General
The general domain covers the knowledge that applies across every part of the medical assistant role: medical terminology, communication, patient education, and the legal and ethical framework of practice. These questions test judgment as much as facts, especially where scope of practice, consent, and confidentiality are concerned.
Medical terminology: build words from their parts
Medical terms break into a root (the body part or system), a prefix (front modifier, often position or number), a suffix (ending, often a condition or procedure), and combining vowels that link parts. Read a term from the suffix back to the beginning. For example, 'cardiomegaly' is cardi/o (heart) + megaly (enlargement) = enlarged heart; 'hepatitis' is hepat (liver) + itis (inflammation) = inflammation of the liver; 'nephrectomy' is nephr (kidney) + ectomy (surgical removal). Common suffixes: -itis inflammation, -ectomy removal, -otomy incision, -ostomy new opening, -emia blood condition, -pathy disease, -algia pain. Common prefixes: hyper- above/excessive, hypo- below/deficient, tachy- fast, brady- slow, dys- difficult/painful, a-/an- without.
Law, ethics, scope, and confidentiality
A medical assistant works under the delegation and supervision of a licensed provider and must never act outside the scope permitted by state law — for example, MAs generally do not diagnose, prescribe, triage independently, or interpret results. Informed consent must be obtained by the provider performing the procedure, not the MA, though the MA may witness the signature. Under HIPAA, protected health information may be shared only for treatment, payment, and health care operations, or with the patient's written authorization; discussing a patient in a public area or with unauthorized family violates confidentiality. The four principles guiding ethical care are autonomy (the patient's right to choose), beneficence (act for the patient's good), nonmaleficence (do no harm), and justice (fair treatment). Battery is touching or treating a patient without consent, and abandonment is stopping care without proper handoff.