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Whether you're a biochemistry boffin or a first-year medical student, our medicine trivia questions will test your knowledge.
If you think you know everything about medical history, from the Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates to modern-day vaccinations, then give our medicine trivia questions a go!
We've amassed a whole host of trivia questions on medical treatments and procedures, diseases, and notable physicians.
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1. The medical term is “piloerection” or “horripilation,” but what’s the common name for the little lumps that rise up on your skin when you’re cold (or spooked) that, in fact, activate stem cells and trigger hair growth?
Answer: Goosbumps
2. Blood levels of A1C, or hemoglobin chemically linked to a sugar, are commonly used to determine whether an individual has what medical condition?
Answer: Diabetes
3. Which medical term comes from the Greek word for “without breathing” and is included in the name of a condition where a person experiences brief pauses in breathing while they’re asleep?
Answer: Apnea
4. When he served as Chief Medical Advisor to the President during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, what physician showed he was a Nationals fan by wearing a team-branded face mask while testifying before Congress?
Answer: Dr. Anthony Fauci
5. René Théophile Hyacinthe Laënnec came up with the idea for what medical listening device because he was uncomfortable putting his head on a lady’s chest to auscultate her heart and lungs?
Answer: Stethoscope
6. In 2000, Intuitive Surgical Company launched a robotic surgical system to assist surgeons with everything from prostate removals to heart valve repairs. The system was named after which famous artist who was known for his anatomical drawings and a portrait of a smirking lady?
Answer: Leonardo da Vinci
7. What group responsible for global medical well-being was formed by the United Nations after World War II, combining the efforts of groups like the International Sanitary Conferences? Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, its three-letter acronym looks like a question.
Answer: World Health Organization
8. Several medical facilities, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School, are all located in what "L" Medical and Academic Area in Boston?
Answer: Longwood
9. Somnambulism is the fancy medical word for which sleep disorder where you partake in a specific physical activity while you’re asleep? (Hint: It’s more common in kids and can be downright creepy to witness—luckily, they usually outgrow it).
Answer: Sleepwalking
10. What “O” is the specific scientific medical study of the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer?
Answer: Oncology
11. What orthopedics brand with a blue-and-white logo was founded in 1906 by a Chicago shoemaker's apprentice who was in medical school at the time?
Answer: Dr. Scholl's
12. Gaining popularity as weight loss treatments, Ozempic and Wegovy are GLP-1 receptor agonists that are mainly used to treat what chronic medical condition?
Answer: Type 2 diabetes
13. Which medical term that comes from the Ancient Greek for “deep sleep” refers to a prolonged state of being unconscious and unresponsive?
Answer: Coma
14. A kocher is what kind of surgical tool that can be used to stop bleeding or hold on to dense tissues?
Answer: Clamp
15. Placed in the chest to monitor and correct abnormal heart rhythms, the medical device known as an "ICD" is short for "implantable cardioverter" what?
Answer: Defibrillator
16. A way of targeting cancer cells is isolating what element within them that has the chemical symbol Fe?
Answer: Iron
17. His name lives on in the form of an oath of ethics taken by medical practitioners. Which ancient Greek physician is known as the "Father of Medicine"?
Answer: Hippocrates
18. In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States. Blackwell attended Geneva Medical College, which was located near Seneca Falls in what East Coast state?
Answer: New York
19. The flu shot is recommended by the WHO and CDC for yearly vaccination for nearly all people over the age of six months. What animal's eggs are often used to produce this vaccine each year?
Answer: Hen / Chicken
20. Announced in 2020, the program AlphaFold 2 became record-settingly good at using AI algorithms to accurately predict the structure of what biomolecules?
Answer: Proteins
21. Biopharming is the process of producing edible pharmaceuticals in plants and domestic animals, such as what “V” medical method of causing a person to develop antibodies against a disease without direct exposure to that illness?
Answer: Vaccine
22. Which medical term from the Latin terms for “blood” and “break forth” refers to a lot of bleeding, which can be life-threatening?
Answer: Hemorrhage
23. What is the standard medical word to describe an intense and occasionally disabling fear or reaction to a specific object or situation that often poses little actual danger?
Answer: Phobia
24. In medical terminology, the prefix “supra-” means to be in what position related to an organ? For example, “supra-renal.”
Answer: Above
25. What life-saving medical screening that uses ionizing radiation can be traced back to 1913, when German surgeon Albert Salomon performed X-rays on 3,000 mastectomies?
