10 Buzzwords To Know for Medical Tests and Board Exams #2
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USMLE Buzzwords
Buzzwords and phrases are very useful to know on medical exams and can save a lot of time.
They are words or phrases found in question stems that correlate with a particular diagnosis, medication, or any other topic.
Question stems are often lengthy which can be stressful on a timed exam. Spotting a buzzword can help you quickly associate the context of the question with the topic being tested.
I recommend keeping a list of them. You can then read through them once a day as you are preparing for an exam, or if you simply want to remember them for practical use.
Below are 10 commonly tested buzzwords or phrases seen on medical exams that you should know.
Check out other EZmed Buzzword Posts below!
For even more buzzwords, study tricks, and mnemonics you can visit EZmed on Instagram at ezmedlearning.
1. Fried Rice/Reheated Food = Bacillus Cereus
Medical exams like to ask about infectious diseases and pathogens, including foodborne illnesses.
The buzzword for Bacillus cereus is fried rice or reheated food.
Bacillus cereus: Gram positive, beta-hemolytic, rod-shaped
Insufficient cooking of rice can lead to the survival of endospores. Bacterial growth can occur and this can lead to toxin production that is not killed when the food is re-heated. Ingestion of these preformed toxins can lead to foodborne illness.
Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea usually 1-4 hours (sometimes up to 16 hours) after ingestion.
Diagnosis: Clinical
Management: Supportive care and symptom control
2. Butterfly Rash = Lupus
If you see butterfly rash in a question stem, it is a common buzzword for lupus.
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A type III hypersensitivity autoimmune disorder that can affect nearly every organ system. It is much more common in females and therefore the patient in the question stem is usually female.
Symptoms: Malar “butterfly” rash, synovitis, nephritis, oral lesions, arthralgia. It may also cause pericarditis, myocarditis, and anemia.
Testing: Some testing you may see associated with lupus: antinuclear antibody (ANA), anti-extractable nuclear antigen (anti-ENA), anti-Smith, anti-double stranded DNA (dsDNA), anti-histone antibodies, and antiphospholipid antibody.
Management: Primarily steroids and immunosuppressive medications to suppress the autoimmune response.
3. Machine-Like Murmur = Patent Ductus Arteriosus
A continuous machine-like murmur is a buzzword for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).
Ductus arteriosus: Blood vessel that connects the pulmonary artery to the descending aorta to shunt blood away from fetal lungs while in utero.
The ductus arteriosus usually closes within the first 2-3 days of life. However, if it fails to close then a PDA exists. This results in shunting of blood between the aorta and pulmonary artery.
The high pressure aorta can shunt blood to the right side of the heart causing pulmonary hypertension.
Conversely, some deoxygenated blood can mix with oxygenated blood in the aorta.
Signs and symptoms: continuous machine-like murmur, cyanosis of lower extremities and usually not upper, congestive heart failure, failure to thrive, respiratory distress, and tachycardia.
In some congenital heart defects such as transposition of great arteries, the PDA is relied upon. As it closes the infant develops worsening symptoms.
Keeping the ductus arteriosus open using prostaglandins is important.
Treatment: If the ductus arteriosus does not need to remain patent (as it does in some congenital heart defects) then indomethacin can be administered to close it.
4. Currant Jelly Sputum = Klebsiella Pneumoniae
Did you ask the obvious question first? Did they just demolish a delicious PB&J sandwich before coming to see you?
If not, then currant jelly sputum is a buzzword for Klebsiella pneumoniae on exams.
Klebsiella is a gram-negative rod.
Klebsiella pneumoniae is commonly seen in middle to older age men who suffer from alcohol abuse.
Remember alcohol/alcoholism as this is a common buzzword as well.
Therefore, the question stem usually describes a middle-aged male with history of alcohol abuse with respiratory symptoms. The currant jelly sputum will be your final clue that it is Klebsiella pneumoniae.
5. Barking Cough = Croup
“Barking cough” on exams is a buzzword for croup.
Croup: Also known as laryngotracheitis or laryngotracheobronchitis as it involves inflammation/infection of these anatomical locations.
Commonly occurs in 6mo-3years of age.
Causes: Parainfluenza is the most common and is frequently tested for that reason. Influenza, RSV, and other viral etiologies can also cause croup.
Symptoms: Upper respiratory symptoms for a couple days including cough, nasal congestion, sore throat. Then barking cough develops. This can develop into stridor, shortness of breath, and increased work of breathing.
Diagnosis: Usually clinical. But an X-ray of the neck can show “steeple sign”.
Remember “steeple sign” as this is also a common buzzword.
Treatment: Steroids, racemic epinephrine especially if there is stridor at rest, supportive care.
6. Neurofibrillary Tangles = Alzheimer’s Disease
There are a couple changes that take place in the brain at a molecular and cellular level in Alzheimer’s disease.
One is neurofibrillary tangles, can you name the other one?
