Higher Specialist Diploma
Medical Microbiology
Examination – September 2021
Short-answer questions
60 minutes
Attempt all four questions
Instructions to candidates
1. Record your candidate number and HSD discipline on the front sheet of the answer
booklet
2. Record your candidate number, the question number and the page number in the spaces
provided on the answer sheets
3. Begin each new answer on a new page
4. Each question is worth 25 marks
HSD in Med Micro – Sept 2021 Short Answer, Essay and Case Studies Papers FINAL EXAM PAPERS
, 1. Your laboratory has recently verified the use of a rapid PCR technique that detects the
‘big five’ carbapenemase genes. Explain how this might fit into your current working
practice and make a case for or against its use as a primary test directly on specimens.
2. There has been an ESBL producing K.pneumoniae outbreak in the paediatric intensive
care unit of your hospital and the infection control team have highlighted a need to
rapidly introduce a screening method. Describe the process you would go through to
enable this.
3. Following a run of the quality control samples through the urine analyser you notice the
10m Westgard rule has been breached. Explain this rule and suggest likely causes of
the breach and any actions that should be taken.
4. During the processing of orthopaedic joint revision samples, it is noticed that there has
been an increase in culture contaminants, causing difficulty with interpretation. The
current process deployed is inoculation onto solid culture media plus Fastidious
anaerobe broth. Identify potential sources of contamination and describe measures
that can be implemented to reduce this.
HSD in Med Micro – Sept 2021 Short Answer, Essay and Case Studies Papers FINAL EXAM PAPERS
Medical Microbiology
Examination – September 2021
Short-answer questions
60 minutes
Attempt all four questions
Instructions to candidates
1. Record your candidate number and HSD discipline on the front sheet of the answer
booklet
2. Record your candidate number, the question number and the page number in the spaces
provided on the answer sheets
3. Begin each new answer on a new page
4. Each question is worth 25 marks
HSD in Med Micro – Sept 2021 Short Answer, Essay and Case Studies Papers FINAL EXAM PAPERS
, 1. Your laboratory has recently verified the use of a rapid PCR technique that detects the
‘big five’ carbapenemase genes. Explain how this might fit into your current working
practice and make a case for or against its use as a primary test directly on specimens.
2. There has been an ESBL producing K.pneumoniae outbreak in the paediatric intensive
care unit of your hospital and the infection control team have highlighted a need to
rapidly introduce a screening method. Describe the process you would go through to
enable this.
3. Following a run of the quality control samples through the urine analyser you notice the
10m Westgard rule has been breached. Explain this rule and suggest likely causes of
the breach and any actions that should be taken.
4. During the processing of orthopaedic joint revision samples, it is noticed that there has
been an increase in culture contaminants, causing difficulty with interpretation. The
current process deployed is inoculation onto solid culture media plus Fastidious
anaerobe broth. Identify potential sources of contamination and describe measures
that can be implemented to reduce this.
HSD in Med Micro – Sept 2021 Short Answer, Essay and Case Studies Papers FINAL EXAM PAPERS
