Acne Vulgaris – Board-Style Questions

What this deck covers

Acne vulgaris in 18 board-style clinical cases with worked explanations. Each case gives you a clinical vignette, four options, the correct answer, and an explanation of why each of the other three is wrong, with the guideline or textbook it follows named on the answer.

Board-style teaching questions for paediatricians and trainees preparing for paediatric board, MRCPCH and licensing examinations. Written from published guidelines and standard paediatric textbooks, with the source named on every answer.

The 18 cases, in order

1. Washing four times a day
2. Which spots are which
3. The stained pillowcase
4. Red and peeling cheeks
5. Pits and shallow dips
6. Marks left behind
7. Sudden and systemic
8. Spots in a toddler
9. How hard to wash
10. Judging it too soon
11. Adding a tablet
12. Too young for that one
13. Adding the pill
14. Before the strong tablet
15. Samples at the start
16. After it clears
17. How he is coping
18. Chocolate and chips

Diagnoses and management options tested

Across the 18 cases you are asked to choose between options such as: Poor washing lets surface dirt block the openings, A topical retinoid combined with benzoyl peroxide, It stains the skin a deep brown that lasts for months, Stop the retinoid for good and change to an antibiotic, Permanent scars, which need a dermatology opinion, The colour is permanent and nothing will change it, Chickenpox, with lesions at several different stages at once, Reassurance, since spots at this age are always harmless, Wash gently twice a day, since rubbing worsens it, He is right, and a different treatment should start, On its own, with all the topical treatment stopped for now, It is licensed only for skin infections in adult patients, A combined hormonal pill alongside the topical treatment, A course of oral antibiotics given throughout the month before.

Clinical pearls from this deck

• Acne begins with a blocked follicle, not with dirt.
• Mild to moderate acne: a topical combination first.
• Benzoyl peroxide bleaches fabric: warn about it.
• Retinoid soreness: use it less often, on dry skin.
• Punched-out marks are scars and will not fade.
• Post-inflammatory colour fades; scars do not.

Work through the deck once for recognition, then again a week later to test yourself — each question gives the answer and explains why every other option fails.

More from this system: all dermatology case decks · pediatric reference values.