Abstract

Background: Functioning capability of normal healthy individual can reduce due to stress which can be observed by the changes in their physiological parameters. Medical students do have huge burden of academic stress during the time of examination. This stress affects their normal physiology which subsequently might lead to pathological changes. nd Aims and Objectives: The objectives of the study were to assess the changes in the cardiovascular system in 2 year medical students of Oman Medical College (OMC) during the state of examination stress.
Materials and Methods: This was a nd randomized, observational-based study for 100 2 -year students enrolled in 2013–14 batch for the medical program at OMC, Bawshar campus, Sultanate of Oman. Cardiovascular parameters such as pulse rate, arterial blood pressure were recorded st at three stages. 1 , 3 months before the first formative assessment, second a day before the first formative examination, and third a day after examination. Data were collected and analyzed statistically using a paired t-test. Result: Significant difference (2-tailed <0.0001) was observed for the level of pulse rate heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) before the exam and relaxed state as well as post exam state. Comparing the relaxed state values with the post-exam values for HR and DBP did not show any statistically significance. Conclusion: It is evident that the medical students undergo stress during their academic examinations. There is a need for intrusions such as social and psychological by the counselor or mentor to improve the quality of students’ life. Mentoring and counseling specifically before the exam should have more weight so that students are trained to manage their stress by various regimes.