DO Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the DO exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 DO Exam Format at a Glance
📚 DO Topics to Study (22)
✍️ Sample DO Questions & Answers
1. Which type of error occurs when a study fails to detect a true difference between groups because of insufficient sample size?
A Type II (beta) error is a false negative — failing to detect a real difference due to inadequate statistical power, often caused by too small a sample size.
2. In a clinical study, internal validity refers to:
Internal validity reflects how well the study design eliminates bias and confounding to establish that the observed association is real within the study population.
3. In craniosacral therapy, the practitioner monitors the 'primary respiratory mechanism,' which has a normal rate of approximately how many cycles per minute?
The craniosacral rhythm, reflecting the primary respiratory mechanism, normally oscillates at 6–12 cycles per minute.
4. The positive predictive value (PPV) of a test increases as:
PPV (probability a positive test is truly positive) rises when the disease is more prevalent in the population being tested, because there are more true positives relative to false positives.
5. The lymphatic pump technique is primarily used to enhance what physiological function?
Lymphatic pump techniques rhythmically increase intrathoracic pressure to propel lymph through the lymphatic vessels and boost immune function.
6. A physician discovers that a colleague is impaired by substance use and posing a risk to patients. The physician's ethical obligation is to:
Physicians have a professional duty to protect patients from harm, which requires reporting an impaired colleague to hospital administration or the state medical board.