10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
The MDT exam has 200 questions and runs 3 hours.
These 10 free MDT questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Molecular Diagnostics Technologist (MDT) blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
While uncapping an EDTA blood tube, a technologist splashes blood into one eye. An eyewash station is immediately accessible. What takes priority in the first few seconds?
Correct answer: D - Begin flushing the eye with water at the eyewash.
A laboratory verifies the identity of a patient's treating oncologist, who requests the completed tumor-sequencing report through an approved secure channel. The patient has not signed a separate authorization for this disclosure. No more restrictive law or agreed restriction applies. Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which response appropriately fulfills this treatment request?
Correct answer: D - Send the report securely for the oncologist's treatment use.
Sequencing confirms CFTR c.1521_1523delCTT (p.Phe508del) in a child with cystic fibrosis. Which description links this variant to its principal protein defect?
Correct answer: A - An in-frame deletion impairing CFTR folding and trafficking
Four months after kidney transplantation, a patient receiving intensified immunosuppression develops a rising creatinine level. Urine cytology shows epithelial 'decoy cells' with enlarged nuclei and viral inclusions. Which virus is the priority target for plasma nucleic-acid testing in this setting?
Correct answer: B - BK polyomavirus
A patient with BCR::ABL1-positive chronic myeloid leukemia loses a previous response to imatinib. Sequencing identifies an acquired ABL1 p.Thr315Ile (T315I) substitution in the fusion kinase. The resistance associated with this variant is best explained by:
Correct answer: B - Impaired imatinib binding to the altered kinase drug-binding site.
An RNA extract is being tested for expression of an intronless gene. The target amplifies at Ct 25 with reverse transcriptase and at Ct 26 in a matched reaction without reverse transcriptase. The no-template control remains negative. Which preparation change would remove the most likely contaminant while preserving the intended template?
Correct answer: C - Use RNase-free DNase on the extract before reverse transcription.
A respiratory specimen produces no target amplification and no signal from an internal amplification control added after extraction. Other specimens and all run controls perform as expected. When the extract is diluted 1:5 and the same amount of fresh internal control is added, both target and control amplify normally. What accounts for the change?
Correct answer: C - Amplification inhibitors carried over in the original extract
Lung adenocarcinoma tissue has a positive ALK break-apart FISH result. The predominant abnormal pattern is one fused red-green signal plus one separate red signal and one separate green signal. What has the assay established?
Correct answer: B - An ALK rearrangement, with no fusion partner identified
A quantitative CMV assay has a validated detection limit of 15 IU/mL and a lower quantification limit of 50 IU/mL. A patient's plasma meets the assay's criteria for target detection, but its signal is below the validated quantification range. All controls pass. How should the result be reported?
Correct answer: A - CMV DNA detected below 50 IU/mL.
An RT-qPCR experiment compares treated cells with untreated cells. Untreated cells yield a target Ct of 26 and a reference-gene Ct of 20; treated cells yield a target Ct of 25 and a reference-gene Ct of 22. Both assays have 100% amplification efficiency, and the reference gene's expression per cell is stable under treatment. After normalization, how has target expression changed?
Correct answer: C - It has increased eightfold.
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