Answer: Mammogram
26. Which word in medical terminology describes cancer that has spread from where it started to other areas of the body?
Answer: Metastatic
27. Veisalgia is the medical term for which condition? The word is found in the titles of a trilogy of comedy films starring Bradley Cooper.
Answer: Hangover
28. What is defined as the medical specialty looking at anatomy, physiology, pathology, symptomatology, and therapeutics related to the blood and blood-forming tissues?
Answer: Hematology
29. Requiring immediate medical attention, what E-word adjective describes a pregnancy that occurs anywhere in the body other than the uterus, most often in a fallopian tube?
Answer: Ectopic
30. What “T” cancer drug, sometimes sold under the brand Soltamox, is an estrogen modulator that can be used to treat breast cancer, or prevent it in high-risk patients?
Answer: Tamoxifen
31. What medical device includes the Latin word for “cloud” and has the ability to evaporate liquid medication into mist to enable users to inhale it into their lungs?
Answer: Nebulizer
32. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, also known as a DEXA scan, is frequently used to measure the density of what material in the body?
Answer: Bone
33. A glucometer can be used by people with diabetes to check their blood sugar levels. What’s the medical term for blood sugar?
Answer: Glucose
34. Developed at MIT and at Boston Dynamics, Spot is a contact-free robot who helps with basic patient care and is mounted on a body with what guessable number of legs?
Answer: Four
35. Dr. Paul Lauterbur and physicist Sir Peter Mansfield were awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing what imaging system in the late 1970s and early 1980s?
Answer: MRI
36. A widespread system for classifying viruses is named for a researcher with what last name, which also happens to be the city where Johns Hopkins University and its prestigious medical school are located?
Answer: Baltimore
37. What Apple CEO, predicting the promise of healthcare technology, said in 2017 that "medical health activity is the largest or second-largest component of the economy, depending on which country in the world you’re dealing with?"
Answer: Tim Cook
38. Which medical term that starts with “M” describes a general feeling of being unwell or vague discomfort that is sometimes the first inkling of an illness?
Answer: Malaise
39. COVID-19 revived the near-obsolete Drinker Tank, popular polio-era negative pressure ventilators better known by what metallic name?
Answer: Iron Lung
40. Veklury is the brand name of what Gilead broad-spectrum antiviral drug, which was approved on an emergency basis in about 50 countries as a treatment for COVID-19?
Answer: remdesivir
41. EKG is shorthand for what 17-letter medical device that records the electrical signals that occur in the heart?
Answer: Electrocardiogram
42. Extremely common in children, the medical term "pyrexia" is more commonly referred to by what "F-word" that isn't a curse?
Answer: Fever
43. First performed by physician Raymond Damadian in 1977, MRI is short for what radiology technique that uses scanners with strong magnetic fields to create anatomical images of the physiological processes of the body?
Answer: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
44. "Keyhole" is another name for minimally invasive surgery known by what L-word that roughly means "seeing a flank"?
Answer: Laparoscopy
45. In ophthalmology, DME is a common abbreviation for macular edema, or fluid accumulation in the eye, caused by what underlying medical condition?
Answer: Diabetes
46. Declared by medical device manufacturers in each market where they plan to sell a new product, the intellectual-property acronym FTO stands for "freedom to" what?
Answer: Operate
47. The Kerry biopharmaceutical brand is a leader in what “N” concept as it applies to cells? It is the scientific analysis of how food provides cells with life.
Answer: Nutrition
48. Lixte is a biotechnology company dedicated to discovering drugs and more effective treatments for what endemic “C” disease?
Answer: Cancer
49. What does the “C” in cDNA stand for? (Hint: It’s a homophone for an adjective that means you like telling people what you like about them).
Answer: Complementary
50. A colposcope is used to look in the vagina up to which organ that makes up the lower part of the uterus?
Answer: Cervix
51. Which medical term that starts with “F” means using X-rays to get “real-time” images of the body during surgery (for example, getting an artificial joint into the right place)?
Answer: Fluoroscopy
52. Which term that starts with “bio” generally refers to materials used to make things like implants and prosthetics that work with the body and are not toxic to it?
Answer: Biocompatible
53. Which healthcare software company well-known to providers for its electronic medical records system is based in Madison, Wisconsin?
Answer: EPIC
54. What is the medical term for a condition in which a person’s eyelashes are growing in the wrong direction (in rather than out), often causing discomfort and even damage to the eye?
Answer: Trichiasis
55. If the star of the "Mission: Impossible" movies takes a nasty spill, he might get a CT scan. The C stands for "Computed," and what does the “T” stand for?
