Home / Flashcard library / Health & emergency services / PANCE (Physician Assistant boards) / Infectious Disease and Hematology

Health & emergency services

PANCE — Infectious Disease and Hematology flashcards

10 of 69 cards free to study here · 2 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys

Board-style vignettes on anemias, hemolysis, sickle cell disease, bleeding and clotting disorders, leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, plus bacterial, tick-borne, viral, HIV-related, fungal and parasitic infections.

Get the app All PANCE (Physician Assistant boards) decks

Learn deck · part of PANCE (Physician Assistant boards) · written against: NCCPA PANCE content blueprint, effective January 2025 (organ systems); no dosing. Updated 2026-10-10.

Study the free sample

10 cards from the deck as they are. Flip, rate yourself, filter by topic; your progress stays in this browser.

The 10 sample cards as a list
  1. A menstruating woman has a microcytic anemia. Which single lab result best confirms iron deficiency?
    A low serum ferritin, the most specific marker of depleted iron stores. TIBC is high and transferrin saturation low, and the RDW is often wide.

    Watch out: ferritin is an acute-phase reactant, so inflammation can mask deficiency.
    Hematologic › Anemias
  2. A patient with rheumatoid arthritis has a mild normocytic anemia, low serum iron, low TIBC and a normal-to-high ferritin. What is the diagnosis and mechanism?
    Anemia of chronic disease (inflammation): inflammatory cytokines raise hepcidin, which traps iron in macrophages and blocks gut absorption.
    Hematologic › Anemias
  3. A woman of Mediterranean descent has a very low MCV with a normal RDW and a normal ferritin. Which test clarifies the diagnosis?
    Hemoglobin electrophoresis: beta-thalassemia trait shows a raised HbA2. An MCV-to-RBC ratio (Mentzer index) under 13 also favors thalassemia over iron deficiency. Alpha-thalassemia trait can have a normal electrophoresis.
    Hematologic › Anemias
  4. A child who lives in an old house has microcytic anemia with basophilic stippling of red cells and abdominal pain. What is the likely cause?
    Lead poisoning, which blocks heme synthesis (ferrochelatase and ALA dehydratase) and can produce ringed sideroblasts in the marrow.
    Hematologic › Anemias
  5. A patient has a macrocytic anemia with hypersegmented neutrophils. Which lab result separates B12 deficiency from folate deficiency?
    Methylmalonic acid, which is elevated only in B12 deficiency. Homocysteine rises in both.
    Hematologic › Anemias
  6. A patient has severe watery diarrhea after a course of clindamycin, with a positive C. difficile toxin test. What is first-line treatment for an initial episode?
    Oral fidaxomicin (preferred) or oral vancomycin (IDSA/SHEA 2021). Oral metronidazole is no longer first-line, and IV vancomycin does not reach the colon.
    Infectious Disease › Bacterial Infections
  7. A patient with diabetes has a rapidly spreading thigh infection with pain out of proportion to the exam, skin bullae and crepitus. What is the definitive treatment?
    Emergency surgical debridement of necrotizing fasciitis, alongside broad-spectrum IV antibiotics. Imaging must not delay surgery.
    Infectious Disease › Bacterial Infections
  8. A 4-month-old who was fed honey has constipation, poor feeding, weak cry and descending flaccid weakness. What is the diagnosis?
    Infant botulism, from Clostridium botulinum spores colonizing the gut and making toxin that blocks acetylcholine release. Treat with botulism immune globulin.
    Infectious Disease › Bacterial Infections
  9. A college student dies of meningococcal meningitis. Who needs chemoprophylaxis?
    Close contacts (household, roommates, anyone exposed to oral secretions, as by kissing or unmasked intubation): rifampin, ciprofloxacin or ceftriaxone.

    Watch out: since 2024 CDC advises using rifampin, ceftriaxone or azithromycin instead of ciprofloxacin in areas where ciprofloxacin-resistant strains cause a meaningful share of recent local cases.
    Infectious Disease › Bacterial Infections
  10. An unvaccinated teenager has two weeks of paroxysmal cough with inspiratory whoops and post-tussive vomiting. What test confirms it, and which drug class treats it?
    Nasopharyngeal PCR for Bordetella pertussis. Treat the patient with a macrolide (azithromycin); household and high-risk contacts get the same drug as prophylaxis.
    Infectious Disease › Bacterial Infections

Unlock the whole deck

You are studying a free 10-card sample. All 69 cards of PANCE — Infectious Disease and Hematology, the other 6 PANCE (Physician Assistant boards) decks, and spaced-repetition scheduling are built into Willys. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.

Get the app

In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.

More PANCE (Physician Assistant boards) decks

Cardiology and PulmonologyGI, Renal and EndocrineNeurology, Psychiatry and MusculoskeletalReproductive, Pediatrics and EENTPractice Questions, Part 1Practice Questions, Part 2

← All PANCE (Physician Assistant boards) decks, with the study guide and topic outline.

About these cards

Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.

Checked against:

  • NCCPA PANCE content blueprint, effective January 2025 (topic outline only; no text copied)
  • Checked against standard internal-medicine references (reference only; no text copied)
  • Checked against the IDSA/SHEA 2021 C. difficile focused update, the CDC 2021 STI Treatment Guidelines, the CDC 2024 meningococcal chemoprophylaxis guidance on ciprofloxacin resistance, the CDC December 2025 pertussis treatment and postexposure prophylaxis guidance and the CDC July 2026 clinical guidance for diphtheria (reference only; no text copied)
  • Checked against the 2014 NHLBI sickle cell disease expert panel report, the 2020 ISTH TTP guidelines, the 2021 ASH/ISTH/NHF/WFH von Willebrand disease guidelines, the 2019 EULAR antiphospholipid syndrome recommendations, the ELN 2019 APL and 2020 CML recommendations, NCI PDQ treatment summaries, the NIH/HIVMA/IDSA adult opportunistic infection guidelines, the 2016 CDC tickborne rickettsial disease report, CDC clinician pages and FDA drug labeling (reference only; no text copied)

These are independent study notes written for Willys. They are not official exam material, may contain mistakes, and are no substitute for your course, your teacher or the exam owner's own publications. Found an error? Tell us — corrections ship as a new version of the deck.

Not clinical guidance. These cards prepare you for an exam. Never use them to make decisions about a patient's care: follow current guidelines, prescribing information and your institution's policies. The decks contain no doses.

PANCE is administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), which is not affiliated with and does not endorse this product.

Use of these pages is covered by our Terms of Use.