what's the deal with virus names?

[toxicalgalbloom]

does anyone know how viruses are referred to on the boards? for example, is RSV ever referred to as Paramyxoviridae Pneumovirus and is Measles ever called Paramyxoviridae Morbillivirus? Or are they just referred to as Measles and RSV?

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[superoxide]

does anyone know how viruses are referred to on the boards? for example, is RSV ever referred to as Paramyxoviridae Pneumovirus and is Measles ever called Paramyxoviridae Morbillivirus? Or are they just referred to as Measles and RSV?

Yes, I would learn the full names. They could also describe a patient with all the symptoms croup or measles or mumps and they might ask you the description of the virus family (i.e: single stranded enveloped RNA with a linear nonsegmented structure with a helical capsid)

 

[vtucci]

wow- they never mentioned the alternative names at my program. Nothing like adding more to my studies.

 

[HunterGatherer]

bumping for more answers.

 

[aesop]

I had 1 question with a clinical description of an infant with herpes infection and you had to provide virus structure

 

[Law2Doc]

does anyone know how viruses are referred to on the boards? for example, is RSV ever referred to as Paramyxoviridae Pneumovirus and is Measles ever called Paramyxoviridae Morbillivirus? Or are they just referred to as Measles and RSV?

Know full names of viruses, generic names of drugs. Then use neither when you actually hit the wards.

(although I'm pretty sure measles has been called rubeola in question stems on the boards too).

 

[viostorm]

does anyone know how viruses are referred to on the boards? for example, is RSV ever referred to as Paramyxoviridae Pneumovirus and is Measles ever called Paramyxoviridae Morbillivirus? Or are they just referred to as Measles and RSV?

I have never heard of Paramyxoviridae Pneumovirus or Paramyxoviridae Morbillivirus until I read this thread.

You do need to know those names.

However, you do need to know that RSV is a paramyxoviradae just because the classic question asking you about negative sense, positive sense, RNA/DNA, encapsulated/naked. First aid has two pages that has everything you need to know in the table.

 

[werd]

i agree with above - you probably don't need to know the proper names of viruses. i never learned them nor heard of them and made it though both step1 and step2 without ever coming across them. the boards use "measles" and "influenza" and the like. you probably do need to know the "type" of virus that each virus is, although probably for step1 not step2.

 

[HunterGatherer]

You do need to know those names.

You do not need to know names?

 

[mudphudwannabe]

You should recognize the families and structures of the commonly occurring and medically relevant viruses. Proper names are probably not as important, but knowing them may help you remember the family groupings. There were questions on my exam about which viruses were RNA/DNA/naked/enveloped/etc - as with many boards questions, sometimes the answer was a 2nd or 3rd step in the thought process. So, you might have to know the symptoms of a common viral infection, then know which virus caused it, but the actual question is, is it an RNA or DNA virus, does it have a segmented genome, etc.

This is of course a relatively small part of the exam, but it's similar in scope to many of the other details that are tested. You shouldn't be surprised that this level of understanding would be expected.

 

[blz]

i would just know the mneumonics in FA. btw, this is stuff you should only be attempting to memorize like the day before the test.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Thanks everyone. I'm not studying yet but just want to make sure I don't miss anything when the time comes.

 

[viostorm]

Thanks everyone. I'm not studying yet but just want to make sure I don't miss anything when the time comes.

Whoops, guess I was tired. You do not need to know those names.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

Don't listen to these guys, they want you to fail.

You need to not only know the proper name, but be able to recite its genome in nucleotide format forwards and backwards.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Don't listen to these guys, they want you to fail.

You need to not only know the proper name, but be able to recite its genome in nucleotide format forwards and backwards.

why waste your time?

 

[Salma123]

I am and second year medical student currently taking Microbiology and I am not doing very well. What is a great book that has clinical cases for mircobiology?

 

[DOme2009]

I am and second year medical student currently taking Microbiology and I am not doing very well. What is a great book that has clinical cases for mircobiology?

it's better to start a new topic for a separate question, but whatever. here's a site with a bunch of sample scenarios in quiz format:
http://medinfo.ufl.edu/year2/mmid/bms5300/cases/

i don't know of anyone who used clinical scenarios to learn micro, it's more of a rote memorization sort of thing. read it 1000X and you end up remembering it (or come up with dirty mnemonics, the one i used for the encapsulated organisms involved strippers ).