The exam questions have been developed based on a few simple suppositions. We need to continue to learn new information about prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to stay informed and maintain a high level of clinical competence. To assimilate relevant new information, we must have skills that permit us to access the literature and have critical reading skills to understand what we have read. Most of the questions relate to primary care issues with emphasis on neuromusculoskeletal conditions with a couple of questions designed to test information retrieval and comprehension skills. Competency Exam Provocative injections of a noxious substance in the atlanto-axial joints of normal volunteer subjects provided the referred pain pattern of that joint.
Journals are the most important source of new information.
This last year a new species of highly fatal hanatavirus was identified. There is strong evidence that nutritional management of rheumatoid arthritis can effectively improve symptoms and reduce the need for drug therapy. Exerpta Medica b. You will find the answers at the end of the column. If you missed 0 to 2 questions, you have done an excellent job of keeping informed.