VIP Exclusive
SM Specialist in Microbiology VIP Practice Exam
SM — The SM (Specialist in Microbiology) certification is issued by the ASCP Board of Certification (BOC); the real exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions administered over 2.5 hours, covering bacteriology (~50%), mycology (~15%), virology (~15%), parasitology (~15%), and lab management/safety (~5%), with a passing scaled score of 400 on a 100–999 scale.
55
Questions
90m
Time Limit
75.00%
To Pass
Question 1 of 55👑 VIP
A 68-year-old immunocompromised patient has blood cultures drawn on admission. After 18 hours of incubation, the aerobic bottle flags positive. Gram stain of the broth shows gram-positive cocci in clusters. The isolate is catalase-positive and coagulase-negative. Susceptibility testing reveals resistance to oxacillin. Which of the following is the MOST appropriate confirmatory test to distinguish a clinically significant pathogen from a contaminant in this scenario?
Questions 2–55 and full explanations are VIP-exclusive.