How TDM's MCQ and SMQ Questions Actually Work

The exam is built from a total of 55 cases, producing approximately 110 to 140 questions across two sections — each section holding roughly 55 to 70 questions, some of which are unscored pilot (pre-test) items a candidate can't identify while testing. There are two real question types: MCQs, where you select exactly one correct answer from a list of 3 to 25 options, and SMQs (short-menu questions), where the list may contain one or more correct answers and you're asked to select one, or up to a specified number, of them — including a real "None" option when no listed option actually applies.

There's no penalty for an incorrect answer, and MCC explicitly recommends answering every question even under real uncertainty — for SMQs specifically, if a question asks for a specified number of answers (e.g. "Select 3") and you select fewer, you still get credit for whichever of your selected answers are correct. Visual elements — ECGs, growth charts, patient images, radiographs, and other diagnostic visuals — are embedded directly into cases when relevant, along with normal lab value ranges where needed.

MCC's own published example case is a real, useful illustration of how this plays out: a 69-year-old man presenting with tremor, motor slowness, and hyposmia — a classic Parkinson's-pattern presentation — where levodopa is the correct therapeutic answer, with real adverse effects like dyskinesia, nausea, and orthostatic hypotension tested as part of the same case. This is MCC's own published example, not an original TopQbank case.