MEDICAL PSYCHOLOGY EXAM

Instructions, sample questions

PRE-REQUISITES- Attendance at the seminars + passing the seminar exam (certified by your TA)

THE EXAM CAN BE TAKEN JUST ONCE IN THE SESSION !

GRADE < 5 = SEPTEMBER 2018

ABSENT = SEPTEMBER 2018

EXAM FOR GRADE IMPROVING (pre - req.: fulfilling the conditions) = SEPTEMBER 2018

PAPERS ARE GRADED ANONYMOUSLY.

REFERENCE LISThttp://healthpsy.activebb.net/t426-syllabus-references-list-medical-psychology

+ content of courses+ content of seminars

REQUIREMENTS:

- Mobile phones turned off- Black or blue pen- A photo ID (carnet de student, passport)

FORMAT

20 simple choice questions (#1-20)

(0.1 p. each) Only one answer = correct.

25 multiple choice questions (#21-45)

(0.2 p. each) One or more answers = correct.

Errors (in plus / in minus) are penalized.

No question has all answers correct.

1 clinical case (#46-50)

(0.4 p. each) Only a combination of answers = correct

(“all or nothing” type of questions)

60 min.

People with type A personality are more predisposed to:

A.digestive diseases; B.cardiovascular diseases; C.respiratory diseases; D. D.renal diseases; E.cancer.

I. SCQs

Choose ONLY ONE letter

B

Directive (technical) anamnesis:

A. is suitable for emergency situations;B. facilitates patient‘s catharsis;C. enhances patient‘s trust in the physician;D. is time consuming;E. none of the above.

I. SCQs

Choose ONLY ONE letter

A

Information contagion can be stimulated by:

A. suggestibility; B. high anxiety; C. information about the disease in social media; D. negative transference;E. patient having schizoid personality type.

The correct answer is:

II. MCQs

Choose ONE OR MORE letters

ABCD

What is the definition of “personality disorders”?

A. exogenous behavioral changes, curable by psychotherapy ; B. endogenous psychological diseases, occurring in adults ; C. durable behavioral changes, developed in childhood or adolescence,

and characterized mainly by a trouble of adaptation to the social environment;

D. behavioral changes due mainly to the exposure to psychic stressors.

The correct answer is:

II. MCQs

Choose ONE OR MORE letters

C

Therapeutic adherence:

A. is high in depressive patients; B. is higher, as the informal prestige of the doctor is higher; C. is low, in chronic diseases; D. tends to be higher in acute diseases; E. is high in people with very high anxiety (panic).

The correct answer is:

II. MCQs

Choose ONE OR MORE letters

BCD

What are the correct correspondences to the characteristics of type A and C personalities:

A. type A = involvement in multiple professional activities; B. type A = repressed hostility, high vulnerability to cancer; C. type C = frequently hostile to others; D. type A = high frequency of psychosomatic (especially cardiovascular)

diseases; E. type A = high frequency of alexithymia.

The correct answer is:

II. MCQs

Choose ONE OR MORE letters

AD

Which of the following behaviors CAN result from acute anxiety?

A. consulting alternative medicine practitioners; B. information contagion;C. high therapeutic adherence;D. the onset of a personality disorder;E. low therapeutic adherence.

The correct answer is:

II. MCQs

Choose ONE OR MORE letters

ABCE

The non-directive (“psycho-analytical”) style of anamnesis is recommended mostly for:

A. patients with acute and small gravity diseases, without an important psychological component;

B. patients with acute diseases (still, not emergencies), with emotional disturbances produced by their condition ;

C. chronic patients, with multiple relapses of their disease; D. emergency cases;E. chronic patients, with a significant change in their quality of life.

The correct answer is:

II. MCQs

Choose ONE OR MORE letters

BCE

A 56 years old patient is admitted at the hospital for recurrent pain in the cardiac area, which is aggravated by heavy meals (they appear approximately 15 minutes after lunch), and are not influenced by effort. Although the patient is convinced that he has a cardiovascular disease, the objective exam and lab tests plead in favor of an esophageal spasm with gastro-esophageal reflux. Three months before the onset of these symptoms, the patient was fired and suffered from the death of his wife.

#46. In this particular context, in which broader category of conditions would you put the somatic diagnosis of this patient?

1.psychosis; 2.psychosomatic disease; 3.psychosomatic disorder; 4.none of the above. The correct answer is: A.1,2,3; B.1,2; C.only 3: D.only 4; E.1,3.

#47. Which psychotherapeutic techniques could be used to obtain a good outcome, if the patient has time constraints regarding psychotherapy (less than 4 months for this)?

1.hypnosis; 2.CBT; 3.psychanalysis; 4.transactional analysis; 5.none of the above.

The correct answer is: A.1,3; B.2,3; C.only 5; D.1,2; E.only 4.

…# 48, 49, 50

III. CLINICAL CASE

C

D

DefinitionsTransference = emotions / feelings felt for the patient. Can be negative (e.g. paranoid),positive (hysterical) or absent (schizoid).

Counter-transference = emotions / feelings felt by the doctor for the patient (in thecase of psychopaths (e.g. paranoid, schizoid, hysterical) can be negative.

Type A personality = hostile, competitive, always lacking time, easy to get frustratedHigh secretion of cathecolamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline)Predisposed to cardiovascular diseases.

Type C personality = always repressing emotions, not talking about them.High secretion of cortisol.Predisposed to cancer.

Mistakes in doctor-patient relationship (examples)Use of technical languageNot letting the patient express himselfGiving complicated prescriptions

Personality disorders Commonalities = lack of empathy, difficult relationships with others (including the Dr),rigidity of behavior. Can be non-compliantDifferences = at the level of transference (high = hysterical, low = schizoid), relations withother patients (aggressive – paranoid, absent – schizoid), adherence (low – paranoid, high –obsessional)

DefinitionsDepression = sadness, lack of energy, feeling guilty without reasonVarious causes = endogenous / exogenousLeads often to non-compliance (the patient does not take the drugs as prescribed)

AnxietyFear without reasonCan develop into panic attacksOften surrounded by somatic symptoms

Psychosomatic disorders: physiological changes that occur as a result of a psychological factor (e.g. stress) and are entirely reversible (e.g. gastric hypersecretion, coronary spasm)

Psychosomatic diseases: diseases that occur as a result of a long-term effect of a psychological factor (e.g. stress) and are chronic. Examples: ulcer arterial hypertension, asthma

Paranoid personality type: suspicious, hypersensitivity to criticism, self-centeredness, revengeful, aggressive, rigidityOften non-compliant, has a difficult relationship to the Dr

Obsessive-compulsive) personality type:Excessive care about details, tendency to pay equal attention to essential and non-essential aspects of therapy, unsure about the outcome. Can be both compliant and non-compliant.

Distress: stress associated with negative events (high levels of cathecolamines and cortisol).Eustress: stress associated with positive events (high levels of cathecolamines and endorphins).Main effects of endorphins: decreasing the pain, euphoria, stimulation of immunity.

GOOD LUCK !