PANRE/PANCE Review Tips

Joe Gilboy PA-C

Full Time ER PA HoagHospital

Educational consultant

at Chapman University, Cal Baptist University, UC Davis, Marshall B. Ketchum, Loma Linda University,AT Stills University Mesa, AZ and Touro University

Henderson, NV and Vallejo, CA

Lets begin with the new guidelines forcertification

PA-C is now a 10-year certification maintenance process.

“Old school” use to be every 6 years now it’s every 10 years

If you are caught behind recertifying prior to 2014when your 6 year window is up and when you take the test it will then become every 10 years

By the end of the sixth year (or tenth year) of the certification you must pass the PANRE

PAs may take PANRE up to two times in the fifth or ninth yearand up to three times in the sixth or tenth year, with a

maximum of four total attempts.

If by chance you fail the exam you must wait at least 90 daysbefore taking it again

New rule can take exam in less than 90 days if it before the end of the year

There will be no testing between during the Christmas Holidays

Why is NCCPA considering changing the PANRE?

-NCCPA wants to evolve with the advances and changes in medicine as well as the PA profession

-In recent surveys conducted by NCCPA, <40% of PAs felt that the PANRE was a relevant or meaningful experience

-79% of PAs practice in 9 specialties

What main concerns were discussed?

-Restriction to Mobility

-Time

-Cost

-Fairness *********

Consensus among all specialty groups present

-We want to remain generalists- mobility and flexibility is important

-Want to complete core medical knowledge throughout 10 year cycle

PAs who were due to recertify in 2018 or 2019 had two recertification options

PANRE or the pilot of an alternative to PANRE

The pilot allows eligible PAs to answer core medical knowledge questions over time, from any device, anywhere

The pilot began in January 2019 and is open to PAs who are due to take PANRE in 2019

25 test questions each quarter for two years

January 2019 through December 2020

The questions can be answered all at once or throughout the quarter

The four-hour PANRE exam

240 multiple-choice questions

administered in four blocks of 60 questions with

60 minutes to complete each block.

There is a total of 45 minutes allotted for breaks between blocks and you will be responsible for managing your break time.

You will have 15 minutes to complete the PANRE tutorial.

PANRE choose one of the following focus exam areas:

Adult medicine (40% no peds)

Surgery (40% can have pediatric surgery cases)

Primary care ( will have pediatrics basically business as usual)

All exams are built to the same content blueprint, 60% of the exam will cover all areas of practice in primary care.

The remaining 40% will contain questions in the focus area chosen.

Can change focus exams up to 48 hours before the date

•PANCE

•NCCPA does not accept applications until 90 days prior to your expected program completion date (as provided by your program director).

•The earliest date you'll be able to test is seven days after your program completion

•This date will be reflected in your exam application acknowledgement e-mail.

•You have 180 days from the beginning of your exam timeframe to take the exam.

•You may only take PANCE once in any 90-day period or three times in a calendar year.

•There will be no testing between Dec. 18-31, 2019.

Blueprint changes effective January 2019

Diseases and disorders covered on PANRE and Pilot Alternative to PANRE will have different levels defined as follows:

Level 1: Recognize most likely diagnosis using signs, symptoms and risks; refer appropriately.

Level 2: Make appropriate diagnosis by recognizing signs, symptoms, risks and/or interpreting results of diagnostic studies, and have knowledge of first-line treatment.

Level 3: Make appropriate diagnosis by recognizing signs, symptoms, risks and/or interpreting results of diagnostic studies and have knowledge of first-line treatment. In

addition, have knowledge required to manage well-knowncomorbid conditions, contraindications, and complications.

2018 2019

AAPA versus NCCPA

This fight will affect all of us

2001

ARC-PA, now called the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, begins operation as afreestanding accreditation agency for the physician assistantprofession.

NCCPA announces that it will now assume responsibility for recording all CME hours for purposes of re-registration ofcertificates, and recertification, ending 25 years of service by AAPA as an intermediary. AAPA will continue to approve

educational activities for credit.

2002

Representatives from the AAPA, ARC-PA, APAP and NCCPA begin regular meetings to share mutual interests related to the PAprofession.

2004

ARC-PA is awarded recognition as the formal accrediting body for physician assistant education by the Council for Higher Education.

Its corporate offices are moved to Johns Creek, GA, in the same building as the headquarters of the NCCPA.