Answer: Tomography
56. In the medical field, what is the name for a tube typically made of plastic or metal that is inserted into the lumen of a vessel or duct with the goal of keeping a passageway open?
Answer: Stent
57. In the 1960s, scientists discovered the defense system used by horseshoe crabs. Since then, what bright blue bodily fluid has been harvested from the crabs and used in medical research, including vaccine testing?
Answer: Blood
58. “Transesophageal echocardiogram” is both a mouthful to say and to receive in the unfortunate instance that medical professionals need to look at your heart. To help with the syllabic heft, doctors in the U.S. refer to it by what three-letter abbreviation?
Answer: TEE
59. A Frankfurt doctor was told by a patient "I have lost myself" and he observed and studied her over a period of five years. This patient became the basis for his paper and lecture in 1906, which ultimately led to his name being associated with what disease?
Answer: Alzheimer's
60. In October 2020, a San Francisco-based company named Whisper raised $35 million in Series B funding. Coincidentally, Quiet Ventures led the fundraising round for Whisper and the company is known as a manufacturer of what piece of medical technology?
Answer: Hearing aids
61. Which medical condition, sometimes abbreviated HTN, involves an elevated measurement in millimeters mercury?
Answer: Hypertension
62. What “M” museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia contains historical anatomical specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment?
Answer: Mutter Museum
63. Blood-forming stem cells are important in cancer treatments because they form red blood cells, white blood cells, and what clotty things?
Answer: Platelets
64. National Military Medical Center namesake Major Walter Reed struck an enormous blow against what colorful mosquito-borne illness?
Answer: Yellow fever
65. In 2011, a Swedish university hospital performed the world's first transplant operation using a synthetic organ that was fully grown in a laboratory. What organ, also known as a windpipe, did they successfully transplant?
Answer: Trachea
66. Derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree, the widely used cancer chemotherapy drug paclitaxel is also known by what five-letter brand name?
Answer: Taxol
67. What’s the common name for the wheel-mounted, stainless steel medical waste receptacles that can be easily moved around the OR hands-free, since they’re positioned by your feet?
Answer: Kick Bucket
68. Before it inspired the differently-spelled name of a smash hit medical TV drama, what book by a man, first name Henry, served as the go-to reference material for people trying to learn human anatomy?
Answer: Gray's Anatomy
69. The undersea arthropod’s name sounds more equestrian than epidemiological, but its blue blood is used by medical researchers to test out medicines and treatments. Its scientific name is Limulidae, but it’s commonly called what?
Answer: Horseshoe Crab
70. A medical practitioner who is a D.O. is a doctor of what?
Answer: Osteopathic Medicine
71. Which medical term that starts with “N” refers to a hard bump under the skin (usually less than 1 centimeter) that can be cancerous or benign, and cystic if it’s filled with fluid?
Answer: Nodule
72. Which household handy device for your bathroom transformed life-saving CPR by inspiring a device that can take the hard work off first responders or bystanders?
Answer: Plunger
73. CARS and the really-difficult-to-turn-into-an-acronym Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems are two sections of what standardized post-grad admission test?
Answer: MCAT/ Medical College Admission Test
74. What "B" word is often considered the midpoint between fee-for-service and capitation for medical payments? Typically, this term refers to payments for the expected costs of "clinically-defined episodes of care."
Answer: Bundled payments
75. Used to amplify RNA targets, the RT-PCR method stands for "reverse transcription polymerase chain" what?
Answer: Reaction
76. What “M” cancer center is a nonprofit located in Tampa, Florida? Established in 1981 by the Florida legislature, it opened on the USF campus in 1986.
Answer: Moffitt Cancer Center
77. Philly's Mutter Museum is the place to see thousands of medical oddities, including pieces of the brain of what Nobel laureate who died in 1955?
Answer: Albert Einstein
78. Often implanted in people who have had cataract surgery, a "pseudophakos" is an artificial replacement for what part of the eye?
Answer: Lens
79. Pop superstar Michael Jackson and Canadian model Winnie Harlow are examples of people who have experienced which medical condition characterized by depigmented skin?
Answer: Vitiligo
80. A defibrillator is used to shock a heart out of life-threatening arrhythmias like V-Fib or V-Tach. What’s the “V” stand for in those names?
Answer: Ventricular
81. In 1816, physician Rene Laennec fashioned the first of what medical instruments from a hollow wooden tube?
Answer: Stethoscope
82. Which sex toy was first invented as a medical device in the 1800s to treat "hysteria" and other "disorders"?
Answer: Vibrator
83. The MoCA medical test is an acronym. When expanded, what city's name is included in the name?
Answer: Montreal
84. Usually including an adjustable cuff and a rubber tube, the device called a sphygmomanometer takes what important measurement?
