title: Adrenocortical response during examination.
abstract: The stressful effect of a written and oral examination was studied in twenty-two doctors sitting a postgraduate examination. The rise in the plasma cortisol was not significant in the written examination and reverted to normal values  after an hour. On the other hand, there was a significant rise in the plasma cortisol during the oral examination with a pre-entry rise in blood sugar and a fall in alpha-amino nitrogen. It is concluded that whereas a written examination is not a stressful situation, an oral examination is stressful enough to be comparable to rowing and flying.
mesh_terms: D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000097:blood; D013315:Stress, Psychological
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D009584:Nitrogen; D006854:Hydrocortisone