USMLE STEP 1 FIRST AID MEDICAL BOARD REVIEW
2025/2026 | VERIFIED CONTENT & HIGH-YIELD STUDY
GUIDE | CLINICAL SCIENCE, PATHOLOGY &
PHARMACOLOGY MASTER REVIEW | GRADED A+ PREP
MATERIAL
most common cause of hypopituitarism - CORRECT ANSWER - -adenoma
suboccipital lymphadenopathy - diagnosis? - CORRECT ANSWER - -rubella
most common vasculitis
- poses risk for?
- what causes this? - CORRECT ANSWER - -temporal arteritis
- risk of ipsilateral blindness - due to thrombosis of opthalmic artery
most common cause of hepatocellular carcinoma - CORRECT ANSWER - -
cirrhotic liver, often due to hepatitis B and C
most common cause of viral encephalitis - CORRECT ANSWER - -HSV
what is the defect in Chediak-Higashi syndrome?
- symptoms? - CORRECT ANSWER - -defect in microtubule polymerization,
causing decreased phagocytosis
- symptoms: recurrent pyogenic infections, partial albinism, peripheral
neuropathy
most common cause of Addison's
- 2nd most common? - CORRECT ANSWER - -autoimmune
- infection is 2nd
,"smudge cell" - diagnosis? - CORRECT ANSWER - -CLL
most common cause of constrictive pericarditis - CORRECT ANSWER - -
tuberculosis
soap bubble on x-ray - diagnosis? - CORRECT ANSWER - -giant cell tumor
of bone
spike and dome on EM - diagnosis? - CORRECT ANSWER - -membranous
glomerulonephritis
what is a Spitz nevus? - CORRECT ANSWER - -benign juvenile melanoma
splinter hemorrhages in fingernails - diagnosis? - CORRECT ANSWER - -
endocarditis
most common pituitary tumor
- 2nd most common? how does it stain? - CORRECT ANSWER - -
prolactinoma
- somatotropic adenoma is 2nd - acidophilic
what gene is mutated in cystic fibrosis, and how?
- treatment? how does it work? - CORRECT ANSWER - -CFTR - deletion of
Phe 508
- N-acetylcysteine cleaves disulfide bonds in mucus
substrates in urea cycle - CORRECT ANSWER - -Ordinarily, Careless
Crappers Are Also Frivolous About Urination:
,Ornithine - Carbamoyl phosphate - Citrulline - Aspartate - Argininosuccinate -
Fumarate - Arginine - Urea
treatment for malaria - CORRECT ANSWER - -chloroquine + primaquine to
prevent relapse by dormant species in liver
name 10 X-linked recessive disorders - CORRECT ANSWER - -Be Wise,
Fool's GOLD Heeds False Hope:
Bruton's agammaglobulinemia
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
Fragile X
G6PD defiency
Ocular albinism
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
Duchenne's/Becker's muscular dystrophy
Hemophilia A and B
Fabry's disease
Hunter's syndrome
name 8 facultative intracellular bacteria - CORRECT ANSWER - -Some
Nasty Bugs May Live FacultativeLY:
Salmonella
Neisseria
Brucella
Mycobacterium
Listeria
Francisella
Legionella
Yersinia
, most common cause of primary hyperparathyroidism - CORRECT ANSWER
- -adenoma
what is the defect in Fabry's disease?
- what substrate accumulates?
- what is fabry's - CORRECT ANSWER - -deficient alpha-galactosidase A
- ceramide trihexoside accumulates
- lysosomal storage disease involving dysfunction metabolism of sphingolipids
most common cause of glomerulonephritis in adults - CORRECT ANSWER -
-IgA nephropathy (Berger's disease)
functions of ATP and GTP in protein synthesis - CORRECT ANSWER - -
ATP - for tRNA charging (Activation)
GTP - for tRNA binding to ribosome and translocation (Gripping and Going
places)
chloramphenicol - mechanism of action? - CORRECT ANSWER - -inhibits
50S peptidyltransferase (which catalyzes peptide bond formation)
function of Vibrio cholerae toxin - CORRECT ANSWER - -activates Gs,
stimulating adenylyl cyclase - increases Cl- in gut and decreases Na+ absorption
what is the defect in Hurler's syndrome?
