MCCQE Part 1 PMCH MCQs: Practice Questions With Explanations

PMCH Covers a Broad Slice of MCCQE Part 1

PMCH — Preventive Medicine & Community Health — is one of the named subject categories in HighYield's own MCCQE Part 1 question bank, alongside Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology. It's a 314-question domain spanning epidemiology, screening, ethics and population health topics relevant to MCCQE Part 1 preparation. Below are sample vignette-style MCQs grouped by theme, with the correct answer marked and a short explanation.

Epidemiology & Biostatistics

1. A screening test correctly identifies 90 of 100 people who truly have a disease. What does this describe?
A) Specificity of 90%  B) Sensitivity of 90% ✅  C) Positive predictive value of 90%  D) Prevalence of 90%
Explanation: Sensitivity is the proportion of true positives correctly identified by a test — here, 90 of 100 people with the disease tested positive.

2. A case-control study compares diseased and non-diseased groups and looks backward for prior exposure. Its measure of association is the:
A) Relative risk  B) Odds ratio ✅  C) Attributable risk  D) Incidence rate
Explanation: Case-control studies work backward from outcome to exposure and calculate an odds ratio, since true incidence isn't directly measurable in this design.

3. Two variables appear associated only because a third factor influences both. This is:
A) Effect modification  B) Confounding ✅  C) Selection bias  D) Reverse causation
Explanation: Confounding occurs when a third variable is independently associated with both the exposure and the outcome, distorting the apparent relationship.

Screening & Prevention

4. Vaccinating a high enough proportion of a population to indirectly protect unvaccinated individuals is called:
A) Passive immunity  B) Herd immunity ✅  C) Active immunity  D) Cross-immunity
Explanation: Herd immunity reduces disease transmission enough to indirectly protect those who aren't themselves immune.

5. Counselling a healthy patient on smoking cessation before any disease develops is an example of:
A) Secondary prevention  B) Primary prevention ✅  C) Tertiary prevention  D) Quaternary prevention
Explanation: Primary prevention acts before disease onset — health promotion and risk reduction, such as smoking cessation counselling, are classic examples.

Ethics & Professionalism

6. A capable adult patient refuses a life-saving blood transfusion on religious grounds. The physician's obligation is to:
A) Transfuse anyway to preserve life  B) Respect the refusal after confirming capacity and informed understanding ✅  C) Seek a court order immediately  D) Transfer care without discussion
Explanation: Respect for patient autonomy requires honouring an informed, capable adult's refusal of treatment, even when the physician disagrees with the decision.

7. The ethical principle obligating physicians to avoid causing harm is:
A) Beneficence  B) Non-maleficence ✅  C) Justice  D) Fidelity
Explanation: Non-maleficence — "first, do no harm" — is distinct from beneficence, which obligates physicians to actively act in the patient's best interest.

Keep Practicing

These are just a sample. For the full set of MCCQE Part 1 PMCH questions, see HighYield's complete MCCQE Part 1 question bank, or read our MCCQE Part 1 syllabus and pass rate guide for the bigger picture.