B. autosomal recessive.
C. mitochondrial.
D. polygenic.
E. X-linked recessive.
QUESTION 38
Which of the following cytokines causes T-cell proliferation?
A. Interleukin-2.
B. Interleukin-4.
C. Interleukin-5.
D. Interleukin-8.
E. Interleukin-10.
QUESTION 39
The steady state concentration (defined as reaching at least 95% of the ultimate steady state
concentration) of a drug exhibiting first order drug elimination is achieved after which number of
elimination half-lives?
A. 2.
B. 3.
C. 4.
D. 5.
E. 6.
QUESTION 40
Which one of the following viruses has not been associated with malignancy?
A. Cytomegalovirus (CMV).
QUESTION 41
What is the lifetime risk of schizophrenia for a child with one parent who has been diagnosed with
schizophrenia?
A. 1%.
B. 5%.
C. 10%.
D. 25%.
E. 50%.
QUESTION 42
The impact of an intervention in clinical trials and in systematic reviews can be expressed in a number
of ways. One increasingly used format is the number needed to treat (NNT) which indicates how
many patients have to be treated with the intervention of interest compared to the control intervention
in order to achieve one successful outcome.
In a systematic review of optimal home-management for asthma, the intervention was found to
produce a 50% reduction in hospitalisation for asthma. Approximately 10% of patients in the control
group required hospitalisation compared to approximately 5% of those who received optimal home-
management.
Which one of the following is the best estimate of the NNT for this intervention?
A. 2.
B. 5.
C. 10.
D. 20.
E. 50.
QUESTION 43
Using a pulse oximeter, an oxygen saturation of 90%, under normal metabolic conditions, corresponds
to a PaO2 of approximately:
A. 50 mmHg.
B. 60 mmHg.
C. 70 mmHg.
D. 80 mmHg.
E. 90 mmHg.
QUESTION 44
What is the most common side effect of mycophenolate mofetil?
A. Gastrointestinal disturbance.
D. Leucopenia.
QUESTION 45
Oral rehydration solution facilitates increased net water absorption by which mechanism?
A Activation of aquaporins.
B. Intestinal transcytosis.
C. Osmotic gradient.
D. Sodium-glucose co-transport.
QUESTION 46
A six-year-old girl has a two-month history of pubic hair development and onset of body odour. On
examination her height is on the 96th percentile for age, she has facial acne, her pubic hair is Tanner
stage 3 and she has no breast development. Her blood pressure is not elevated.
Investigations include a bone age which is 14 months advanced for chronological age.
A. Abdominal ultrasound.
QUESTION 47
It is common for the mother of a child with congenital myotonic dystrophy to have a much milder form
of the same condition. The main reason for this disparity in severity of the disorder between mother
and child is:
A. ascertainment bias – i.e. within a family, the diagnosis is much more likely to be made in a
severely affected individual than in a mildly affected individual.
B. autosomal dominant disorders are commonly very variable in severity, even within a family.
QUESTION 48
Abnormalities in which component of the immune system are most responsible for the clinical picture
shown above?
A. Antibodies.
B. Complement.
C. Leucocytes.
E. Neutrophils.
QUESTION 49
A child with a structurally normal heart has a measured cardiac output of 4 L/min. The left atrial mean
pressure is 8 mmHg and the pulmonary arterial pressure is 28/12 mmHg with a mean pressure of 18
mmHg. Which of the following is the closest estimate of pulmonary vascular resistance?
A. 0.4 units.
B. 2.5 units.
C. 5 units.
D. 6 units.
E. 7 units.
QUESTION 50
A five-year-old girl presents one week after an upper respiratory tract infection with a lump in her neck.
She is afebrile and well. The lump is midline, non-tender and moves vertically with swallowing. A
photograph is shown below.
A. Goitre.
B. Submandibular abscess.
C. Submandibular lymphadenopathy.
D. Thyroglossal cyst.
E. Thyroid adenoma.
QUESTION 51
Omeprazole affects gastric parietal cell function by inhibition of which pathway?
A. Gastrin receptors.
B. Histamine-2 receptors.
D. M1 muscarinic receptors.
E. Prostaglandin E2.
Copyright © 2006 by The Royal Australasian College of Physicians
23 P105
QUESTION 52
Which of the following most increases an adolescent girl’s risk of developing bulimia nervosa?
B. Early menarche.
D. Obesity.
QUESTION 53
From around what age can most children demonstrate a capacity to comprehend and offer an
informed assent to medical procedures and medications that involve potentially lethal side effects?
A. 7-8 years.
B. 9-10 years.
C. 11-12 years.
D. 13-14 years.
E. 15-16 years.
QUESTION 54
A five-year-old boy presents with persistent diarrhoea and weight loss. Stool electrolytes and pH are
as follows:
sodium 98 mmol/L
potassium 22 mmol/L
pH 6.5 [≥ 6.5]
A. Coeliac disease.
B. Cryptosporidiosis.
C. Giardiasis.
D. Lactose intolerance.
E. Laxative abuse.
QUESTION 55
A child develops fever, abnormal liver function tests and diarrhoea on day 60 post-renal
transplantation.
