I am getting ready for a beg exam next week and all of a sudden am all mixed up. Here is an example: Head, ears, eyes, neck and throat exam is / are within normal limits.

The remainder of the physical exam, including HEENT, neck, abdomen and extremities were / was normal.

Unlike "or", the word "and" conjoins. Examples:

Andy and John are clever.
Andy or John is clever.

And is easy. ("A and B are...")

Or is harder:

Pie or burger is the choice. (both singular, use 'is')
Pie or fritters are the choice. (at least, one plural use 'are')

This is covered more here.

in the first sentence, use "is". you are speaking of ONE exam- use singular form of verb. head, ears, eyes, etc., actually are used as adjectives to describe what type of exam.
in the second sentence, the subject is remainder. "of the... exam" and "including neck... and extremities" are both prepositional phrases, not affecting the subject (remainder)/verb (is) agreement. so "is" is it. hope this helps!

Thanks, Erin. You're right. I missed the point on this one.