Answer: Blood pressure
85. What British medical organization, abbreviated HTA, was founded in 1844 in response to reports of unsanitary conditions in major English cities by Sir Edwin Chadwick? It successfully campaigned for the passage of the Public Health Act of 1848.
Answer: Health Of Towns Association
86. Now available generically, what is the brand name of the Novartis anticancer drug imatinib, a drug so revolutionary that it appeared on the May 28, 2001 cover of Time magazine?
Answer: Gleevec
87. What is the term for a single-stranded molecule of RNA, corresponding to a genetic sequence of a gene, that is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein? It is hoped that it can be used to treat cancer similar to its use in COVID-19 vaccines.
Answer: Messenger RNA
88. What “C” word is the medical term for earwax, the waxy substance secreted in the ears of mammals? Fittingly, it is derived from the Latin word for “wax”.
Answer: Cerumen
89. What “D” technique is electrically induced heat, often used during surgery, in order to help maintain blood flow and prevent excessive bleeding? It gets its one-word name from Greek words literally meaning “heating through.”
Answer: Diathermy
90. What “A” drug, sold under the brand name Bavencio, is a monoclonal antibody medication used to treat carcinoma?
Answer: Avelumab
91. What world renowned nonprofit medical center in Cleveland, administered by its namesake corporation since 1921, has a square with four perforations as its logo, and its name is a word meaning a hospital department with outpatient specialist care?
Answer: Cleveland Clinic
92. Commonly used to treat non-small cell lung cancer, Alimta is the brand name for the chemotherapy drug whose generic name is what?
Answer: Pemetrexed
93. Originating from a French word meaning “to turn,” a band of rubber or a strip of cloth that is commonly used to wrap around an injured limb to prevent bleeding is also known as what medical device?
Answer: Tourniquet
94. Derived from the Latin for “little cavity,” what is the name of the air sacs in the lungs where oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide?
Answer: Alveoli
95. What word follows “Wartenberg” in the alliterative name of a medical device designed to test a patient’s sensitivity as it is rolled across their skin?
Answer: Wheel
96. QuantBioRes, a company experimenting with electromagnetic resonance to treat viruses, acquired in 2022 a major shareholder in what Serbian tennis player, winner of several Grand Slam titles in the 2010s?
Answer: Novak Djokovic
97. The gene gun, a device used to infuse a new organism with genetic material that is then incorporated into the organism’s DNA, was invented by research scientists at what “C” Ivy League university, located in Ithaca, New York?
Answer: Cornell University
98. The medical term for the left eye is O.S., with “O” meaning “oculus” and the “S” standing for what word, also giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening?
Answer: Oculus Sinister
99. What “N” Biotechnology company seeks to transform the field of proteomics by democratizing access to the proteome? Its name is the same as Nemo’s ship in “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.”
Answer: Nautilus Biotechnology
100. Procter & Gamble pulled its Rely brand from the market in 1980 after it was linked to a medical condition called toxic shock syndrome. What type of product was Rely?
Answer: Tampons
101. ELISA is a common way to test for antibodies in a blood sample. The test wasn’t named after a lady—it’s actually an acronym. What does ELISA stand for?
Answer: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
102. What’s the technical term for a family tree that shows members’ relationships and behaviors in the context of their medical and psychological histories?
Answer: Genogram
103. Medical technology has made use of the natural light-up ability of some creatures (like fireflies) for everything from tests to imaging scans. What is the term for the chemical reaction that happens between an enzyme called luciferase and oxygen?
Answer: Bioluminescence
104. Which U.S.-based medical technology company headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan created the Mako™ Robotic Arm?
Answer: Stryker
105. Which term applies to a drug delivery method, like a patch, that is placed on the skin?
Answer: Transdermal
106. What surgically implanted medical device stimulates the auditory nerve in order to help hard of hearing people process speech in different sound environments? It is named for a spiral shaped part of the inner ear.
Answer: Cochlear Implant
107. Which federal agency in the U.S. is tasked with reviewing and approving medical devices, which includes putting them into one of three classification categories based on how invasive they are and how much influence they could have on a patient’s health?
Answer: Food and Drug Administration
108. You might have to “focus and think hard” on this one. Which C-word is a kind of medical device that filters out the nitrogen from the air in a room, then supplies the purified oxygen to a patient through a cannula or mask?
Answer: Concentrator
109. Transfection is the process of putting DNA or RNA into cells artificially. Which compounds are DNA and RNA classes of?
