TMC Patient Data Practice Questions
Patient Data is 50 of the 140 scored questions on the TMC. It tests whether you can read a chart, examine a patient, run and interpret diagnostic procedures, and recommend the right test next.
160 questions in 3 hours with 57 from Patient Data, scored against the NBRC cut scores, with an explanation for every answer.
Or try the free Patient Data drill- 50 of 140 scored questions on the real exam (36%)
- 15 / 27 / 8 recall / application / analysis questions
- 159 practice questions in this section, 57 in every mock
During inspection of a 68-year-old man with a 50 pack-year smoking history, the therapist notes an anteroposterior chest diameter that approaches the transverse diameter, hypertrophied sternocleidomastoid muscles, and pursed-lip breathing. These findings are most consistent with which condition?
What section I covers
The NBRC’s TMC Detailed Content Outline (effective January 2020 through December 31, 2026) splits Patient Data into 5 sub-areas and fixes how many of the 140 scored questions each contributes.
- I-A. Evaluate data in the patient record (10)
- History, orders, medication reconciliation, labs, blood gases, PFTs, imaging, sleep studies, maternal and neonatal history, and monitoring trends.
- I-B. Perform clinical assessment (10)
- Interview, inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation and reading a chest radiograph.
- I-C. Perform procedures to gather clinical information (12)
- ECG, noninvasive monitoring, blood gas sampling and analysis, bedside mechanics, cardiopulmonary calculations, hemodynamics, spontaneous breathing trials, sleep titrations and PFTs.
- I-D. Evaluate procedure results (10)
- Interpreting the results of the same procedures: oximetry and capnography, blood gases, compliance and resistance, auto-PEEP, SBT data, DLCO and lung volumes.
- I-E. Recommend diagnostic procedures (8)
- TB testing, labs, imaging, bronchoscopy and BAL, PFTs, blood gases, exhaled gas analysis, hemodynamic monitoring, sleep studies and thoracentesis.
Topic drills that feed this section
Every topic drill mixes questions from all three sections, so the ones below practice this section’s skills alongside the rest of the exam.
Sit all 160 questions under the 3-hour clock
160 questions in 3 hours with 57 from Patient Data, scored against the NBRC cut scores, with an explanation for every answer.
Or try the free Patient Data drillCommon questions
How many TMC questions come from Patient Data?
50 of the 140 scored questions, about 36% of the exam. The official outline splits them into five sub-areas: 10 on evaluating the patient record, 10 on clinical assessment, 12 on performing diagnostic procedures, 10 on evaluating their results and 8 on recommending diagnostic procedures.
What kind of calculations appear in Patient Data?
The outline names cardiopulmonary calculations: P(A-a)O2, VD/VT, the P/F ratio and the oxygenation index, plus compliance and airway resistance from ventilator readings. Our items work each one in the explanation.
Are blood gases tested here or in Interventions?
Both. Collecting, analyzing and interpreting a blood gas is Patient Data; changing the ventilator or oxygen because of it is Initiation and Modification of Interventions. Our items are tagged to the section whose task the question asks about.
160 questions in 3 hours with 57 from Patient Data, scored against the NBRC cut scores, with an explanation for every answer.
Or try the free Patient Data drillMore TMC practice
Sources
Original independent practice written to the NBRC’s published TMC Detailed Content Outline and standard respiratory care references. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) or PSI.