Certified Medical Assistant (CMA AAMA) practice questions
224 free questions with answers and explanations.
- 1.A patient calls the office reporting sudden onset of slurred speech and right-sided arm weakness that began 15 minutes ago. What is the most appropriate telephone triage action?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 2.A medical assistant is applying chest electrodes for a 12-lead EKG. Where should the V1 electrode be placed?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 3.A medical assistant performs a capillary puncture to fill multiple microcollection tubes for a CBC and a chemistry panel. In which order should the tubes be filled?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 4.A patient with mild respiratory distress is scheduled for an examination. The physician orders the patient positioned with the head of the table elevated approximately 45 degrees. Which position is being described?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 5.A medical assistant obtains a respiratory rate of 45 breaths per minute on a healthy, calm 3-month-old infant during a well-child visit. How should this finding be interpreted?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 6.During intake, a patient reports smoking one pack of cigarettes per day for the past 15 years and drinking alcohol socially on weekends. This information belongs in which section of the patient history?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 7.A medical assistant is preparing to room a new patient. Which action should be performed first?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 8.A medical assistant runs quality control on a point-of-care glucose meter each morning. Today, the control solution result falls outside the acceptable range printed on the test strip vial. What should the medical assistant do next?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 9.A prescription for a Schedule III controlled substance may be refilled under which condition?Pharmacology
- 10.A medical assistant is preparing to take a blood pressure reading and selects a cuff that is too small for the patient's arm circumference. What effect will this have on the reading?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 11.A urine specimen is collected for routine urinalysis but cannot be tested immediately. What is the correct next step to preserve specimen integrity?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 12.A medical assistant is preparing to collect a blood culture. Which action is most critical to prevent specimen contamination?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 13.A patient's blood pressure is measured at 120/80 mmHg. Using the standard formula, what is this patient's mean arterial pressure (MAP)?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 14.While reviewing an EKG tracing, a medical assistant notices that lead I shows a completely inverted (upside-down) P wave and QRS complex, while the rest of the tracing appears otherwise normal in morphology. What is the most likely cause of this finding?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 15.A physician orders a patient to sit upright with the head of the exam table elevated 90 degrees to relieve shortness of breath during an assessment. Which position is being used?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 16.A medical assistant draws a blood specimen and notices the sample appears pink-tinged in the serum after centrifugation. Which technique error during the draw most likely caused this result?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 17.A medical assistant obtains a pulse rate of 130 beats per minute on a healthy, calm 6-month-old infant during a well-child visit. How should this finding be interpreted?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 18.A medical assistant is preparing to administer an intramuscular immunization to a 2-month-old infant. Which site is recommended for this injection?Pharmacology
- 19.A medical assistant needs to assess pain in a 4-year-old patient who has difficulty describing pain intensity verbally. Which pain assessment tool is most appropriate?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 20.A medical assistant is preparing to administer a viscous intramuscular penicillin injection to an adult patient. Which needle gauge is most appropriate?Pharmacology
- 21.A medical assistant is auscultating a patient's blood pressure and notes that the Korotkoff sounds disappear at 168 mmHg, then reappear at 140 mmHg, and continue until finally disappearing at 80 mmHg. This phenomenon is known as:Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 22.A medical assistant is taking a patient history and asks, 'Have you had any recent changes in your vision, hearing, or noticed any headaches, dizziness, or ringing in your ears?' This line of questioning is part of which component of the patient history?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 23.A medical assistant palpates the radial pulse at 76 beats per minute while a colleague simultaneously auscultates the apical pulse at 88 beats per minute for one full minute. What is the pulse deficit?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 24.While reviewing an EKG rhythm strip, a medical assistant notices the P wave is most clearly visible and upright in one particular lead used for continuous rhythm monitoring. Which lead is this?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 25.During intake, a patient reports that her mother has type 2 diabetes and her father has hypertension. Where should the medical assistant document this information?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 26.A medical assistant is about to measure a patient's radial pulse. Which anatomical location should be used to palpate this pulse?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 27.A patient stands up after sitting for several minutes. Their blood pressure drops from 128/78 mmHg while seated to 104/70 mmHg while standing, and they report dizziness. This finding is most consistent with:Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 28.A medical assistant is measuring a patient's standing height using a wall-mounted stadiometer. Which instruction is correct for accurate measurement?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 29.A physician orders a rectal examination requiring the patient to kneel on the table with the chest and shoulders down and buttocks raised. Which position is the medical assistant preparing?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 30.A patient weighs 180 pounds and is 5 feet 9 inches tall. Using the standard imperial BMI formula, what is this patient's BMI (rounded to the nearest tenth)?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 31.During a mass casualty incident, a first responder using the START triage method encounters a patient who is not breathing even after the airway is repositioned. According to START triage protocol, how should this patient be categorized?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 32.A medical assistant is preparing to obtain a pulse oximetry reading on a patient who has nail polish on her fingers and cold hands. What should the medical assistant do to ensure an accurate reading?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 33.A medical assistant needs to obtain a capillary blood sample from a newborn for a metabolic screening test. Which site is correct for this puncture?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 34.A physician orders a pelvic examination with speculum insertion. Which patient position should the medical assistant prepare?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 35.A 6-week-old infant is brought to the office with a fever. Which method of temperature measurement is considered most accurate for this patient?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 36.A medical assistant collects a venous blood specimen from a patient. At what point should the specimen tube be labeled with the patient's identifying information?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 37.A patient's tympanic temperature reads 38.5°C. What is this temperature in degrees Fahrenheit?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 38.A patient presents for a point-of-care urine hCG pregnancy test. The result shows only a faint colored line in the control region with no line in the test region after the recommended reading time. How should this result be interpreted?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 39.A medical assistant asks an adult patient to rate their pain using a numeric scale. The patient states their pain is an 8. On a standard 0-10 numeric pain rating scale, this score indicates which level of pain?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 40.During a 12-lead EKG, a medical assistant is placing the chest electrodes. Where should lead V6 be positioned?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 41.A medical assistant is drawing a coagulation study and must fill a light blue-top tube. Why is it essential that this tube be filled to its exact volume mark?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 42.A medical assistant is performing daily quality control on a point-of-care glucose meter using both a low-level and a high-level control solution. The low control result falls within the acceptable range, but the high control result falls outside the acceptable range. What should the medical assistant do next?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 43.A medical assistant is rooming a patient and reviewing the medication list from the previous visit. The patient states they stopped taking lisinopril two months ago due to a cough and started taking an herbal supplement instead. What is the medical assistant's most appropriate action?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 44.A medical assistant is obtaining vital signs on a healthy 30-year-old patient at rest. Which respiratory rate falls within the normal adult range?Clinical Workflow and Patient Intake
- 45.A medical assistant is placing limb lead electrodes for a 12-lead EKG. According to standard color coding, which electrode placement is correct?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 46.A medical assistant is instructed to use the Z-track injection technique when administering iron dextran intramuscularly. What is the primary purpose of this technique?Pharmacology
- 47.When administering a subcutaneous injection to an average-weight adult, which needle length and insertion angle is most appropriate?Pharmacology
- 48.A medical assistant places all 12 leads for an EKG and notices that lead aVR shows a predominantly upright (positive) QRS complex, which is unusual. What does this most likely indicate?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 49.Before using a point-of-care glucose meter for patient testing each day, a medical assistant should first run which of the following?Procedures, Examinations and Diagnostics
- 50.A physician orders amoxicillin 250 mg PO for a child. The suspension on hand is labeled 125 mg per 5 mL. How many mL should the medical assistant administer?Pharmacology