The course of medical studies is a long route asking for a lot of breath. It is enclosed by the national examination for specialisation, which allows to access professional training. This examination requires a diligent preparation over several months in difficult conditions for the most part of the candidates who are in practical training.

and aims We suggest estimating the degree of anxiety and depression at the candidates in the week following the national examination for specialization of 2016.

We have put online on the pages of the various Tunisian Faculties of Medicine an anonymous questionnaire intended for the candidates who took the national examination for specialization of 2016. We used the scale HAD (Hospital Anxiety and depression scale).

We recruited 220 participants. More or less half of the participants declare to be rather often in a good mood, that they take little only of the pleasure in the same things as before, that they laugh and see the highly-rated voucher of things really less than before, that they are made of the concern very often and that they sometimes experience sensations of fear. A third of the participants feel tense or irritated most of the time feel sudden sensations of panic rather often and have the impression to work in slow motion rather often.

Taking the national examination of specialization rhymes with stress and anxiety. It leads us to question: is it necessary to assure a psychological coverage during the preparation and upstream of the competition?

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.