UMAT: Section I - sample questions
UMAT: Section One Sample Questions
Section I of the UMAT consists of 44 questions, for which you are allowed 65 minutes to complete.
In each question the student is presented with stimulus material derived from various sources such as magazines and newspapers, and is given multiple choice answer options.
Sample Question 1.
Iatrogenic events are those caused by the process of diagnosis or treatment.
Which conclusion from the above graphs is most inaccurate?
A More people die from bed sores in the US than those from nosocomial infection.
B The cost of medical intervention related to bed sores is more than that caused by adverse drug reactions.
C More iatrogenic events result from hospitalisation than from procedures
D Deaths from surgery-related intervention are half those caused by malnutrition
Answer D is the most inaccurate because surgery related deaths are about a third of those caused by malnutrition.
Which response is most accurate?
A Fewer unnecessary medical events result from hospitalisation than from procedures.
B Surgery related medical intervention costs are six or seven per cent of the costs of unnecessary procedures.
C The approximate cost per patient for adverse drug-reactions is about $10,000.
D Approximately a quarter of all people hospitalised experience an iatrogenic event.
Answer B: Because the cost of surgery-related medical intervention is about 8 billion and the cost of unnecessary-procedures is about 120 billion.
Which response is most supportive of the data?
A Costs associated with bedsores were about five times those for adverse drug reactions
B Nosocomial infection costs for about 900,000 deaths were low because medical intervention could readily cure those patients
C Medical intervention costs associated with adverse drug reactions were about 1.1 million people
D The costs associated with the 1.1 million people who died from malnutrition were low because those patients were poor
Answer A: because adverse drug reaction costs are about 11 billion and bedsore costs are about 55 billion (11x5=55)
Which is the least logical?
A Fewer people died from nosocomial infection than from malnutrition
B Fewer people were affected by iatrogenic events than from hospitalisation alone
C More people died from adverse drug reactions than from medical error
D Almost 1½ million people undergoing a medical procedure or hospitalisation are outpatients
Answer D: the statement doesn’t make sense, does it? A, B and C do make sense.
Sample Question 2
Which is the least logical?
A fewer people died from nosocomial infection than from malnutrition
B fewer people were affected by iatrogenic events than from hospitalisation alone
C more people died from an adverse drug reactions than from medical error
D almost 1½ million people undergoing a medical procedure or hospitalisation are outpatients
Answer D: the statement just doesn’t make sense does it?
Sample Question 3
The risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) is increased by the consumption of saturated fat and trans fat which increases the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the blood. More than 12 million people in the US have CHD, and 500,000 of them die from it each year, making it a leading cause of death. Trans fat is made by hydrogenating vegetable oil, which changes oils into solids such as margarine, in order to increase the shelf life and improve the texture, colour and taste of food. Saturated fat and trans fats increase LDL levels in the blood. Dietary cholesterol contributes to heart disease. Therefore, it is advisable to choose foods low in saturated fat, trans fat, and LDL as part of a healthy diet. Trans fat is the main cause of increased levels of LDL in humans and increases the risk of CHD. Fat, however, is a major source of energy and aids the absorption of vitamins A, D, E, K and carotenoids.
Which answer is most accurate?
A A low fat diet is the healthiest
B
Most deaths in the US are caused by coronary heart disease
C
Although consuming too much trans fat is bad for us, it is essential because it helps our bodies to absorb vitamins
D
Hydrogenated oil can cause increased blood levels of LDL
Answer D: hydrogenated vegetable oil becomes trans-fats which increase the levels of LDL in the blood.
Which answer is most inaccurate?
A blood levels of LDL are increased by some fats
B hydrogenated vegetable oils are made from trans fatty LDLs
C saturated fats should be avoided
D we obtain energy from good and bad fats
Answer A: trans-fat and saturated fat increased levels of LDL in the blood
Which responses (or response) might be most correct?
(i) hydrogenated fats could be made by treating them with hydrogen in some way
(ii) more than 5% of those Americans with coronary heart disease die every year
(iii) all people who eat saturated fats and trans-fats will have elevated blood levels of LDL
A (i) and (ii)
B (i) and (iii)
C (ii)
D (ii) and (iii)
Answer A:
Sample Question 4.
A few animal species are unable to synthesise vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and are prone to heart disease that is almost non existent in other animals. CVD reduces the supply of blood to the heart and other organs leading to angina, heart attack and stroke.
