49 medical and human body trivia questions with answers

Questions for a Nurses Week or Doctors' Day quiz at a hospital, clinic or care home, or a health class from about age 12: bones and organs, medical words, famous nurses and medicine's big breakthroughs. Easy ones are body facts anyone half-remembers; hard ones are for people who work in medicine. Every answer links to its source.

49 questions · Medical and human body trivia questions with answers · answers included

Updated 28 Oct 2026

Bones, teeth and blood

1
What is the everyday name for the patella?

easy

Answer
The kneecap.
It is a flat, rounded triangle of bone that guards the front of the knee joint.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patella?oldid=1380598162
2
Which bone is better known as the collarbone?

easy

Answer
The clavicle.
It is about 6 inches long and works like a strut between the shoulder blade and the breastbone.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavicle?oldid=1381562536
3
How many permanent teeth does an adult usually have?

easy

Answer
32.
Half of them sit in the upper jaw and half in the lower jaw.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_tooth?oldid=1369992984
4
What are the third molars, the last teeth to come in, commonly called?

easy

Answer
Wisdom teeth.
They got the name because they arrive so late, at an age when people are presumably wiser.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_tooth?oldid=1382213919
5
Which iron-containing protein carries oxygen around the body inside red blood cells?

medium

Answer
Hemoglobin.
A German scientist grew crystals of it as far back as 1851.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemoglobin?oldid=1382366550
6
Which tiny pieces in the blood clump together to form a clot when a blood vessel is hurt?

medium

Answer
Platelets.
Their other name, thrombocytes, comes from the Greek words for clot and cell.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platelet?oldid=1378697020
7
What is the long bone of the upper arm, from the shoulder to the elbow, called?

medium

Answer
The humerus.
Its name sounds like "humorous," one reason people call the tingly spot at the elbow the funny bone.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humerus?oldid=1362607692
8
Which horseshoe-shaped bone at the front of the neck is the only bone not connected to any other bone?

hard

Answer
The hyoid bone.
It is also called the tongue-bone, and it anchors the muscles of the tongue and the floor of the mouth.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyoid_bone?oldid=1365357229
9
What is the single largest muscle in the human body?

hard

Answer
The gluteus maximus.
It is the main muscle that straightens the hip, so it works hard every time you climb stairs.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluteus_maximus?oldid=1359877966

Organs and senses

10
Which organ in your neck is commonly called the voice box?

easy

Answer
The larynx.
Besides making sound, it helps keep food out of the windpipe.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larynx?oldid=1381323045
11
Which dome-shaped muscle under the lungs is the main muscle you use to breathe?

easy

Answer
The diaphragm.
When it tightens and moves down, the chest gets roomier and air rushes in.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoracic_diaphragm?oldid=1379575665
12
Which butterfly-shaped gland sits in the neck just below the Adam's apple?

medium

Answer
The thyroid.
Its two lobes are joined by a narrow band of tissue called the isthmus.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyroid?oldid=1374385507
13
What is the largest organ inside the human body?

medium

Answer
The liver.
It is also the heaviest internal organ and the body's largest gland.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver?oldid=1382171259
14
Which organ releases insulin when the sugar in your blood gets too high?

medium

Answer
The pancreas.
Clusters of cells inside it, called islets, make the hormone.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancreas?oldid=1380834414
15
Which leaf-shaped flap in the throat stops food and drink from going down the windpipe?

medium

Answer
The epiglottis.
It folds backward over the opening each time you swallow.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiglottis?oldid=1360655315
16
What is the largest part of the human brain called?

medium

Answer
The cerebrum.
Scientists also call it the telencephalon, or endbrain.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebrum?oldid=1381338245
17
What is the clear front part of the eyeball, which covers the pupil, called?

medium

Answer
The cornea.
It bends incoming light and does much of the eye's focusing.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornea?oldid=1381915202
18
Which cells in the retina let you see in color?

hard

Answer
Cones.
Most people have 3 kinds, each tuned to a different range of light.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_cell?oldid=1371973637
19
What is the microscopic working unit of the kidney called?

hard

Answer
The nephron.
A healthy adult kidney holds about 1 million to 1.5 million of them.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephron?oldid=1326916017

Medical words

20
Which organ does cardiology deal with?

easy

Answer
The heart.
The word comes from the Ancient Greek kardia.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiology?oldid=1382218397
21
Which organ does dermatology deal with?

easy

Answer
The skin.
Dermatologists also look after hair and nails.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermatology?oldid=1375608223
22
Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that cares for whom?

easy

Answer
Children, from babies to teenagers.
The British spelling is paediatrics.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pediatrics?oldid=1375007480
23
Which organ does an ophthalmologist treat?

medium

Answer
The eye.
The tricky spelling begins with "ophth," and it is said OFF-thal-MOL-uh-jee.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophthalmology?oldid=1377685733
24
A gastroenterologist specializes in which body system?

medium

Answer
The digestive system.
Becoming one takes 3 years of internal medicine training and then 3 more years of fellowship.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroenterology?oldid=1380067674
25
What does the ending "-itis" mean in a medical word such as tonsillitis?