Answer: Nucleic Acids
110. What is the medical term for the thin tubes placed in a patient’s body to deliver or remove something? For example, putting a tube in their nose to give them oxygen.
Answer: Cannula
111. Which M-term describes the process where the DNA of an organism changes either naturally (spontaneously) or intentionally (for example, in a lab)?
Answer: Mutagenesis
112. Which A-word refers to something that’s added to a treatment to enhance it—for example, adding aluminum hydroxide to a vaccine to boost the immune system response it prompts?
Answer: Adjuvant
113. Hemodialysis filters blood through a dialyzer, which is basically like an artificial version of which organ?
Answer: Kidney
114. In medical terminology, “ventral” means toward the front—or anterior—of the body. “Dorsal” refers to the back—or what positional term—of the body?
Answer: Posterior
115. Which neurological condition is characterized by problems with motor planning, fine/gross motor skills, and coordination and is often mistaken for “clumsiness? Hint: The word comes from the Latin terms for “difficulty” and “action.” Some providers skip the medical jargon and call the condition developmental coordination disorder.
Answer: Dyspraxia
116. Which term that describes a person who identifies as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth is attributed to John Oliven who first used the word in 1965 in his medical text, “Sexual Hygiene and Pathology?”
Answer: Transgender
117. Which medical term describes the surgical removal of deposits of fat that are blocking a carotid artery?
Answer: Endarterectomy
118. Historically, an "operating theater" was an operating room with seating for an audience of other medical professionals and students. The oldest surviving operating theater is located in a hospital in what northeastern U.S. state?
Answer: Pennsylvania
119. In 1947, the Kaiser Foundation created a program to train what medical professionals? The program ran until 1976 and graduated 1,065 students, and consistently ranked in the top three programs on state licensing board examinations.
Answer: Nurses
120. What is the medical term for misaligned eyes, known colloquially as "crossed eyes?" Babies can suffer from this but should outgrow it by three months of age.
Answer: Strabismus
121. What is the name for medical malpractice by an entity not in the business of offering medical services? An example might be malpractice by an on-site nurse at a factory. This type of malpractice would be covered by a general commercial liability policy.
Answer: Incidental
122. In a June 2023 policy statement, the American Medical Association commented on what calculation commonly used to measure whether a person is overweight, stating it has done "historical harm" and been used "for racist exclusion?”
Answer: BMI
123. Which U.S. state goverened Ron DeSantis was told in July 2023 by a federal judge that it violates the ADA by placing children with complex medical situations in nursing homes?
Answer: Florida
124. Featuring types including pressure transducers, water gauge, and ultrasonic, what “S” device is primarily used for pulmonary function tests and measuring lung ventilation?
Answer: Spirometer
125. When Jose Celso Barbosa Alcala graduated from the University of Michigan in 1880, he became the first person from what American territory to receive a medical degree?
Answer: Puerto Rico
126. What term is used to describe professionals who work alongside (and often together with) medical specialists like doctors and surgeons—for example, dentists, dietitians, physical therapists, and medical assistants?
Answer: Allied
127. “Blind spot” is the common name for what medical term that refers to the place where the retina attaches to the optic nerve, and there are no light-sensitive cells?
Answer: Scotoma
128. Informed agreement to procedures or other medical necessities that is obtained when a healthcare provider and the patient are not in the same physical location, is known by what 10-letter term?
Answer: Teleconsent
129. What’s the medical term for finger and toe bone—a name that comes from the ancient Greek word for an army formation where soldiers lined up side by side?
Answer: Phalanges
130. UNOS, a scientific and medical non-profit based in Richmond's Virginia BioTechnology Research Park, administers the United States' "network" for "sharing" what, represented by the "O" in the acronym?
Answer: Organs
131. DaTscan is a radioactive tracer used in a medical procedure to help diagnose what condition?
Answer: Parkinson's Disease
132. In what U. S. city would you find the National Library of Medicine, the world's largest biomedical library?
Answer: Bethesda, Maryland
133. Which military medical doctor founded the Daughters of the American Revolution Hospital Corps, became the only woman Acting Assistant Surgeon in the United States Army in 1898, and went on to create the Army Nurse Corps?
Answer: Anita Newcomb McGee
134. What nonprofit air medical service established in Australia in 1928 has an almost magical sound to it, conjuring up images of physicians taking to the skies like superheroes to save their patients?
Answer: The Royal Flying Doctor Service
135. What gas used for pain medicine in surgery and dentistry is often listed with carbon dioxide and methane as one of the three biggest greenhouse gases contributing to climate change?
