What are patient charts/ HOPI questions?

I made a post on how to get a 260+ in 2025 here is the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Step2/s/1z15L6ZLI1 A lot of people asked about patient charts the majority did not even know what they are. So i decided to explain them in this post best way i can. Please upvote this so everyone can benefit from this post.

Patient charts AKA history of present illness”HOPI” questions are a question format where instead of writing the question in a paragraph form, the NBME would write the question as bullet points. For example the question would say * patients age: 65 * patients complain: abdominal pain * past history: CABG. At the end of the question the would also include some labs as well. I got at least 20-30 of these type of questions in my form so i would encourage you to familiarize yourself with them.

AMBOSS IS THE BEST RESOURCE FOR PATIENT CHARTS

In the real deal they are very long and exhausting, but typically a simple answer would be required like whats the diagnosis or whats the best next step in management. Their toughness is in their length and stamina needed to read the question well.

Bigpappapump tips and tricks: the most important clues are typically located in the History of Present illness and Physical examination section so make sure to read them well. The rest you can typically skim through. This method works 75% of the time.

Here is an actual example from amboss https://www.flickr.com/photos/202304443@N04/54341122134/in/dateposted-public/