Free CCMA practice test: 45 questions with explanations

Answer: C. Verify the drug with her bottles or pharmacy

A medication list must be accurate, so an unknown drug is confirmed by checking the bottles or calling the pharmacy. Entering furosemide or a 'usual' dose records a guess as fact, which can lead to dosing or interaction errors. Leaving it off hides a drug the provider needs to know about.

• Furosemide is only one of many diuretics; charting a guess as fact can hide the real drug and its interactions.
• Omitting a drug the patient takes daily leaves the provider blind to it when prescribing anything new.
• Correct: checking the bottles or calling the pharmacy turns a vague description into a verified name and dose.
• A drug class plus a 'usual' dose is still a guess; the actual strength and product matter for safe dosing.

Answer: A. It can be confused with magnesium sulfate

MS, MSO4 and MgSO4 are on The Joint Commission's Do Not Use list because morphine sulfate and magnesium sulfate can be confused for each other; the full drug name must be written. Switching to 'MS' does not fix the problem, since MS is on the same list. A missing frequency is a separate order problem, not the abbreviation hazard.

• Correct: MSO4 and MgSO4 look almost identical on paper, so morphine and magnesium sulfate get mixed up; write the full name.
• A missing frequency is a real order problem, but it is separate from why this abbreviation is dangerous.
• Too absolute: the drug may be ordered IV; the issue is the abbreviation itself, not the route.
• 'MS' sits on the same Do Not Use list, so swapping one banned abbreviation for another fixes nothing.

Answer: B. An adult breathing through the mouth

Mouth breathing cools the oral cavity and gives a falsely low reading, so another route such as tympanic or temporal is used. A drink taken 30 minutes earlier is past the usual 15-minute wait, and a cooperative school-age child can keep the probe under the tongue. Dentures do not prevent the probe from sitting in the sublingual pocket.

• Dentures do not stop the probe from resting in the sublingual pocket, so an oral reading still works.
• Correct: air moving through an open mouth cools the probe and gives a falsely low temperature; pick another route.
• A school-age child who can hold the probe under the tongue is a fine candidate for an oral reading.
• Thirty minutes is already past the usual 15-minute wait after drinking, so the reading will be accurate.

Answer: A. Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A spreads through food, water or hands contaminated with stool, so hand hygiene and food safety prevent it. Hepatitis B and C are bloodborne pathogens covered by the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, spread through needlesticks, blood and body fluids. Hepatitis D also spreads through blood and occurs only with hepatitis B.

• Correct: hepatitis A travels through stool-contaminated food, water, or hands, which is why handwashing prevents it.
• Hepatitis C is bloodborne, spread mainly through shared needles and blood exposure, not the fecal-oral route.
• Hepatitis B is a classic bloodborne pathogen under the OSHA standard; it spreads through blood and body fluids.
• Hepatitis D also spreads through blood and only infects someone who already carries hepatitis B.

Answer: B. Blood culture

A blood culture needs a large volume of blood collected aseptically into culture bottles, which a skin puncture cannot provide, so it requires venipuncture. Hemoglobin A1c is tempting because it is a lab test rather than a meter reading, but many waived A1c analyzers use a fingerstick drop. Glucose and hemoglobin are routinely tested on capillary blood.

• A trap for the careful reader: many waived A1c analyzers run on a single fingerstick drop.
• Correct: culture bottles need a large, aseptically collected volume that only a venipuncture can supply.
• Hemoglobin is routinely checked on a capillary drop with a point-of-care analyzer.
• Fingerstick glucose is the most common capillary test in the office; it is the textbook example.

Answer: C. Inform provider; offer financial counseling

Cost concerns that could make a patient skip care must reach the provider, who can prioritize or change orders, while the office's financial counselor can discuss payment plans or assistance programs. Telling the patient the test can wait is tempting as kindness, but it is clinical advice outside MA scope. Changing an order is a provider decision, and promising coverage is false reassurance.

• Promising coverage you have not verified is false reassurance and may leave the patient with an unexpected bill.
• Changing or cancelling an order is the provider's decision; the MA never edits orders on cost grounds.
• Correct: the provider can reprioritize the order, and a financial counselor can explore payment plans or assistance.
• Saying a test can safely wait is clinical advice, which falls outside the MA's scope of practice.

Answer: B. Immediately, with accurate notes in the patient's chart

Documenting the call immediately in the chart keeps the medical record accurate and supports continuity of care. Batching until end of day risks omitted details, and recording only on request or in a personal notebook fails to maintain the legal record.

• Batching calls invites forgotten details and leaves the chart out of date while other staff rely on it.
• Correct: a prompt, accurate chart entry keeps the legal record complete and lets the provider act in time.
• A personal notebook is not part of the medical record and puts protected health information at risk.
• Every clinical call belongs in the chart, whether or not the patient asks for it to be recorded.

Answer: D. Respect the belief while sharing accurate facts

Respectfully acknowledging the belief while providing accurate information supports trust and informed choice. Correcting or dismissing the belief harms rapport.

• Agreeing just to avoid friction withholds accurate information the patient needs for an informed choice.
• Ignoring the belief damages trust and makes it less likely the patient will follow the plan at all.
• Bluntly calling a belief mistaken feels efficient but usually shuts the conversation down instead of opening it.
• Correct: acknowledging the belief keeps rapport, and sharing facts lets the patient decide with accurate information.

Answer: D. Rub both tonsils and the back of the throat

Group A strep lives on the tonsils and posterior pharynx, so both tonsillar areas and the back wall of the throat are rubbed firmly while a tongue depressor keeps the swab off the tongue. Saliva from the tongue or cheeks dilutes the specimen with mouth flora. A nasopharyngeal swab is used for influenza or COVID-19, not strep, and swabbing one side can miss the organism and give a false negative.

• A light touch on one tonsil can miss the bacteria and produce a false-negative rapid strep result.
• Saliva from the tongue and cheeks dilutes the sample with mouth flora and is the wrong collection site.
• A nasopharyngeal swab is the technique for influenza or COVID-19 testing, not for group A strep.
• Correct: group A strep lives on the tonsils and posterior pharynx, so both areas are rubbed firmly.

Answer: D. Middle ear

Otitis media affects the middle ear, the air-filled space behind the eardrum; it is common in children because their eustachian tubes are short and nearly horizontal. The eustachian tube is tempting because its blockage contributes to the infection, but it is the connection to the throat, not the site of the infection. Infection of the external canal is otitis externa, and inner-ear inflammation is labyrinthitis.

• Eustachian tube blockage helps cause the infection, but the tube is only the passage to the throat.
• Infection of the external ear canal is otitis externa, often called swimmer's ear, a different condition.
• Inflammation of the inner ear is labyrinthitis, which affects balance and hearing structures deeper in.
• Correct: 'media' points to the middle ear, the air-filled space just behind the eardrum.