ABMGG Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield ABMGG facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. What is the standard of care requirement for clinical assessment methods in clinical practice? → The level of care a reasonably competent practitioner would provide
2. What is the standard of care requirement for treatment planning in clinical practice? → The level of care a reasonably competent practitioner would provide
3. In the context of American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics, what is the primary goal of treatment planning? → Optimal patient outcomes and safety
4. Which bioinformatics database is most commonly used by ABMGG-certified clinical laboratory geneticists to interpret variant pathogenicity? → ClinVar
5. A chromosomal microarray (CMA) using SNP probes has an advantage over array CGH in that it can detect: → Uniparental disomy (UPD)
6. In the context of American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics, what is the primary goal of patient communication? → Optimal patient outcomes and safety
7. Which evidence-based approach is most important when applying patient safety protocols principles? → Integrating current research with clinical expertise and patient values
8. Which ethical principle is most directly applicable to patient safety protocols? → Beneficence — acting in the patient's best interest
9. In the context of American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics, what is the primary goal of patient safety protocols? → Optimal patient outcomes and safety
10. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) is primarily used in clinical genetics to: → Quantify copy number at specific gene loci using probe signals
11. What is a key component of ABMGG's certification process? → Passing a comprehensive examination
12. Which evidence-based approach is most important when applying patient communication principles? → Integrating current research with clinical expertise and patient values
13. For ABMGG certification in Clinical Genetics and Genomics, the required residency program must be accredited by which organization? → Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
14. Which ethical principle is most directly applicable to diagnostic procedures? → Beneficence — acting in the patient's best interest
15. Uniparental disomy (UPD) can cause disease even when both copies of a chromosome are structurally normal primarily because of: → Genomic imprinting causing silencing of maternally or paternally imprinted genes
16. A couple is each a carrier of the same autosomal recessive variant. What is the probability that their child will be an unaffected carrier? → 50%
17. Which ethical principle is most directly applicable to medical ethics and law? → Beneficence — acting in the patient's best interest
18. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) adds clinical value in medical genetics primarily by: → Identifying splicing defects and allele-specific expression abnormalities
19. How does ABMGG contribute to the standardization of genetic medicine? → By setting professional certification standards for geneticists
20. Which organization does ABMGG collaborate with for program accreditation? → Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
21. What is the primary mission of the ABMGG? → Certify medical professionals in genetics and genomics
22. The Philadelphia chromosome, found in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), results from which chromosomal rearrangement? → Reciprocal translocation t(9;22)(q34;q11.2)
23. Which of the following is NOT a focus of training in ABMGG-approved programs? → Financial planning for genetic practices
24. In autosomal dominant inheritance, what is the recurrence risk for each offspring of an affected parent? → 50%
25. Which term describes a variant that arose newly in a patient and is not present in either biological parent? → De novo variant
26. How should a practitioner handle an unexpected finding during clinical assessment methods procedures? → Document it and follow established protocols for further evaluation
27. Which evidence-based approach is most important when applying diagnostic procedures principles? → Integrating current research with clinical expertise and patient values
28. What is the standard of care requirement for patient safety protocols in clinical practice? → The level of care a reasonably competent practitioner would provide
29. Long-read sequencing technologies (e.g., PacBio, Oxford Nanopore) offer a key advantage over short-read platforms for clinical genomics because they: → Can span repetitive regions and resolve complex structural variants
30. Which banding technique is most commonly used to produce a standard karyotype in clinical cytogenetics laboratories? → G-banding