PASSED PANCE ON SECOND TRY

[whoknew9023]

Hey all,

 

Just wanted to write my experience with the PANCE… 

 

I took my PANCE back in september and failed… by a few points… As we all know we have to wait 3 months before taking it again. so heres what i did for the first and second try.  

 

1st PANCE preparation

-HELLP online course 

-Davis book

-AAPA BOOK questions only- scores ranging 70-85%

-Lange book with CD(300 extra questions)- scored around 75%

-PACKRATS- scores ranged from 150-165, not really helpful…PANCE is not comparable

- 2 NCCPA Practice exams- first exam was in red with some yellow. Second exam was mostly green with some in yellow-- i suggest only in investing in this resource just to gauge where you are. if you are not fully in GREEN DO NOT TAKE THE EXAM. 

-Exam master- average was 55%

 

From the above scores or preparation, you can see i was basically borderline. I took my PANCE knowing that i either passed by a few points or failed by a few points. 

 

After i failed i did lots of research to get all my answers questions. It was very difficult finding everything in one source. 

Ultimately… i know i did not fail because my lack of knowledge… it was knowing how the exam works. 

 

So heres my best advice…… 

 

PRACTICE QUESTIONS LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW. haha!  I did over 3000+ questions… and let me tell you this was my best preparation.

 

1. Kaplan questions- FABULOUS questions… many people will say they are too long, too involved, etc etc… Yes maybe thats true… but it will prepare you in a way to answer questions so swiftly. It really helped my eliminate answers with ease when taking my exam along with understanding what is the best option for answering a question. This is prob the closest thing to the PANCE. total around 1200 questions
 

2. Exam master questions- Super long… really involved… these questions are best for those individuals who have trouble with time… if you can get through these questions with ease you will have no trouble on the PANCE… when taking the pance you feel like time is going by so fast and you lost track of time… this is one of the best tools for that. they are tough questions but definitely hits on all topics, if you have the time to do this during your second year of PA school i would use this resource for preparation. total around 1200 questions

 

3. AAPA BOOK- i went through this whole book after i failed my PANCE… and it was one of the best things i could of done… it reinforced my foundation… and it provided over 600 questions 300 online and 300 in the book. Use this resource when you need to brush up on topics….

 

4. CME resources- I took a 3 day course option. They do offer a 5 day course… but i know myself and knew 3 days was enough for me. This review course IS THE BEST. I highly recommend it. Honestly.. i wish i would of done this initially before my PANCE…. i say invest your money into this course.. they go over what imperative to know.. test taking tips… they also give you daily exams and compare your score to those in the course to give you a sense of how your doing…. overall it is a confidence booster. I found that the best way to take this course is… closer towards your exam… come to the course already prepared.. with some time of studying… so while in the course you are being refreshed with information or reinforcing information rather than trying to remember things.  

 

5. DAVIS BOOK- this book is wonderful.. i used it for both times i took the PANCE. but the second time i literally went through the whole book… and it has TONS of questions. >1200 questions. This book makes you think critically… and thats exactly what you need. I highly recommend this book. 

 

Second time preparing for lance. 

1. Exam master - finished all questions in month 1 average was 70%

2. AAPA book- finished whole book in second month week 3. I went though the whole book with time and would quiz myself through exam master, or the questions in book. 

3. Kaplan questions- started this second month week 4 and went till third month 4. I did about 50-100 questions per day. i read all the answers to the questions… then i would review the subject/topic. average was 55-60%

4. Kaplan course power points- second to third month-- i was lucky enough to receive this. and this was very helpful 

5. Davis book- did this in my last month… i did as much as i could-- average 70-80%

6. CME resources- did the course 4 days before my test. 

 

The first two months i studied an average of 5-7 hours a day

the last month i studied no more than 2 hours a day. 

 

TAKE BREAKS.. DONT OVER WORK YOURSELF AND HAVE FAITH.

 

If you have failed already.. remember it can happen to anyone… we have a bad day, a bad test… the reasons are endless. Stay confident and know you can get through this. 

 

If your getting ready to take the PANCE...don't use too many resources.. stick to a few… 

And for both categories… do QUESTIONS QUESTIONS QUESTIONS!!!!

 

Stay positive!!

 

i have heard passing scores for PANCE ranges from 290 - 392…BUT… thats not the point. Your not here to barely pass the PANCE. be fully prepared and go in there with confidence…. 

 

Wishing you all the best!

 

 

 

 

 

[EMEDPA]

Congrats. I agree that passing PANCE takes serious prep time, both during your program and immediately after graduation, which some folks don't do. Reviewing material from PA school doesn't help much. you need to study for THIS test and learn how they ask questions, etc. Once you have passed pance, panre is easy as long as you work in primary care, UC, or EM. if you work in surgery or a medicine subspecialty you should probably attend a review course before panre.

I liked the appleton and lange and swanson's family practice recertification review.