NCCPA

12000 Findley Road, Suite 100

Johns Creek, GA 30097-1409

ARC

12000 Findley Road, Suite 105

Johns Creek, GA 30097-1409

2011

The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) develops Certificate of AddedQualifications (CAQ) programs that allow PAs to earnformal recognition of their specialty expertise –

cardiovascular and thoracic surgery

emergency medicine

nephrology

orthopaedic surgery

psychiatry

AAPA and RAND Corporation

Recent letter to PA Program directors

To: PA Program Directors and FacultyFrom: Dawn Morton-Rias, EdD, PA-C

NCCPA President/CEORe: Implementation of 2019 Blueprint and Passing

Standard for PANCEDate: April 26, 2019

cc: Sharon Luke, MSHS, PA-C, ARC-PA Executive Director

PANCE rates will drop and test will become more difficult

“It is anticipated that the pass rate for the 2019 will be slightly lower than the past few years. Throughout NCCPA’s history, although an increased passing standard typically results in a slightly reduced passing rate ”

“We also wanted to let you know that have informed the ARC-PA of the implementation of the new blueprint and passing standard for 2019 so ensure they are aware of a potential slight decrease in the PANCE pass rate in 2019.”

AAPA versus NCCPA

This fight will affect you so becomeinvolved and educate yourself on what is goingon

CME Requirements

During every two-year period you must earn and log a minimum of 100 credits of CME.

50 hours of category CME I

Conferences, online test, ACLS, PALS

50 hours of category CME II

Reading journals, teaching at PA schools, studentrotations

Other things about the exam:

No “K” questions

Drugs are given in generic

If brand name given will be parentheses with trade mark ®

PANCE/PANRE DSM-5 terminology followed by the DSM-IV-TR terminology in

parentheses.

Example: illness anxiety disorder (hypochondriasis)

5 major points in studying for theP A N C E / PANRE

1.Study

Start off at 2-3 hours/day build up to 4 hours/day

No more than 4 hours a day

2. The worst place to study is home

Make sure the study environment is stimulus free

No cell phones, no TV, nobody is near you

3. Figure out what you know and then make some sense of it

Use the blue print (internet NCCPA web site)

Write down what you know about the topic(ie. Mitral stenosis)

Now look it up in a reference and write down what you didn’t know

4. How to I handle the ambiguous questions?

Get to the 50-50 point

Does you answer supersede or out defends the other

Get out of the answers and back to the question you missed a “crumb”

5. Control your “X” factors

Don’t change relationships

Don’t change financial surroundings

Don’t change family size

PANCE/PANRE Review Books

1. Comprehensive Review for the Certification andRecertification Examinations for Physician Assistants Fourth Edition

2. Physician Assistant Review

By Auth Kerstein

3. Physician Assistant Board Review: Certification and Recertification with online exam simulation

by James Van Rhee

4. Davis' Physician Assistant Exam Review: Focused Review for the PANCE/PANRE

5. Kaplan Medical PANCE: The Complete Guide to Licensing Exam Certification for Physician Assistants

6. Lange Q&A Physician Assistant Examination, Sixth Edition 6th Edition by Anthony Miller , Albert Simon ,

Rachel Carlson

7. Pance Prep Pearls 1st Edition

by Dwayne A. Williams (Author)

8. LANGE PANCE/PANRE Flashcards 1st Edition

by Johanna L. Chelcun (Author), Kathy Moini (Author)

9. Family Practice Review by Swanson

Websites

1. paeasy.com

2. Kaplan http://www.kaptest.com

3. Rosh Review www.roshreview.ocm

4. http://emedicine.medscape.com

5. http://www.jwatch.org (Journal Watch)

6. http://www.thennt.com (The Numbers Needed to Count)

Exam master

SmartyPANCE

The Ultimate Reference Book

2018 Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment

Stephen J. McPhee and Maxine A. Papadakis

McGraw Hill/Lange

What PANCE/PANRE?? I see no problem??

So what do I do??? How do I start??

Plan your work and work your plan (at least 2 months)

Practice practice practice questions

Figure out why you got it wrong

Read up on what you don’t know and make your weakness you strength

Ultimate Pearls

You can’t know everything so stop trying

When you get frustrated walk away

It’s not about who gets the answer 1st it’s about who gets it right

During the PANCE/PANRE slowly walk through the question and analyze and pick up on every word

Try to come up with a few answers before you get to the end

If your stuck with two answers get back into thequestion one answer will outweigh the other there is

a “crumb” on the floor you missed

A B

Lets Practice Together