Disclaimer:
Applicable to all MLA exams and assessments taken from September 2026 onwards.
Updated MLA content map (applies from September 2026)
Domain 5: Patient presentations
This domain encompasses signs, symptoms, investigation results and other patient-related issues commonly encountered by doctors in the UK Foundation Programme.
Candidates are expected to develop structured and broad differential diagnoses, considering the full spectrum of possible underlying conditions—including those not individually listed in the MLA content map. They must recognise that patients often present with multiple concurrent issues and that comorbidities can alter the clinical picture.
Additionally, candidates should recognise that patients may:
- present without any apparent signs or symptoms of disease
- describe their symptoms in their own words, which may not align neatly with predefined lists.
Candidates must therefore remain adaptable and apply clinical reasoning that reflects the realities of everyday clinical practice.
A–Z list of patient presentations
A
- Abdominal distension
- Abdominal mass
- Abdominal pain (acute and chronic)
- Abnormal cervical smear result
- Abnormal development/ developmental delay
- Abnormal eating or exercising behaviour
- Abnormal gait
- Abnormal urinalysis
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Acute kidney injury
- Addiction
- Agitation
- Allergy/ allergic reaction
- Altered mood
- Altered sensation, numbness and tingling
- Amenorrhoea
- Amnesia
- Anaemia
- Anaphylaxis
- Anosmia
- Appetite change
B
- Back pain
- Behaviour/ personality change
- Behavioural difficulties in childhood
- Bites and stings
- Blackouts and faints
- Bleeding antepartum
- Bleeding per rectum
- Bleeding postpartum
- Bone pain
- Bowel habit change
- Breast lump
- Breast tenderness/ pain
- Breathlessness
- Bruising
- Burns
C
- Cardiorespiratory arrest
- Chest pain
- Child abuse and neglect
- Choking
- Chronic kidney disease
- Cold/ red/ painful digits
- Complicated labour (including complications of labour)
- Confusion (acute and chronic)
- Congenital abnormalities
- Constipation
- Contraception request/ advice
- Cough
- Crying baby
- Cyanosis
D
- Death and dying
- Decreased/ loss of consciousness
- Dehydration
- Delayed/ precocious puberty
- Delusions
- Deteriorating patient
- Diarrhoea
- Diplopia
- Dizziness
- Domestic abuse
- Dysmenorrhea
- Dysmorphic child
E
- Ear and nasal discharge
- Elder abuse
- Electrolyte abnormalities
- End of life care/symptoms of terminal illness
- Epistaxis
- Excess hair
- Eye pain/discomfort
- Eye trauma
F
- Facial pain
- Facial weakness
- Facial/periorbital swelling
- Faecal incontinence
- Falls
- Faltering growth (failure to thrive)
- Family history of possible genetic disorder
- Fasciculation
- Fatigue
- Feeling anxious
- Fever
- Fit notes
- Fitness to drive
- Fits/seizures
- Flashes and floaters in visual fields
- Food allergy and/or intolerance
- Foreign body
- Frailty
G
- Gynaecomastia
H
- Haematemesis
- Haematuria
- Haemoptysis
- Hair loss
- Hallucinations
- Head injury
- Headache
- Hearing loss
- Heart murmurs
- High blood pressure
- Hoarseness and voice change
- Hyperactivity and/or inability to focus/concentrate
- Hyperemesis
I
- Immobility
- Incidental findings
- Infant feeding problems
- Infertility/subfertility
- Intellectual disability
- Intrauterine death
- Involuntary movements
J
- Jaundice
- Joint pain/swelling/stiffness (acute and chronic)
L
- Labour
- Limb claudication
- Limb weakness
- Limping child
- Loin pain
- Loss of red reflex
- Low blood pressure
- Lump in groin
- Lymphadenopathy
M
- Major trauma
- Massive haemorrhage
- Medically unexplained symptoms
- Melaena
- Memory loss
- Menopause/perimenopause
- Mental capacity concerns
- Mental health problems in pregnancy or postpartum
- Minor trauma
- Muscle pain/myalgia
- Musculoskeletal deformities
N
- Nail abnormalities
- Nasal obstruction
- Nausea
- Neck lump
- Neck pain/stiffness
- Neuromuscular weakness
- Night sweats
- Nipple discharge
- Nocturnal enuresis
- Normal pregnancy and antenatal care
O
- Oliguria/anuria
- Organomegaly
- Overdose
P
- Pain management (acute and chronic)
- Pain on inspiration
- Painful ear
- Painful sexual intercourse
- Pallor of the skin and conjunctiva
- Palpitations
- Patient on anti-coagulant therapy
- Patient on anti-platelet therapy
- Pelvic mass
- Pelvic pain
- Perianal symptoms
- Peri-operative patient
- Peripheral oedema and ankle swelling
- Phimosis/ paraphimosis
- Pleural effusion
- Poisoning
- Polydipsia (thirst)
- Post-operative care and complications
- Prematurity
- Pressure of speech
- Pruritus
- Ptosis
- Puerperium
- Pulseless limb
- Purpuric/petechial rash
R
- Rectal prolapse
- Red eye
- Reduced/change in foetal movements
S
- Scrotal/testicular pain and/or lump/swelling
- Self-harm
- Self-neglect
- Sexual abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Shock
- Skin laceration/ injury
- Skin lesion
- Skin rash (acute and chronic)
- Skin ulcer(s)
- Sleep problems
- Small for gestational age/ large for gestational age
- Snoring
- Soft tissue injury
- Sore throat
- Speech and language problems
- Squint
- Stool colour change
- Stridor
- Struggling to cope with activities of daily living
- Subcutaneous lump
- Substance misuse
- Sudden unexplained death in infancy
- Suicidal thoughts
- Swallowing problems
- Swollen limb(s)
T
- The sick child
- Thought disorder
- Thoughts or threats to harm others
- Tinnitus
- Tremor
U
- Unintended pregnancy and termination
- Unsteadiness
- Urethral discharge and genital ulcers/warts
- Urinary symptoms
V
- Vaccination
- Vaginal discharge
- Vaginal prolapse
- Vertigo
- Vision change/loss (acute and gradual)
- Vomiting
- Vulval itching/lesion
- Vulval/vaginal lump
W
- Weight gain
- Weight loss
- Wellbeing checks
- Wheeze
- Worried parent
