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Wanted to share my experience studying for the PANCE


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New graduate and a PA-C here wanting to share my experience on studying for the PANCE.

 

After graduating I took about 1 week off to enjoy my life and celebrate my accomplishments with friends and family.  I then took about 4 weeks to study before taking the PANCE.  This was more then an adequate amount of time in my opinion, and at times almost seemed like to much.  There were times were I was literally so sick of studying, that I would take a day or two off in a row just to regain my focus.  (I took 2 days off twice during this 4 week period of time) and would estimate that I studied on average 4-5 hours a day.

 

Anyhow my method of studying was this... Each day I chose 1 topic beginning with the 5 major topics (Cardiac, Pulmonary, HEENT, GI MSK) and read the entire section in the NCCPA review book.  After reading each section I took questions on this section only from pancemaster, kaplan, the CD that came with the NCCPA review book, and any other source I could find.  I looked to score 70% or better on all test except for kaplan I shot for 60% or better.  After completing all of the sections, I went back and repeated this process on the 5 major topics.

 

After completing this process I took the 2 NCCPA exams and scored "good" proficiency overall and was at the national average or better in the majority of the categories.  

 

The day before the PANCE I did not study or review at all.  Tried to get to bed at a good hour, although thunderstorms made it difficult to sleep throughout the night... Ate a good breakfast in the morning...

 

The PANCE itself was challenging but fair.  I left the exam not knowing if I passed or failed... it certainly felt like it could have gone either way.  The week of waiting for the results was harder than studying or the days before the exam itself.  

 

Anyhow, I scored slightly below a 500 on the exam.  I am happy with my score overall, as it seems very comparable to a lot of my classmates.  

 

Anyhow I wish everyone taking the test good luck and hope you all do better than I did!

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Thank you for this! I am taking the PANCE 8/25 and have access to about 1500 Kaplan questions as well as the Lange book. I believe our school library has access for us for exam master questions. Of these that you have completed which would you say are most true to PANCE questions?

 

It is good to hear that 60 is sufficient on Kaplan. I tend to average in mid 60's

 

Any other curveballs that I should expect?

 

Thank You

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Thank you for this! I am taking the PANCE 8/25 and have access to about 1500 Kaplan questions as well as the Lange book. I believe our school library has access for us for exam master questions. Of these that you have completed which would you say are most true to PANCE questions?

 

It is good to hear that 60 is sufficient on Kaplan. I tend to average in mid 60's

 

Any other curveballs that I should expect?

 

Thank You

 

To be honest with you there is really nothing that accurately simulates the PANCE.  

 

In my opinion the difficulty of Kaplan was "most equal" to the PANCE, however the questions you encounter using Kaplan and Exammaster are much longer and more in-depth than what I experienced.  I guess if you can finish these 60 question exams in 60 minutes, you should have absolutely no problem with time on the actual PANCE.

 

Packrats are also great practice...

 

The absolute best though is the 2 NCCPA exams for sale... as these are actual retired PANCE questions.  If you succeed with these questions you will succeed on the PANCE.  If you are not doing well on these questions, then work needs to be done!

 

Good luck!

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for the post...it was helpful to hear someones perspective with a similar prep.

 

I took my PANCE on 8/18 and still waiting for results.  More nervous than I imagined I could be!  I think my preparation for the exam was similar to the one mentioned above.  Leaving the exam I felt similar...some portions/specific questions on the exam I felt great and confident while others left me wondering.  Leaving the exam I felt I was on the fence and could tip either way.  

 

I was scoring in the 60's-70S the last few times on Kaplan questions and took 1 NCCPA practice exam and finished in the middle of green... which made me feel like my studying had paid off.  Unfortunately, I am still nervous despite these reassuring practice exams and at the end of the day the only thing that matters is that I can add the C to the end of my PA.

 

I've got my fingers crossed...

 

and good luck to anyone in the same position or getting ready to take PANCE.

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Guest MedLib42

Thanks for this! The class ahead of me studied pretty hard for the PANCE throughout their entire clinical year, and I've been wondering if I should be doing the same. However, I personally felt I've learned so much during didactic, and am going to be so busy during the upcoming clinical year, I'd rather wait to do the majority of studying until after graduation. Good to hear that this method worked for you.

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If your program is not having you do end of rotation exams, I would not wait until graduation to start doing questions, they are quite a bit more difficult than nicely keyworded first year fodder. Reading on your patients is key as well.

Our program did have end of rotation exams, both a rotation specific, and general medicine exam.  The first few rotations they were "nicely keyworded first year fodder" however after that they essentially began using questions straight from pancemaster, review books etc... which I think was useful in simulating a somewhat realistic pance.

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Thanks for this! The class ahead of me studied pretty hard for the PANCE throughout their entire clinical year, and I've been wondering if I should be doing the same. However, I personally felt I've learned so much during didactic, and am going to be so busy during the upcoming clinical year, I'd rather wait to do the majority of studying until after graduation. Good to hear that this method worked for you.

I agree with what you have written here.  While on rotations you should really soak it in.  Go home each night and read about what you saw, and learn about things that are not necessarily taught in school.  This will help prepare you for the PANCE better than anything else in my opinion.  Nothing replaces real world experience.  Studying 4-6 weeks after rotations is more then enough time to prepare for the exam, on top of what you learned over the past 2.5 years+

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Was exam master harder than PANCE then? I am scoring in 60s-70s in PANCE subject exams (haven't done full practice exam yet). Some of the questions on exam master I have never even heard of before.

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