DHA Exam Gastroenterology MCQs: Practice Questions With Answers

Sample DHA licensing exam MCQs from Gastroenterology — the largest DHA specialty area still without a dedicated practice post — covering hepatobiliary disease, GI bleeding, and inflammatory bowel disease, each with the correct answer explained.

Gastroenterology is the largest specialty area in HighYield's DHA question bank still without a dedicated practice post — bigger than Endocrinology, Oncology or Pulmonology — and it shows up heavily in the DHA licensing exam's medicine section. Below is a sample set of Gastroenterology MCQs in the same clinical-vignette style you'll see on exam day, grouped by theme.

Hepatobiliary Disease

1. A patient presents with fever, jaundice, and right upper quadrant pain (Charcot's triad). This presentation is classic for:

A) Acute cholecystitis
B) Ascending cholangitis ✅
C) Acute pancreatitis
D) Hepatitis A

2. Courvoisier's law states that a palpable, non-tender gallbladder in a jaundiced patient is unlikely to be caused by gallstones and instead suggests:

A) Viral hepatitis
B) A malignant biliary obstruction ✅
C) Acute cholecystitis
D) Gilbert syndrome

3. Murphy's sign — inspiratory arrest on palpation of the right upper quadrant — is most classically associated with:

A) Acute pancreatitis
B) Acute cholecystitis ✅
C) Peptic ulcer perforation
D) Acute appendicitis

GI Bleeding

4. The most common cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding overall is:

A) Esophageal varices
B) Peptic ulcer disease ✅
C) Mallory-Weiss tear
D) Gastric malignancy

5. Melena (black, tarry stool) most reliably indicates bleeding from:

A) The upper GI tract, proximal to the ligament of Treitz ✅
B) The rectum only
C) The appendix
D) The gallbladder

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

6. Which feature distinguishes ulcerative colitis from Crohn's disease?

A) Skip lesions with transmural inflammation
B) Continuous mucosal inflammation starting from the rectum ✅
C) Frequent perianal fistulas
D) Granuloma formation on biopsy

Why Gastroenterology Deserves Dedicated Revision

Gastroenterology carries more weight in HighYield's DHA bank than Endocrinology, Oncology, Pulmonology, Dermatology or Rheumatology — yet it's easy to under-revise because it overlaps loosely with general medicine topics candidates assume they already know.

HighYield's DHA question bank covers Gastroenterology alongside Cardiology, Neurology, Family Medicine and every other discipline tested in the DHA licensing exam, with every question explained. For the full picture of what the DHA exam covers, see our DHA Exam Guide. Start with 50 free questions, no sign-in required.