Answer: Nitrous oxide
136. What is the 14-letter medical term for temporary, painful damage to the eyes from ultraviolet light, such as from the sun or from the sun's reflection on snow?
Answer: Photokeratitis
137. From the Greek words for "weak" and "eye," what 10-letter "A" word is the medical term for eye strain or eye fatigue?
Answer: Asthenopia
138. REAL – In medical shorthand, it means a condition that's thankfully non-malignant. In vitamin shorthand, it's anemia-preventing folic acid. What's that letter-number combo?
Answer: B9
139. The power of Christ compels you to tell me that when the medical community looked to study stress reactions and other mental health disturbances caused by movies, the two 1970s case studies were “Jaws” and what 1973 supernatural horror film?
Answer: The Exorcist
140. Which bone of the pelvis has a name that means “sacred” in ancient medical terminology (that is, Greek and Latin)?
Answer: Sacrum
141. An antipyretic is any medication, like NSAIDs or paracetamol, that reduces what common medical condition?
Answer: Fever
142. Which legal term also applies if you want your health insurance provider to take another look at a claim they denied and reconsider (especially if your provider submitted more documentation that showed the services you got were medically needed)?
Answer: Appeal
143. From a Latin word that can mean "changing" or "diverse," what 9-letter "V" word is the medical term for chickenpox?
Answer: Varicella
144. Which medical specialty deals with conditions that cause inflammation in the bones, muscles, and organs?
Answer: Rheumatology
145. What “V” biotech startup, started in Boston in 2011, is working on a platform of stability to allow for global delivery of vaccines? Their name is fittingly a spin on a shorthand of the word “vaccine.”
Answer: Vaxess Technologies
146. Which interdisciplinary field is concerned with the computational interrogation of large-scale biological data, typically as applied to molecular genetics and genomics?
Answer: Bioinformatics
147. In 2017, the FDA approved expanded use of a so-called "cooling cap" to reduce what common side effect of chemotherapy treatment?
Answer: Hair loss
148. Most healthcare facilities rely on a gas, ethylene oxide, to keep medical equipment germ-free and safe for patients. What’s the formal name for the hyper-cleaning, microorganism-killing process?
Answer: Sterilizing
149. Which medical term that starts with “P” and comes from Latin for “loss of color” refers to a patient’s pale, sickly complexion?
Answer: Pallor
150. Which medical center in City Center is not only top-ranked but also a National Historic Landmark because it’s home to America’s first surgical amphitheater?
Answer: Pennsylvania Hospital
151. The remarkably durable HeLa cell line, still used in medical research and production today, was taken—without consent—from what woman who died of cancer in 1951?
Answer: Henrietta Lacks
152. Ancient Chinese doctors used onion stalks to perform the function of what tube, used to remove fluids from a body cavity?
Answer: Catheter
153. Older even than that of Harvard, a 2015 Lancet article claims that America's oldest medical school was founded in 1765 at the College of Philadelphia, which eventually became what Ivy League institution?
Answer: University of Pennsylvania
154. What is the "P" generic name of the anesthetic drug sometimes sold under the brand name Diprivan, that is commonly used to put patients to sleep before surgery and other medical procedures?
Answer: Propofol
155. Medical doctors in the 1890s, including Josef Breuer, Alfred Adler, and Otto Rank, all actively investigated the mind and systematized a set of therapies and psychotherapy. From what country did all of these men hail?
Answer: Austria
156. Green biotechnology refers to biotechnology used in the environmental sector, whereas what color is used to describe biotechnology used in the medical and pharma field?
Answer: Red
157. The opposite of the placebo effect, which effect is said to occur when a negative medical outcome results from a patient’s belief that medical intervention will be detrimental?
Answer: Nocebo effect
158. Which structure in the vertebral column, formed by three to five rudimentary vertebrae, is named after the cuckoo due to its resemblance to the bird’s beak?
Answer: Coccyx
159. "Tumor profiling" is another way to refer to looking for and testing genes, proteins, and other substances known by what B-word?
Answer: Biomarker
160. In 2014, Juliano Pinto, a paraplegic man, symbolically "kicked off" a World Cup event using a mind-controlled robotic exoskeleton. What country did it take place in?
Answer: Brazil (World Cup)
161. What author of medical fiction, like "The Andromeda Strain," received both undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard?
Answer: Michael Crichton
162. Algerian-born scientist Elias Zerhouni’s career highlights include being a vice-dean at Johns Hopkins, serving the Obama Administration as a foreign science envoy, and heading R&D at Sanofi. However, his most prominent role was as the director of what Bethesda, MD, federal agency responsible for biomedical and public health research?
