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 OCS-Ortho exam has 200 questions and runs 7 hours.
These 10 free OCS-Ortho questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
A 44-year-old man with a 3-week history of low back pain reports that since yesterday he has had difficulty starting his urine stream, numbness across his perineum when sitting, and new weakness in both legs. Which action is MOST appropriate?
Correct answer: C - Refer the patient for emergency medical evaluation the same day
A 39-year-old woman with 10 weeks of low back pain scores in the high-risk category on the STarT Back Screening Tool. Examination shows full range of motion, no neurological deficit, and pain reproduced with sustained flexion. Which management approach is MOST consistent with a stratified care model?
Correct answer: A - Provide psychologically informed care addressing fear, coping, and graded activity
A crossed (well-leg) straight leg raise reproduces a patient's right-sided radicular symptoms when the left leg is raised. Compared with the standard straight leg raise, this finding is MOST useful because the crossed test has:
Correct answer: D - Higher specificity, so a positive result is useful for ruling in the condition
A 57-year-old recreational tennis player reports 4 months of lateral shoulder pain with overhead reaching. An MRI ordered by her physician shows a partial-thickness supraspinatus tear. She has full passive range of motion, painful resisted abduction, and no weakness on manual muscle testing. Which management approach is MOST appropriate?
Correct answer: B - Begin a progressive rotator cuff and scapular loading program
A 52-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes reports 5 months of progressively worsening right shoulder pain with severe night pain that wakes her. Passive motion is limited in a pattern of external rotation more than abduction more than internal rotation, and pain is reported well before end range. Which approach is MOST appropriate at this stage?
Correct answer: A - Pain-modulating interventions with gentle mobility work within her tolerance
A 55-year-old man reports 4 months of medial knee pain with squatting and stair descent. He has a small effusion, joint line tenderness, and no true locking or block to extension. MRI shows a degenerative medial meniscal tear with mild chondral changes. Which management approach is BEST supported by current evidence?
Correct answer: C - A supervised progressive exercise program with education about the diagnosis
A 19-year-old soccer player is 6 months following ACL reconstruction. She is pain-free with full range of motion and asks to return to competitive play. Isokinetic testing shows a quadriceps limb symmetry index of 82 percent, and her hop test battery shows 85 percent symmetry. Which recommendation is MOST appropriate?
Correct answer: B - Continue rehabilitation and delay return until symmetry criteria are met
A 24-year-old recreational runner reports 3 months of anterior knee pain that is worst with stair descent, squatting, and prolonged sitting. There is no effusion, no joint line tenderness, and no ligamentous laxity. Which intervention has the STRONGEST supporting evidence for this presentation?
Correct answer: D - Exercise therapy targeting both the hip and the knee
A 61-year-old man reports neck pain and describes dropping his coffee cup and buttoning his shirt more slowly over the past several months. Examination reveals a wide-based unsteady gait, a positive Hoffmann sign on the right, and a positive Babinski sign on the left. Which action is MOST appropriate?
Correct answer: B - Refer the patient for further medical evaluation before continuing
A patient with right arm pain tests positive on the Spurling A test, the cervical distraction test, and the upper limb tension test A, and has 50 degrees of cervical rotation toward the right. What does this combination of findings MOST indicate?
Correct answer: A - A large increase in the probability of cervical radiculopathy
The OCS-Ortho exam also covers these domains. Drill them in the full free practice test:
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