- what substrates accumulate? - CORRECT ANSWER - -deficient alpha-L-
iduronidase
- heparan sulfate and dermatan sulfate accumulates
2025/2026 | VERIFIED CONTENT & HIGH-YIELD STUDY
GUIDE | CLINICAL SCIENCE, PATHOLOGY &
PHARMACOLOGY MASTER REVIEW | GRADED A+ PREP
MATERIAL
most common cause of hypopituitarism - CORRECT ANSWER - -adenoma
suboccipital lymphadenopathy - diagnosis? - CORRECT ANSWER - -rubella
most common vasculitis
- poses risk for?
- what causes this? - CORRECT ANSWER - -temporal arteritis
- risk of ipsilateral blindness - due to thrombosis of opthalmic artery
most common cause of hepatocellular carcinoma - CORRECT ANSWER - -
cirrhotic liver, often due to hepatitis B and C
most common cause of viral encephalitis - CORRECT ANSWER - -HSV
what is the defect in Chediak-Higashi syndrome?
- symptoms? - CORRECT ANSWER - -defect in microtubule polymerization,
causing decreased phagocytosis
- symptoms: recurrent pyogenic infections, partial albinism, peripheral
neuropathy
most common cause of Addison's
- 2nd most common? - CORRECT ANSWER - -autoimmune
- infection is 2nd
,"smudge cell" - diagnosis? - CORRECT ANSWER - -CLL
most common cause of constrictive pericarditis - CORRECT ANSWER - -
tuberculosis
soap bubble on x-ray - diagnosis? - CORRECT ANSWER - -giant cell tumor
of bone
spike and dome on EM - diagnosis? - CORRECT ANSWER - -membranous
glomerulonephritis
what is a Spitz nevus? - CORRECT ANSWER - -benign juvenile melanoma
splinter hemorrhages in fingernails - diagnosis? - CORRECT ANSWER - -
endocarditis
most common pituitary tumor
- 2nd most common? how does it stain? - CORRECT ANSWER - -
prolactinoma
- somatotropic adenoma is 2nd - acidophilic
what gene is mutated in cystic fibrosis, and how?
- treatment? how does it work? - CORRECT ANSWER - -CFTR - deletion of
Phe 508
- N-acetylcysteine cleaves disulfide bonds in mucus
substrates in urea cycle - CORRECT ANSWER - -Ordinarily, Careless
Crappers Are Also Frivolous About Urination:
,Ornithine - Carbamoyl phosphate - Citrulline - Aspartate - Argininosuccinate -
Fumarate - Arginine - Urea
treatment for malaria - CORRECT ANSWER - -chloroquine + primaquine to
prevent relapse by dormant species in liver
name 10 X-linked recessive disorders - CORRECT ANSWER - -Be Wise,
Fool's GOLD Heeds False Hope:
Bruton's agammaglobulinemia
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
Fragile X
G6PD defiency
Ocular albinism
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
Duchenne's/Becker's muscular dystrophy
Hemophilia A and B
Fabry's disease
Hunter's syndrome
name 8 facultative intracellular bacteria - CORRECT ANSWER - -Some
Nasty Bugs May Live FacultativeLY:
Salmonella
Neisseria
Brucella
Mycobacterium
Listeria
Francisella
Legionella
Yersinia
, most common cause of primary hyperparathyroidism - CORRECT ANSWER
- -adenoma
what is the defect in Fabry's disease?
- what substrate accumulates?
- what is fabry's - CORRECT ANSWER - -deficient alpha-galactosidase A
- ceramide trihexoside accumulates
- lysosomal storage disease involving dysfunction metabolism of sphingolipids
most common cause of glomerulonephritis in adults - CORRECT ANSWER -
-IgA nephropathy (Berger's disease)
functions of ATP and GTP in protein synthesis - CORRECT ANSWER - -
ATP - for tRNA charging (Activation)
GTP - for tRNA binding to ribosome and translocation (Gripping and Going
places)
chloramphenicol - mechanism of action? - CORRECT ANSWER - -inhibits
50S peptidyltransferase (which catalyzes peptide bond formation)
function of Vibrio cholerae toxin - CORRECT ANSWER - -activates Gs,
stimulating adenylyl cyclase - increases Cl- in gut and decreases Na+ absorption
what is the defect in Hurler's syndrome?
- what substrates accumulate? - CORRECT ANSWER - -deficient alpha-L-
iduronidase
- heparan sulfate and dermatan sulfate accumulates