Answer: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
163. Dutch doctor Willem Kolff used orange juice cans, sausage casings, and car parts to build the first prototype of a machine for what medical procedure in 1943? Nearly 500,000 Americans undergo this type of treatment every year.
Answer: Dialysis
164. The field workers for the FDA are often known as "Investigators," but they have a more technical name abbreviated as CSOs. What does this initialism stand for? These are the folks who inspect production facilities, illnesses, and review cases of medical devices or drugs.
Answer: Consumer Safety Officers
165. What “B” word is the clinical term for a molecule found in the body that is a sign of a process, including disease, that can be used to measure how well a treatment is going?
Answer: Biomarker
166. A patient with type 1 diabetes may have a wearable device that automatically delivers the medicine that helps keep their blood sugar in check, which is necessary for their survival. The technical name is “continuous subcutaneous insulin therapy,” but what’s the common term for the device?
Answer: Insulin Pump
167. Which R-word related to recovering from an injury or illness applies to robots or other such devices that could be used by professionals like physical therapists to aid a patient with their exercises or as mobility aids (for example, exoskeletons)?
Answer: Rehabilitation
168. In 1998, which Ivy League university named its medical college after Joan and Sanford Weill, a couple who have given hundreds of millions of dollars to the school's endowment over the years?
Answer: Cornell
169. The University of Michigan's Sindecuse Museum is one of the few in the world dedicated to what medical profession?
Answer: Dentistry
170. What medical suffix follows “hetero” to describe “latent squint” in which the eyes can be out of alignment due to imbalances in the muscles?
Answer: Phoria
171. Sutter Hospital, located near Sutter's Fort, was created in 1921 by a group of 17 physicians and local civic leaders in reaction to the failures of the city's healthcare systems during what medical crisis?
Answer: Influenza Outbreak
172. What is the five-letter "B" word that is used to refer to a dosage of fast-acting insulin that is often given via the continuously-attached "pump" device worn by some diabetics?
Answer: Bolus
173. Which class of medication that includes Xanax and Ativan can be prescribed for anxiety, seizures, or to help a patient relax before a medical or dental procedure?
Answer: Benzodiazepines
174. Which term describes the cost-sharing arrangement where the person covered by a health insurance plan is responsible for a set amount of money for a medical test or procedure, and their plan will cover the rest?
Answer: Copay
175. What word from a Greek word for "drug-making" refers to a book concerning the manufacture, identification, and dosage of compound medicines, and is typically published by a government or medical society?
Answer: Pharmacopoeia
176. In addition to claiming the nation's oldest hospital, which Ivy League University is home to the Perelman School of Medicine, the oldest medical school in the U.S.?
Answer: The University of Pennsylvania
177. What doctor-author with the initials A.G. has penned best-selling medical books such as "Complications," "Checklist Manifesto," and "Better?”
Answer: Atul Gawande
178. During a clinical assessment, a psychiatrist may use a brain imaging technique known as a PET scan. What does the acronym stand for?
Answer: Positron Emission Tomography
179. Which medical term refers to small blood vessels that go out from arteries to capillaries?
Answer: Arteriole
180. Also known as the "fiddleback spider" because of a telltale pattern on its thorax, what Loxosceles species is one of only three spiders in North America with medically significant venom?
Answer: Brown recluse
181. Many insurers use value-based pricing for Kymriah, a pricey gene therapy for certain blood cancers that is made by what Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company?
Answer: Novartis
182. RoboCop, meet RoboDoc! In 1985, surgeons in California performed the first-ever robot-assisted surgery. Which organ did they use the robot to probe?
Answer: The brain
183. From the Greek word amugdale, which means “almond,” what’s the medical term for the pair of nuclei set deep in the brain’s temporal lobes that help us make choices, deal with our feelings, and remember stuff?
Answer: Amygdala
184. Which medical term (from the Greek kachexía meaning “poor state”) describes the physical wasting that occurs in diseases like cancer and tuberculosis?
Answer: Cachexia
185. What medical device company, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Diego, California, manufactures blood glucose monitors for diabetes management?
Answer: Dexcom
186. P.U.! "Bromodosis" is the medical term for a stinky (but common) odor that comes from excessive sweat from what part of the body?
Answer: Feet
187. The PSQI, a self-reported questionnaire and popular medical diagnostic tool, was developed at the University of Pittsburgh to measure what, represented by "SQ" in the acronym?