B. Cytomegalovirus infection.
C. Graft-versus-host disease.
E. Tacrolimus toxicity.
QUESTION 56
In a 10-year-old child with neuromuscular weakness, which of the following lung function tests best
evaluates the degree of respiratory muscle weakness?
C. FEV1/FVC ratio.
QUESTION 57
What cardiac structure is most likely to be affected in chronic rheumatic heart disease?
A. Aortic valve.
B. Mitral valve.
C. Pericardium.
D. Pulmonary valve.
E. Tricuspid valve.
QUESTION 58
To minimise the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission by blood transfusion, which
of the following is the most important property of a blood screening test?
A. Accuracy.
D. Sensitivity.
E. Specificity.
QUESTION 59
What side effect is most consistently associated with long-term treatment with stimulant medication?
A. Cardiomyopathy.
B. Pharmacological dependence.
C. Pubertal delay.
E. Substance abuse.
QUESTION 60
One of two siblings is diagnosed with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus (IDDM). There is no
family history of IDDM. What is the approximate risk that the other sibling will develop IDDM?
A. 1%.
B. 6%.
C. 12%.
D. 25%.
E. 50%.
QUESTION 61
Haemoglobin O2 affinity is increased in which one of the following?
A. Acidosis.
B. Anaemia.
C. High altitude.
D. Hyperthermia.
QUESTION 62
A disease has an annual incidence of 15 cases per 100,000. The mean survival after diagnosis is five
years.
A. 3 per 100,000.
B. 15 per 100,000.
C. 30 per 100,000.
D. 45 per 100,000.
E. 75 per 100,000.
QUESTION 63
A couple attends a genetics clinic because both have a family history of thalassaemia. Investigations
reveal that the man is an α-thalassaemia carrier and the woman is a β-thalassaemia carrier. If they
have a baby who inherits both of their thalassaemia alleles, what is the most likely phenotype?
A. Fetal hydrops.
B. Haemoglobin H disease.
C. Healthy carrier.
D. Thalassaemia intermedia.
E. Transfusion-dependent thalassaemia.
QUESTION 64
Which serious childhood food allergy is least likely to resolve with age?
B. Egg white.
C. Egg yolk.
D. Peanut.
E. Soya protein.
QUESTION 65
A 12-year-old boy presents to the emergency room by ambulance, having collapsed at school. He
has a past history of supraventricular tachycardia but is receiving no regular medication. He is
semiconscious with an intermittently palpable pulse and a blood pressure of 60 mmHg systolic. His
electrocardiogram (ECG) is shown above. Which of the following modalities is the most appropriate to
control his rhythm?
C. Intravenous adenosine.
D. Intravenous amiodarone.
E. Intravenous lignocaine.
QUESTION 66
Which of the following vaccines is contraindicated in a six-year-old girl with leukaemia who is currently
receiving chemotherapy?
A. Hepatitis B.
B. Influenza.
C. Meningococcal C conjugate.
D. Pneumococcal conjugate.
E. Varicella.
QUESTION 67
A 26-week gestation infant, intubated and ventilated since delivery, is 12 hours old and has received
two doses of surfactant. The ventilation settings are as follows:
His chest X-ray shows diffuse lung disease and arterial blood gas is as follows:
pH 7.29 [7.34-7.43]
PaCO2 56 mmHg [31-42]
PaO2 36 mmHg [45-60]
bicarbonate 27mmol/L [20-26]
base excess -3.8 [-5.0-5.0]
Which of the following alterations to the ventilator settings would be the most appropriate to improve
oxygenation?
QUESTION 68
Which of the following anthropometric measures in the school-aged child is most specifically
associated with level of long-term cardiovascular risk?
B. Height/weight ratio.
D. Waist circumference.
E. Weight.
QUESTION 69
A four-year-old boy is evaluated by his paediatrician because of asymptomatic and persistent
elevation of serum aminotransaminases to three to four times above the normal range. The initial
blood tests are taken following an acute episode of gastroenteritis. The serum aminotransaminases
are elevated without an increase in the bilirubin or biliary derived enzymes over a six-month period.
The child’s past history is unremarkable.
Which of the following investigations may be helpful in the further evaluation of the cause of the serum
abnormalities?
A. Coagulation profile.
B. Creatine kinase.
QUESTION 70
Of the following cancer treatments, the one most likely to cause delayed (>24 hours after
chemotherapy) nausea is:
A. 5-fluorouracil (5-FU).
B. carboplatin.
C. cisplatin.
D. methotrexate.
E. vincristine.
Answers
1. E 25. D 49. B
2. A 26. B 50. D
3. B 27. D 51. C
4. A 28. C 52. E
5. D 29. D 53. C
6. B 30. A 54. B
7. E 31. B 55. B
8. E 32. A 56. B
9. D 33. E 57. B
10. A 34. D 58. D
11. B 35. C 59. D
12. B 36. B 60. B
13. B 37. D 61. E
14. B 38. A 62. E
15. E 39. D 63. C
16. E 40. A 64. D
17. A 41. B 65. A
18. E 42. D 66. E
19. E 43. B 67. C
20. B 44. A 68. D
21. A 45. D 69. B
22. D 46. E 70. C
23. C 47. C
24. C 48. E