Skip to content

Physiology medical question bank

Practise every physiology topic with explained SBAs.

Recall Engine has 2,000+ physiology questions across 100+ topics in 10+ body systems. Every question explains each option.

questions
2,000+
topics
100+
topic notes
100+
clinical skills guides
6
Start free

7 days of the library free plus 50 credits.

Physiology by body system

Physiology has 100+ topics in 10+ body systems. Each section shows how many questions it has and every topic it covers.

Cardiovascular

150+ questions across 10+ topics. It also has 10+ topic notes.

  • Cardiac action potentials
  • Cardiac cycle: pressure, flow, and timing
  • Cardiac excitation and the ECG
  • Cardiodynamics
  • Control of vascular resistance
  • Dependence of blood flow on driving pressure and resistance
  • ECG and heart disease
  • ECG interpretation: waveforms and rhythm recognition
  • ECG rhythm strips
  • Heart failure: fluid, potassium, and diuretics
  • Heart sounds and valve-flow patterns
  • Hypovolaemia
  • Introduction to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems
  • Microcirculation and tissue fluid exchange
  • Nervous control of the cardiovascular system
  • Nervous control of the circulation
  • Regional circulations: coronary, cerebral, muscle, and skin

Respiratory

300+ questions across 10+ topics. It also has 10+ topic notes and 1 clinical skills guide.

  • ABG interpretation
  • Airways, respiratory muscles, and ventilation
  • Alveolar ventilation and gas tensions
  • Carriage of gases by blood
  • Control of ventilation
  • Gas exchange: ventilation-perfusion matching
  • Gaseous exchange: diffusion and hypoxia
  • Influence of disease on respiratory function
  • Pulmonary function tests
  • Pulmonary mechanics
  • Pulmonary pressures, resistance, and compliance
  • Respiratory gas transport: haemoglobin and ventilation mismatch
  • Respiratory physiology

Gastrointestinal and liver

100+ questions across 6 topics. It also has 6 topic notes.

  • Disaccharide intolerance: alactasia
  • Gastric secretion, gastritis, and peptic ulcer
  • Intestinal absorption
  • Physiology of the GI tract: gastric secretion
  • Physiology of the GI tract: motility
  • Physiology of the GI tract: pancreas and liver

Kidney and urinary

150+ questions across 10+ topics. It also has 10+ topic notes and 5 clinical skills guides.

  • Acid-base disorders: calculations and mixed states
  • Acid-base disorders: clinical patterns
  • Acidosis and alkalosis
  • Control of electrolytes
  • Control of plasma osmolarity and extracellular volume
  • Kidney physiology
  • Osmotic and volume imbalance
  • Renal control of electrolytes and acid-base balance
  • Renal filtration, transport, and endocrine function
  • Sodium and water transport along the nephron

Endocrine and metabolic

450+ questions across 20+ topics. It also has 20+ topic notes.

  • Acromegaly: features, diagnosis, and treatment
  • Adipose tissue: adipokines and obesity
  • Aldosterone and vasopressin
  • Body mass index and energy balance
  • Calcium homeostasis: PTH and vitamin D
  • Control of blood glucose and glucose transporters
  • Diabetes mellitus
  • Endocrine axes and hormone feedback
  • Endocrine data analysis
  • Endocrine pancreas
  • Energy balance, overweight, and obesity
  • Growth hormone and IGF-1
  • Hyperprolactinaemia and congenital adrenal hyperplasia
  • Hypothalamo-pituitary axis
  • Insulin and glucagon
  • Islet hormones: insulin and glucagon
  • Obesity: causes, risks, and treatment
  • Pathophysiology of diabetes
  • Pathophysiology of the adrenal axis
  • Regulation of blood glucose
  • The normal adrenal axis
  • Thyroid hormone: synthesis and childhood hypothyroidism
  • Vasopressin and aldosterone: water and sodium
  • Why do we eat?

Reproductive and breast

100+ questions across 5 topics. It also has 5 topic notes.

  • Female reproductive axis and the menstrual cycle
  • Hormones of pregnancy, labour, and lactation
  • Labour and lactation: hormonal control
  • Male reproductive axis and spermatogenesis
  • Reproductive hormones: pregnancy to menopause

Nervous system

500+ questions across 20+ topics. It also has 20+ topic notes.