Research shows that atherosclerotic plaques form on vascular tissue in humans who have a deficiency of vitamin C. After the Lp(a) cholesterol molecule and its lysine binding sites were discovered, Linus Pauling and his associate Matthias Rath formulated a unified theory of heart disease and devised a cure based on vitamin C supplementation. Ascorbic acid, lysine and proline in large amounts become Lp(a) binding inhibitors that restore vascular health and destroy atherosclerotic plaques.
Which response is most accurate?
A. The human body synthesises sufficient ascorbic acid
B. Lp(a) is cholesterol that causes angina, heart attacks and strokes
C. Cardiovascular disease is not related to vitamin C deficiency
D Atherosclerosis may be prevented by taking large doses of ascorbic acid
Answer (D) humans cannot synthesise ascorbic acid or vitamin C and are prone to heart disease, vitamin C taken in large amounts can restore vascular health.
Sample Question 5.
Scientists say they've found a protein called Scythe that controls normal development of the human body’s lungs, kidney and brain and say that it determines which cells live and which ones die during the growth and development of the mammalian embryo. The study is the first to show that Scythe plays a critical role during development of mammals by selectively regulating when and where specific cells either proliferate or undergo apoptosis. Understanding exactly how Scythe balances apoptosis with cell proliferation could provide significant insights into how organs develop in the growing embryo, the scientists said.
Which answer most accurately reflects the statement?
A the scythe protein does not play a part in cell growth in adult mammals
B the scythe protein dictate which cells are to die in the embryo
C scientists are yet to do research on how organs develop in the growing embryo
D Apoptosis means programed death of cells
Sample Question 6.
Giardia lamblia is a parasite that infects the gastrointestinal tract in humans. This protozoa causes giardiasis, a form of gastroenteritis with symptoms of severe abdominal cramps and diarrhoea, as well as nausea and vomiting. Symptoms usually become evident approximately seven to ten days after giardia has been ingested by consuming contaminated water or food or from animal or human faeces. A carrier of the disease may not display symptoms of infection. Improving the quality of water in the Third World through filtration and chlorination will reduce the incidence of this common, debilitating infection among millions of people.
Which response is most accurate?
A A giardia sufferer will have cramps, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting
B Carriers of giardia do not show or suffer from symptoms of the disease
C Improving water quality in the Third World will prevent many deaths
D The incubation period for giardia is between one and two weeks
Answer D: the incubation period is seven to 10 days after Giardia has been ingested. In A, a sufferer may have one or more of these. In B and C these statements are not made.
Which conclusion is least likely?
A A giardia carrier could possibly suffer from the disease
B Millions of people in every country around the world suffer from this disease
C Water must be purified by being filtered and chlorinated
D The giardia parasite can cause severe illness in humans
Answer B, because it is not stated that giardia occurs in every country of the world. A: The statement does not say that a carrier could not suffer from the disease. In C and D, these statements are made.
Sample Question 7.
The sun loses about six million tonnes of mass per second, four million tonnes of which is converted into pure energy through thermonuclear reactions, and the rest is lost in the solar wind and in other particle emissions. Over the last two billion years the total loss has been about one ten thousandth of the Sun’s original mass.
Which is the least accurate?
A 0.01% of the sun’s original mass has been lost in 2 billion years
B The sun expends about six million tonnes of mass per minute
C The sun loses about 2 million tonnes of its mass per second to the solar wind and other emissions
D it requires about 4 million times of mass per second to generate the sun’s energy
Answer B: The sun expends about six million tonnes of mass per second, not per minute. A, C and D are quite accurate.
Sample Question 8.
A new, low-cost, Indian, hepatitis-B manufacturing process replaces the expensive common method which uses ultracentrifuges and caesium chloride. The phosphor lipid tail of the vaccine protein is electrically neutral and the yeast proteins and DMA carry an electrical charge. The vaccine protein precipitates out of solution onto a matrix while the yeast proteins and DMA remain.
Which response is most inaccurate?
A The vaccine proteins carry an negative charge
B The yeast proteins carry a positive charge
C The physical and chemical processes are the least expensive
D Electrical precipitation is cheaper than the physical and chemical processes
Answer C: because the first sentence in the statement says that the ultracentrifuge and caesium chloride method costs more than the new method. A, B and D accurately refer to what was stated.
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