3
COMPONENTS OF THE PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
Results from the survey can be used to construct the content of the physician's
examination. Emphasis on certain components of the exam will vary according to the
characteristics of the venture. The four categories of ventures have as a common
denominator the requirement that prospective candidates should have a thorough history.
Demonstrated high performance individuals require less "hands on" examination and
technical testing than do subjects with some limitation in their performance predictors.
Tables 7 and 8 indicate the emphasis of various components of the examination based on
the classification of the prospective participant (Table 2) and the nature of the proposed
wilderness venture (Table 1). This is reflected in the Exam Code:
EXAM CODE
An Exam Code, based on the four classes of venture (Table 1) and five
classes of individual functional characteristics (Table 2), provides a guide
for the features of the medical assessment (Table 3). For example, a
venture involving climbing Mount Everest, venture Class A, by a highly
conditioned experienced climber, Class 1, would have an Exam Code A-1.
From this code, the physician determines from Table 8 the categories of
features to be included in the exam (Table 3). A deconditioned well
person planning to walk leisurely on Smoky Mountain trails would have
an Exam Code C-3. The examination features would then be derived from
the categories listed in Table 3.
All categories of characteristics should be considered in the examination of each
prospective participant, but certain characteristics are of greater importance in certain
circumstances. For example, the high performance individual who wants to take part in