  • An introduction to neurons and conduction
  • An introduction to the nervous system
  • Autonomic and somatic nervous systems
  • Autonomic nervous system
  • Autonomic nervous system: organisation and reflexes
  • Basal ganglia: circuits and dopamine
  • Cerebellar circuits and localisation
  • Communication between neurons
  • Descending motor control and hyperkinetic disorders
  • Electromyography
  • EMG and nerve conduction basics
  • EMG and nerve conduction: waves and neuropathy patterns
  • Motor units and muscle proprioceptors
  • Nerve conduction study patterns
  • Nervous system organisation
  • Neural tracts and cerebellum
  • Neuromuscular transmission
  • Neurons and glia: excitability and synaptic signalling
  • Pain pathway
  • Pain signalling and modulation
  • Sensory and motor pathways
  • Sleep, arousal, and memory formation
  • Somatosensory localisation
  • Spinal reflex circuits and motor feedback
  • The autonomic nervous system

Head, neck, and special senses

100+ questions across 3 topics. It also has 3 topic notes.

  • Audiometry
  • Hearing and balance: auditory and vestibular pathways
  • Vision: optics, visual pathway, and field defects

Musculoskeletal

4 questions across 1 topic. It also has 1 topic note.

  • Muscle types and contraction

Blood and cancer

70+ questions across 3 topics. It also has 3 topic notes.

  • Haematopoiesis
  • Haematopoiesis: sites, marrow, and growth factors
  • Haemostasis: platelets and coagulation

General principles

40+ questions across 3 topics. It also has 3 topic notes.

  • Homeostasis and feedback control
  • Membrane transport, electrical gradients, and receptors
  • Skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscle

Growth, development, and ageing

30+ questions across 3 topics. It also has 3 topic notes.

  • Ageing theories and strategies
  • Growth assessment: charts, puberty, and bone age
  • Short stature: endocrine and other causes

Multisystem and acute care

6 questions across 1 topic. It also has 1 topic note.

  • Hypovolaemic shock

Physiology sample questions

These 5 are published physiology questions shown exactly as students see them. Open an answer to see why it is right and why every other option is wrong.

Question 1 · Physiology, Preclinical

A lung with extensive interstitial scarring needs a larger distending pressure for the same volume increase. Which altered force explains this behaviour?

  1. A. Increased airway smooth muscle tone
  2. B. Reduced thoracic expansion from external restriction
  3. C. Reduced inward lung recoil
  4. D. Increased inward recoil with reduced compliance
  5. E. Increased surface-related collapse tendency
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D. Increased inward recoil with reduced compliance

Scarring produces greater elastic opposition and reduced compliance, so expansion needs more pressure.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A. Increased airway smooth muscle tone: Scarring produces greater elastic opposition and reduced compliance, so expansion needs more pressure. Increased airway smooth muscle tone would be appropriate when bronchoconstriction narrows the lumen.
  • B. Reduced thoracic expansion from external restriction: Scarring produces greater elastic opposition and reduced compliance, so expansion needs more pressure. Reduced thoracic expansion from external restriction would be appropriate when chest-wall constriction limits movement despite the lung tissue mechanism.
  • C. Reduced inward lung recoil: Scarring produces greater elastic opposition and reduced compliance, so expansion needs more pressure. Reduced inward lung recoil would be appropriate when elastic attachments have been destroyed, as in emphysema.
  • E. Increased surface-related collapse tendency: Scarring produces greater elastic opposition and reduced compliance, so expansion needs more pressure. Increased surface-related collapse tendency would be appropriate when surfactant deficiency raises alveolar surface tension.

Key point: Fibrotic stiffening increases elastic resistance to expansion.

References

Question 2 · Physiology, Preclinical

A midline lesion selectively compresses fibers crossing in the optic chiasm. Acuity in the central field is initially relatively preserved. Which visual-field pattern is most expected?

  1. A. Loss of the nasal visual fields of both eyes
  2. B. Loss of the right visual field of both eyes
  3. C. Loss of the left visual field of both eyes
  4. D. Complete blindness in the left eye alone
  5. E. Loss of the temporal visual fields of both eyes
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: E. Loss of the temporal visual fields of both eyes

Temporal visual fields fall on nasal retinal halves. Their axons cross at the chiasm, so selective crossing-fiber compression produces a bitemporal pattern. Field side and retinal side must be distinguished.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A. Loss of the nasal visual fields of both eyes: Temporal retinal fibers carrying nasal fields do not form the principal chiasmal crossing.
  • B. Loss of the right visual field of both eyes: That pattern localizes behind the chiasm on the left.
  • C. Loss of the left visual field of both eyes: That pattern localizes behind the chiasm on the right.
  • D. Complete blindness in the left eye alone: A midline crossing-fiber lesion is not confined to the left optic nerve.