Answer: Sleep Quality
188. What Eastern U.S. university's medical school, founded in 1893, had the first formal medical residency program?
Answer: Johns Hopkins
189. The American Medical Association (AMA) was formed after a resolution by the state medical association of what state called for the formation of a national organization?
Answer: New York
190. Who doesn't have a "soft spot" for babies? What's the medical name for the diamond-shaped gap between the cranial bones of a newborn infant, also known as the "soft spot?"
Answer: Fontanelle
191. Which “E” word describes the lab technique that uses an electrical current to separate molecules by size (for example, in DNA or RNA)?
Answer: Electrophoresis
192. What "S" word means the body's severe and overactive inflammatory response to infection, which can be a life-threatening medical emergency?
Answer: Sepsis
193. A crude prototype of what emergency device was first demonstrated in 1899 by Jean-Louis Prévost and Frédéric Batelli, two physiologists from the University of Geneva?
Answer: Defibrillator
194. Baha hearing devices are good for more than the beach, since Baha is just an acronym for what-anchored hearing aids?
Answer: Bone
195. When she was not allowed into medical school due to being a woman, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Britain's first female doctor, studied for and passed the exams for what related profession, which the laws of the time allowed her to practice?
Answer: Apothecary
196. In the alphabet soup of medical imaging tests, what radiological technique is abbreviated as a “CT scan?”
Answer: Computed Tomography
197. Considered critical components of nanotechnology, what is the term for liquids (and their manipulation for scientific users) that are geometrically constrained to sub-millimeter sizes?
Answer: Microfluids
198. If you've got some hollow needles filled with cold fluid meant to destroy cancerous fluid, you're performing what cancer treatment that starts with "C”?
Answer: Cryoablation
199. What term is given to a neurological sign that consists of a lack of motor coordination of muscle movements? It often manifests as wobbliness or unsteadiness in people and animals.
Answer: Ataxia
200. Pierre Fauchard, a 17th and 18th century physician who worked with sailors suffering from the effects of scurvy, is known as the "Father of" what medical subfield?
Answer: Dentistry
201. What medical term for the center of the retina is Latin for "spot" and is actually a shorter version of the full Latin phrase for "yellow spot?"
Answer: Macula
202. The term "magic bullet" was coined by German scientist Paul Ehrlich to describe a compound that would kill only a specifically targeted organism. Ehrlich even invented the "first magic bullet" with Salvarsan, which was used to treat which disease?
Answer: Syphilis
203. What "I" word, which literally means "produced by a physician," refers to any disease or complication caused by medical intervention?
Answer: Iatrogenic
204. Combining an integrated image guidance system and a linear accelerator on a robotic manipulator, what is the name of the medical robot invented by John Adler at Stanford and released by Accuray Incorporated? The dangerous-sounding device is frequently used for tumor removal and other oncological procedures.
Answer: CyberKnife
205. Who was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States? British by birth, she returned to the United Kingdom to become the first woman listed in the Medical Registry of the General Medical Council for the UK
Answer: Blackwell
206. In biomedical engineering, biopolymers, ceramics, hydrogels, self-assembling peptides, and composites are examples of which biomaterial that can be made for organs in the human body?
Answer: Tissue
207. In June 2021, Medtronic announced a successful prostatectomy performed by its robotic-assisted surgical system with what same name as an annual science fiction literary award?
Answer: Hugo
208. What “S” biotech company, started in Seattle, WA in 2018, is using engineered cells to repair damaged cells and genes to fight disease? Its name is the Arabic word for “year.”
Answer: Sana Biotechnology
209. What D-word is the generic name for the synthetic version of THC that is sold under brand names such as Marinol and Syndros, for medical purposes such as appetite stimulation and reduction of nausea for people receiving chemotherapy?
Answer: Dronabinol
210. The period in which an insurance customer must incur medical expenses equal to the deductible in order to establish a benefit period is what kind of “A” word?
Answer: Accumulation Period
211. Used for more than 50 years in cancer treatment, what drug, also known as "Ara-C" and "Cytosar-U," is the first ever isolated from a sea sponge?
Answer: Cytarabine
212. Biotech scientists at Germany's Max Planck Institute have experimented with using what stimulating chiral alkaloid as a defensive substance against herbivorous insects? This substance is often associated with human usage in various forms.
Answer: Nicotine
213. Graduating from the University of Glasgow in the 1830s, who was the first African American to obtain a medical degree?
Answer: James McCune Smith
For one, it's endlessly fascinating.
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From the first primitive treatments to the sophisticated procedures of today, the study of medicine has saved countless lives and improved the quality of life for billions of people.
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