10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
The PHGPM exam has 200 questions and runs 4 hours 30 minutes.
These 10 free PHGPM questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Public Health and General Preventive Medicine blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
A 54-year-old woman with a positive fecal immunochemical test (FIT) repeats the test two weeks later because she suspects hemorrhoids caused the result. The repeat FIT is negative. "Does that mean I can cancel the colonoscopy?" she asks. She has no gastrointestinal symptoms, her hemoglobin is normal, and she has never undergone colonoscopy. The appropriate follow-up is:
Correct answer: C - Proceed with colonoscopy to evaluate the positive screening result.
An immunocompetent 17-year-old boy received his first 9-valent HPV vaccine dose at age 14 but never returned for another dose. Today he has mild rhinorrhea, a temperature of 36.8°C, and no previous vaccine reaction. His parent asks whether the long delay means starting over. What vaccination plan follows CDC recommendations?
Correct answer: D - Give the second dose today; this completes his HPV series.
Diarrheal illness beginning June 11-12 is reported after a conference lunch on June 10. Chicken salad is suspected, but laboratory results are pending. Investigators plan to compare food exposures among all lunch attendees. Select the initial case definition for this investigation.
Correct answer: A - Any lunch attendee with at least three loose stools in 24 hours and onset on June 11-12.
Diabetes hospitalization rates per 10,000 residents, standardized to the same age distribution, change as follows: Historically underserved neighborhood: 60 before, 30 after. Comparison neighborhood: 20 before, 8 after. Using the underserved neighborhood as the numerator of the rate ratio, how did the absolute and relative disparities change?
Correct answer: B - The absolute rate difference decreased, but the rate ratio increased.
A 38-year-old man entering a homeless shelter has a positive interferon-gamma release assay. He previously lived in a country with high tuberculosis incidence. He has no cough, fever, night sweats, or weight loss; examination and chest radiography are normal, and HIV testing is negative. The shelter director asks whether he must be separated from other residents while awaiting treatment. What should the public health physician recommend?
Correct answer: D - Allow shared accommodation and arrange treatment for latent tuberculosis infection.
"Our fall-prevention program caused the decline in hospitalizations," a county director reports. Records confirm that the planned home visits for older adults were delivered. However, hospitalization rates fell by the same amount over the same period in comparable counties without the program. Which finding belongs in the impact evaluation?
Correct answer: A - The outcome improved, but the comparison does not show an added program effect.
A screening program would use a test with 90% sensitivity and 95% specificity in an asymptomatic population with 1% disease prevalence. Patients ask how likely a positive result is to represent true disease. Which estimate is accurate?
Correct answer: D - 15%
An observational study evaluates a care-management program after heart-failure hospitalization. Patients are classified as participants if they complete a first program visit within 90 days after discharge. Mortality follow-up begins at discharge for everyone. Patients who die before attending a visit are assigned to the nonparticipant group. Even after adjustment for baseline illness severity, participants appear to have markedly lower mortality. Which bias is introduced specifically by this exposure definition?
Correct answer: C - Immortal-time bias
Three warehouse employees develop headache and nausea while a propane-powered forklift is operating with the loading doors closed. After evacuation, one employee remains dizzy. He is alert, afebrile, and hemodynamically stable; conventional pulse oximetry reads 99% on room air. The clinic has oxygen available. Which initial response is appropriate?
Correct answer: B - Start 100% oxygen and obtain blood co-oximetry for carboxyhemoglobin.
A serious potassium chloride preparation error occurs on a general medical ward that stocks concentrated potassium chloride vials. Pharmacy can supply appropriate premixed solutions around the clock, and the ward has no clinical need for the concentrate. Which change offers the strongest protection against recurrence?
Correct answer: A - Remove concentrated vials from the ward and supply premixed solutions.
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