Key point: Map visual field to retina before following the axon.

References

Question 3 · Physiology, Preclinical

A 13-year-old boy is given an aromatase inhibitor to delay closure of his growth plates. Which process does the drug prevent?

  1. A. Conversion of androgens to oestrogens
  2. B. GH action on growth plate fibroblasts
  3. C. IGF1 action on maturing chondrocytes
  4. D. Increased lipolysis
  5. E. Signalling through FGF receptors
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: A. Conversion of androgens to oestrogens

Aromatase inhibitors prevent conversion of androgens to oestrogens (testosterone to oestradiol). Fusion of the growth plates is oestrogen-dependent, so blocking this step slows epiphysial maturation and allows greater height potential. They can be used to delay plate closure in boys, but they are not used for girls.

Why the other options are wrong

  • B. GH action on growth plate fibroblasts: GH acts on the growth plate fibroblasts, while aromatase inhibitors block the conversion of androgens to oestrogens.
  • C. IGF1 action on maturing chondrocytes: IGF1 acts on the maturing chondrocytes of the growth plate, while aromatase inhibitors block the conversion of androgens to oestrogens.
  • D. Increased lipolysis: Increased lipolysis is a direct metabolic action of GH.
  • E. Signalling through FGF receptors: Defective FGF receptors cause achondroplasia, a congenital defect in chondrocyte growth.

Key point: Aromatase inhibitors prevent conversion of androgens to oestrogens and can delay plate closure in boys, but are not used for girls.

References

Question 4 · Physiology, Preclinical

A teaching model has intact sodium gradients and a fixed maximum glucose reabsorptive rate. Filtered glucose delivery rises beyond that maximum, and glucose appears in final urine. Which mechanism explains the overflow?

  1. A. Reduced renal plasma delivery
  2. B. Active secretion into tubular fluid
  3. C. Carrier saturation above transport capacity
  4. D. Loss of the inward sodium gradient
  5. E. Increased capsule back pressure
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: C. Carrier saturation above transport capacity

Delivery exceeds the maximum reabsorptive carrier capacity, leaving glucose in the lumen.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A. Reduced renal plasma delivery: Delivery exceeds the maximum reabsorptive carrier capacity, leaving glucose in the lumen. Reduced renal plasma delivery would be appropriate when less plasma reaches the filtering network.
  • B. Active secretion into tubular fluid: Delivery exceeds the maximum reabsorptive carrier capacity, leaving glucose in the lumen. Active secretion into tubular fluid would be appropriate when a carrier transfers substrate from blood into the lumen.
  • D. Loss of the inward sodium gradient: Delivery exceeds the maximum reabsorptive carrier capacity, leaving glucose in the lumen. Loss of the inward sodium gradient would be appropriate when a coupled uptake carrier has lost its energy source.
  • E. Increased capsule back pressure: Delivery exceeds the maximum reabsorptive carrier capacity, leaving glucose in the lumen. Increased capsule back pressure would be appropriate when filtration drive is reduced upstream.

Key point: A transport maximum can limit glucose reclamation at high filtered loads.

Question 5 · Physiology, Preclinical

Which hormone stimulates both myometrial contractility and cervical softening?

  1. A. Progesterone
  2. B. Oxytocin
  3. C. Oestrogen
  4. D. Prolactin
  5. E. Prostaglandin F2a
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: E. Prostaglandin F2a

Prostaglandin F2a is produced in the uterus and stimulates myometrial contractility and cervical softening, covering both requirements of parturition.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A. Progesterone: Progesterone inhibits contractility of the uterine myometrium.
  • B. Oxytocin: Oxytocin causes contraction of the myometrium and is secreted in response to stimulation of the cervix.
  • C. Oestrogen: Oestrogen increases oxytocin receptors in the myometrium.
  • D. Prolactin: Prolactin is the hormone of milk production.

Key point: Prostaglandin F2a stimulates both myometrial contractility and cervical softening.

More preclinical disciplines

Every discipline has its own page with its topics and sample questions.

Start free

7 days of the library free plus 50 credits.