medium

Answer
Inflammation.
The ending comes from Ancient Greek.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflammation?oldid=1379768365
26
What do the letters CPR stand for?

medium

Answer
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Classes often teach it on a practice mannequin.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopulmonary_resuscitation?oldid=1382096177
27
When a doctor orders a test "stat," the word is short for which Latin word?

medium

Answer
Statim, meaning immediately.
Hospital staff use it to flag an urgent request.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_(S)?oldid=1381433697
28
The Rx symbol on a prescription comes from which Latin word?

hard

Answer
Recipe, meaning "you take."
The line across the R marks it as an abbreviation.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_prescription?oldid=1375615399
29
The symbol of medicine, a staff with one snake wrapped around it, is named after which Greek god of healing?

hard

Answer
Asclepius.
The look-alike caduceus has two snakes and a pair of wings, and is sometimes used for medicine by mistake.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius?oldid=1367435572

Nurses and nursing

30
What do the letters RN stand for after a nurse's name?

easy

Answer
Registered nurse.
It means the nurse has finished a nursing program and holds a license.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_nurse?oldid=1372097510
31
International Nurses Day falls on Florence Nightingale's birthday. What is the date?

easy

Answer
May 12.
In the US, National Nurses Week starts on May 6 and ends on this day.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Nurses_Day?oldid=1353870366
32
During which war did Florence Nightingale become famous for organizing care for wounded soldiers?

medium

Answer
The Crimean War.
Her hospital was at Scutari, across the water from Constantinople.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale?oldid=1382286780
33
At which London hospital did Florence Nightingale open her nursing school in 1860?

medium

Answer
St Thomas' Hospital.
The school laid the foundation of nursing as a trained profession.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale?oldid=1382286780
34
Florence Nightingale was also a statistician. Which round chart, also called her rose diagram, is she famous for using?

hard

Answer
The polar area diagram.
It works like a modern pie chart or circular histogram.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale?oldid=1382286780
35
Which Civil War nurse founded the American Red Cross?

medium

Answer
Clara Barton.
She was born on Christmas Day, 1821, and was known as the "Angel of the Battlefield."
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Barton?oldid=1380138222
36
On which Caribbean island was the nurse Mary Seacole born?

medium

Answer
Jamaica.
Her mother ran a boarding house in Kingston and was known for her herbal remedies.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Seacole?oldid=1379864777
37
What did Mary Seacole name the place she set up for sick and recovering officers in 1855?

hard

Answer
The British Hotel.
Despite the name, it was really a restaurant.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Seacole?oldid=1379864777
38
Who was appointed Superintendent of Army Nurses for the Union Army in 1861?

hard

Answer
Dorothea Dix.
Before the war she was known for campaigning for better care of people with mental illness.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Dix?oldid=1375526111

Medicine through history

39
Which ancient Greek physician is known as the Father of Medicine?

easy

Answer
Hippocrates.
He was born around 460 BC on the Greek island of Kos.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocrates?oldid=1377462590
40
The word "vaccine" comes from a Latin phrase meaning smallpox of which animal?

medium

Answer
The cow.
The phrase was Variolae vaccinae, used in 1798 in the title of the first report on vaccination.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine?oldid=1376748103
41
In which year did Alexander Fleming discover penicillin?

medium

Answer
1928.
He was working at St Mary's Hospital in London at the time.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin?oldid=1379692152
42
What did the "X" in X-ray stand for when the rays were discovered in 1895?

medium

Answer
An unknown kind of ray.
Their discoverer won the very first Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1901.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray?oldid=1382249075
43
At which Canadian university was insulin first isolated, in 1921?

medium

Answer
The University of Toronto.
Frederick Banting shared the 1923 Nobel Prize for the work and split his prize money with his student Charles Best.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Banting?oldid=1382118283
44
Who developed the first successful polio vaccine, announced in 1955?

medium

Answer
Jonas Salk.
He chose not to patent it so it could reach as many people as possible.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio_vaccine?oldid=1381506019
45
In which year did the World Health Organization certify that smallpox had been wiped out?

medium

Answer
1980.
It is still the only human disease ever eradicated.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox?oldid=1382034096
46
National Doctors' Day falls on March 30, the date in 1842 when Dr. Crawford Long put a patient to sleep for surgery using which substance?

medium

Answer
Ether.
The first Doctors' Day was held in Winder, Georgia, in 1933.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Doctors'_Day?oldid=1375005048
47
Which French doctor invented the stethoscope in 1816?

hard

Answer
René Laennec.
He was a skilled carver of his own wooden flutes.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stethoscope?oldid=1378302263
48
Which Austrian doctor discovered the human blood types in 1901?

hard

Answer
Karl Landsteiner.
He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for it in 1930.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type?oldid=1378779340
49
Christiaan Barnard performed the world's first human heart transplant in 1967. Which country was he from?

hard

Answer
South Africa.
The operation took place at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiaan_Barnard?oldid=1373378869

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