Exams like to test both of them.
1. Neurofibrillary tangles = abnormal accumulations of tau protein.
Tau protein exists in healthy neurons to support microtubules.
In Alzheimer’s disease, however, there are abnormal changes to tau protein causing them to tangle inside neurons.
2. Amyloid plaques = abnormal levels of amyloid protein aggregate and clump together to form plaques that collect between neurons.
When you see either neurofibrillary tangles or amyloid plaques in a question stem, think Alzheimer’s disease.
Symptoms: Ultimately include impairment in memory and learning.
Treatment: Supportive care and medications.
There is an association between decreased cholinergic activity and Alzheimer’s disease.
Therefore, many medications to manage Alzheimer’s are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors to increase acetylcholine levels.
7. Tearing Chest Pain = Aortic Dissection
Can you name the other buzzword commonly used to describe chest pain from an aortic dissection?
Aortic dissection: A tear of the inner (intima) layer of the aorta. Blood then collects between the tunica intima and media.
Type A: Ascending Aorta
Type B: Descending Aorta
Symptoms: Tearing chest pain is a common buzzword description for aortic dissection.
Patient’s may also describe pain “radiating to the back or between the shoulder blades”. Remember this because it is commonly tested as well.
Other symptoms include shortness of breath, neurologic deficits, and syncope.
Marfan syndrome and connective tissue diseases can predispose a patient to aortic dissection, especially younger patients.
Diagnosis: Widened mediastinum on chest x-ray, CTA chest
Complications: Can dissect or obstruct the coronary or carotid arteries leading to STEMI/ischemic changes on EKG (ACS) or stroke symptoms respectively.
Aortic valve regurgitation/dysfunction, heart failure, and cardiac tamponade can also occur.
Treatment: The goal is to keep heart rate around 60 and systolic blood pressure around 110.
Initial treatment should be focused on decreasing the heart rate as controlling blood pressure first could result in reflex tachycardia, which could put more stress on the aorta.
Beta blockers such as esmolol are first line for controlling the heart rate followed by blood pressure control commonly with nicardipine or nitroprusside.
Type A usually requires surgery while type B is typically medically managed with surgical consultation. However, surgical evaluation is important for most dissections.
8. Cobblestoning = Crohn’s Disease
When a cobblestoning pattern is described on exams, think Crohn’s disease.
Longitudinal and circumferential ulcers within the bowel of Crohn’s disease give it a cobblestone appearance.
Crohn’s can occur at any part of the GI tract from mouth to anus. All layers of bowel are involved.
“Skip lesions” can also be seen. Remember that as this is a common buzzword as well.
Symptoms: Abdominal pain, cramping, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Extra-intestinal symptoms include arthritis uveitis, and dermatologic findings.
Complications: Bowel obstruction, abscess, fistula
Diagnosis: Can be seen on CT abdomen/pelvis. Findings can also be appreciated on endoscopy/colonoscopy.
Treatment: IV fluids, bowel rest, steroids, immunomodulators.
9. Kayser-Fleischer Ring = Wilson’s Disease
Bonus points for naming the movie!
Kayser-Fleischer rings are dark rings around the iris, and if described in a question stem is a buzzword for Wilson’s disease.
Wilson’s disease: Disorder in which excess copper builds up in the body; mainly the liver, brain, and cornea due to impairment of biliary copper excretion.
Symptoms: Hepatic (abdominal pain, jaundice, upper GI bleed, ascites) and neurologic (dysarthria, tremor, dystonia).
Diagnosis: Ceruloplasmin and copper concentrations.
Treatment: D-penicillamine, trientine, oral zinc, low copper diet.
10. Honey, Floppy Baby = Botulism
As good as honey is, infants need to wait until after 1 year of age before they can have any.
Ingestion of honey before age 1 can lead to botulism due to ingestion of botulinum spores.
Question stems will often refer to a floppy baby after eating honey or home-canned foods.
Botulism: Inhibition of pre-synaptic release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction.
Symptoms: Floppy baby, paralysis/weakness, poor feeding, lethargy, weak cry
Treatment: Supportive care, human-based botulism IG
Conclusion
Buzzwords and phrases allow you to quickly associate the context of the question with the topic being tested..
Furthermore, question stems are often lengthy and spotting buzzwords can save you a lot of time on exams.
Creating a list of these and reading them every day can help you continually prepare for exams.
Fried rice, reheated food = Bacillus cereus
Butterfly rash = Lupus
Machine-like murmur = Patent ductus arteriosus
Currant jelly sputum = Klebsiella pneumoniae
Barking cough = Croup
Neurofibrillary tangles = Alzheimer’s disease
Tearing chest pain = Aortic dissection
Cobblestoning = Crohn’s disease
Kayser-Fleischer ring = Wilson’s disease
Honey, floppy baby = Botulism
Check out other Buzzword Posts below!
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