Introduction: an uncertain world. Patients and doctors live in an uncertain world. As clinicians we are aware of diagnostic and therapeutic uncertainty in our daily practice and recognise that medicine is often more art than science. We face ethical dilemmas. We know that often there is no right answer. This is especially true in developing countries where disease burden is the greatest but funds for health are limited..
Multiple choice questions, however, require a definite "true" or "false" response so their use in medical examinations may seem inappropriate or artificial. Despite their drawbacks, MCQs have become an established method of assessment in medical education. This is mainly because they have the advantage of objectivity and they successfully assess breadth of knowledge.
The Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM+H) and Part 1 of the MRCP diploma and have both used MCQs. To prepare well for these examinations candidates need to practise doing multiple choice type questions. There are few suitable MCQ books for those preparing for the DTM+H. These questions were written principally for them but would also be useful for MRCP candidates, doctors working in developing countries or those planning to work in such countries, and for those working in travel medicine.
The website has been arranged into five papers of twenty questions each, followed by extended answers. Topics covered include tropical infections, immunisation, communicable disease control in developing countries, non-infectious medical conditions of the tropics and imported infections. Infections prevalent in both tropical and developed settings are included.
Acknowledgement: I gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of Prof David Mabey who read and corrected an earlier version of this document.
Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in these pages, no responsibility is accepted for inaccurate information. In particular information about drug treatments should be checked with the drug company.
