Each chapter closes with Critical Thinking Questions (listed below) as a review of chapter material that focuses on the role of the medical assistant.

1. A foreign patient is in the office, and the physician has ordered a PPD. You ask the patient if he has had a reaction to a TB screen before, and the patient responds by telling you he has had the BCG vaccination as a child. What is BCG? What should you do? What can happen if you administer the PPD?

2. A patient in her first trimester of pregnancy calls the office saying she has acid indigestion. She says that before her pregnancy, she used to take Tagamet for acid indigestion and wants to know if it is safe to take it now. How can you find this information, and what should you do once you find it?

3. Mr. Lance, age 29, visits the office for his regular IM injection. As you are making a routine assessment, he tells you that the last time the drug was administered, he had a bad reaction to it. What should you do?