FRCPath part 2: virology questions for practice

These are some scenario’s that we encounter in our day to day practice. You can practice these as a part of your preparation. I suggest you should also read the associated topics. For example, if you are preparing the answer for HBV, read about HCV, HIV as well. Most of these problems can be answered from relevant UK guidelines.

  1. Management of a child found with scratch marks on his face in the morning. A bat was found in the same room in the morning. What should be the management?
  2. A lady had a normal delivery. Some herpetic lesions were noted in the perineal region during delivery. What would you advice to the clinicians regarding the management of mother and baby.
  3. 16 weeks pregnant school teacher had contact with a boy in her class with suspected Parvovirus B19 infection. What would you advice to the clinicians? What test would you perform?
  4. 20 weeks pregnant lady had a tick bite. The GP is asking you for advice.
  5. 28 weeks Pregnant lady had contact with chickenpox. What would you advise the clinicians? What additional information would you need to make a decision?
    If this lady was 39 weeks pregnant with an imminent delivery, what should be the management?
  6. 39 weeks pregnant lady with chicken pox presented to labour ward and she was in a bay with three other patients before the clinical team came to know about chicken pox. The consultant contacted you for advice immediately. What advice would you give?
  7. A baby born of hepatitis B positive mother (serological status unknown). Describe the tests you would do and management.
  8. A renal transplant patient presents with deteriorating renal function? What are the possibilities? What serology/molecular test you would consider? What should be the management?
  9. A pregnant lady presented to the midwife. Her son developed a rash the day before. What information would you ask for? What tests would you do? What advice would you give? Your laboratory informed you that there is no booking blood, what changes would you make in your management plan?
  10. A young boy presented to the A&E after having a needlestick injury from a discarded needle in a playground. This playground is in an area known to have problems with IV drug abusers. What should be your advice?
  11. A nurse presented with a needlestick injury. The source is an IV drug abuser, who refused test for blood borne virus. What advice would you give?
  12. A patient presented after a pub brawl. He suffered from a human bite on his face. What advice would you give?
  13. You have received a call from a doctor in accident and emergency. She has a patient, brought in by police, with a history of sexual assault. What advice would you give? What tests would be required? What precaution should be taken when a specimen being taken and being transferred to the laboratory and after that.
  14. How would you do the work up for renal transplant?
  15. An immunosuppressed patient presented with colitis. The gastroenterologist is asking for your advice. What investigations would you recommend?
    He reported back to you after a couple of days that some inclusion bodies have been found in HE stain. What would be your management strategy?
  16. Patient presented with hepatic impairment. What virology tests would you recommend? Patient had a complaint of sore throat few days before this episode – what test would you ask for?
  17. GP is requesting a Zika virus test for a patient recently returned from Cuba. She is planning for a pregnancy. What other information you should ask to assess the case? What advice would you give?
  18. Your A&E consultant has called you out of hours that a suspected MERS-CoV patient is going to be admitted within the next hour. What would be your course of action?
  19. A GP is asking for your advice regarding investigation of chronic fatigue syndrome. What would be your advice? Explain.
  20. GP is investigating a patient with a possible history of tick bite. Your result C6 – reactive, Immunoblot IgG: P41, ospC reactive. IgM P41, ospC reactive. What would be your advice?


FRCPath part 2: Essay questions for practice

Please note these are not past papers. These questions are made by me based on the common issues in the NHS. These questions are intentionally not formatted like a proper long question you will find in the examination. These will however will give you an idea of the type of question you are likely to encounter in your part 2 FRCPath Microbiology.




You are the clinical lead of the microbiology service of a large university hospital. Your hospital is due to become a hub in a consolidation process. Please write a report to the trust board how your laboratory is going to provide the expanded service. What are the challenges the laboratory might face? What support you might need from the trust management?




  1. You have been asked to deliver a cost improvement program to reduce the cost by 10% for Microbiology-virology service. Please write a report to trust board how you are going to provide a lean cost effective service without affecting the patient care.




  1. You have been notified of an error in the processing of the genitourinary medicine specimen over a week. The internal quality control was not properly monitored and it failed several occasions. A very junior member of staff was involved in monitoring of the process, who failed to recognise and report the problem. How are you going to investigate? Write a report for the board and a report to the users. What steps are you going to take to assure the users?


  1. Your surveillance has shown an increase in the number of VRE cases in renal unit. Write a letter to the renal consultants about the issue and any action that you might want to take. Explain about VRE and its implication.




  1. A GP surgery in your area has failed to meet the antibiotic prescribing reduction criteria (QP). They have asked you to deliver a lecture on how they can improve their antibiotic prescribing. Describe the points that you are going to discuss.


  1. Draft a 3 year  antimicrobial stewardship strategy and action plan for your region – aiming towards community practice mainly.






  1. You are the microbiologist in a large university hospital. The rate of Staphylococcus aureus prosthetic joint infection is higher than the national average in your hospital. The surgical site infection group has asked your opinion on the universal Staphylococcus screening programme as opposed to the targeted Staphylococcus screening programme. Please write a report with your recommendations.


  1. You are a microbiology consultant in a district general hospital. You have to provide a plan for developing a molecular service for your laboratory. Please outline your strategy for the next 5 year period. Please list what measure you would take to achieve quality control/accreditation.


  1. Your laboratory is due for a UKAS visit for ISO 15189. How are you going to prepare your laboratory for this visit.


  1. You are the clinical lead of the microbiology laboratory. Your laboratory is due for a renewal of the managed service contract. Please prepare a report how you envisage the microbiology and virology service to evolve over next 10 years.


  1. Your laboratory is using an old unix based LIMS, with limited technical support from the manufacturer. Please write a business case for a new LIMS.


  1. You are the infection control doctor of your hospital. You have received a report of a Legionella pneumonia in a patient who has been in hospital for 2 weeks. Please describe how you are going to investigate and manage this case.