Failed PANRE miserably

[lapelirroja]

After my recent PANRE I noted that the exam questions seemed to be intentionally challenging and certainly weren't as straight forward as they could have been.

 

I've been wondering... Since PACKRAT is composed of "retired" PANCE/PANRE questions...

 

In my PA Program I took PACKRAT twice, thought it was challenging, but I scored well and thought all of the questions were fair. I took PANCE in late May and while I passed and did better than 99% of all testers, I thought it was an ENORMOUS deal harder with lots of questions out of left field and possibly not even on the blueprint. Is there a new generation of question writers who are messing up the whole thing? I felt the PACKRATs I took were great and really assessed my knowledge of medicine without trying to trick me.

[lapelirroja]

After my recent PANRE I noted that the exam questions seemed to be intentionally challenging and certainly weren't as straight forward as they could have been.

 

I've been wondering... Since PACKRAT is composed of "retired" PANCE/PANRE questions...

 

In my PA Program I took PACKRAT twice, thought it was challenging, but I scored well and thought all of the questions were fair. I took PANCE in late May and while I passed and did better than 99% of all testers, I thought it was an ENORMOUS deal harder with lots of questions out of left field and possibly not even on the blueprint. Is there a new generation of question writers who are messing up the whole thing? I felt the PACKRATs I took were great and really assessed my knowledge of medicine without trying to trick me.

[paleanne]

I took panre today (general exam) and felt that many of the questions were not testing what I do as a pa everday. Im confident in my skills as a pa, but am not confident I did well on the exam. I had several questions over very detailed topics that I did not feel were "generalist" in nature. Several questions seemed to lack enough information to answer the question. I studied for about 3 months using various materials, not sure what else i could have done :( i dont want to do this again.

[paleanne]

I took panre today (general exam) and felt that many of the questions were not testing what I do as a pa everday. Im confident in my skills as a pa, but am not confident I did well on the exam. I had several questions over very detailed topics that I did not feel were "generalist" in nature. Several questions seemed to lack enough information to answer the question. I studied for about 3 months using various materials, not sure what else i could have done :( i dont want to do this again.

[dm123]

I've been wondering... Since PACKRAT is composed of "retired" PANCE/PANRE questions...

 

In my PA Program I took PACKRAT twice, thought it was challenging, but I scored well and thought all of the questions were fair.

 

What is PACKRAT, besides my middle name, that is?

[dm123]

I've been wondering... Since PACKRAT is composed of "retired" PANCE/PANRE questions...

 

In my PA Program I took PACKRAT twice, thought it was challenging, but I scored well and thought all of the questions were fair.

 

What is PACKRAT, besides my middle name, that is?

[Contrarian]

What is PACKRAT, besides my middle name, that is?

 

It is a simulated PANCE that is usually given to PA students at the end of didactic yr and/or at the end of clinical yr to gauge their retention/knowledge of the material taught in the program and give a idea of future performance on the real test... the PANCE.

[Contrarian]

What is PACKRAT, besides my middle name, that is?

 

It is a simulated PANCE that is usually given to PA students at the end of didactic yr and/or at the end of clinical yr to gauge their retention/knowledge of the material taught in the program and give a idea of future performance on the real test... the PANCE.

[dm123]

I may have taken it by another name but don't think so. After 30 years, the written tests seem to merge, the verbal ones, with associated tongue lashings for wrong answers, I still remember.

[dm123]

I may have taken it by another name but don't think so. After 30 years, the written tests seem to merge, the verbal ones, with associated tongue lashings for wrong answers, I still remember.

[EMEDPA]

I may have taken it by another name but don't think so. After 30 years, the written tests seem to merge, the verbal ones, with associated tongue lashings for wrong answers, I still remember.

I never took it either. I think it came into existence around a decade ago.

[EMEDPA]

I may have taken it by another name but don't think so. After 30 years, the written tests seem to merge, the verbal ones, with associated tongue lashings for wrong answers, I still remember.

I never took it either. I think it came into existence around a decade ago.

[maryfran123]

Ok, I'm just loving...sarcasm, this thread. This will be my 4th recert/PANRE. I'm actually only in my 5th year of the cycle but was planning on taking it this year "just in case."

 

Was planning on just taking the Primary Care version as it is touted as "the old PANRE", taking a 2 day board review course in Sept and the exam a day or 2 later. I did this the last time and it worked well. The prior 3 times didn't study, just took the exam, no problem.

 

I'm feeling my anxiety starting to escalate.......hate these freakn exams!!!!

[rcdavis]

Mf,

You will do fine. I took my 6th revert this year. Had some strange ( and , in one case involving correlation of physical findings with neuroanatomy, outright wrong) answers and questions.

I did not study and did as well as I have in the past. One thing that I would mention for you as you do not get much exposure, is to spend a little time on pediatric milestones and some pediatric abdominal surgical signs and sx. Otherwise, with you being in an academic setting, you will do great. You probably would do better in the surgical specialties exam than the primary care..

One thing though, I really do believe that they used many of the questions that we all submitted 3-4 years ago in their great "searching for test writers" screening submissions... Remember? The "tone " of several of the questions was definitely different in about 40% of the exam than it had been previously.. Remember how you could pretty much recognize the questions after your third go round? Well there are a bunch of new questions this time.

 

rc

[dm123]

I don't know which state you are in, but some have a "grandfather" clause. Reminds me of the movie "The Santa Clause". Anyway, in NC, it is either '94 or '96 (have to check to be sure) you don't have to have a current PANRE to be licensed as a PA (G.S. 21 NCAC 32S .0202 (4).) if you want to look it up. You just have to have passed the PANCE and have a license in NC prior to whichever date is correct. Checking might take some of the mental heat off the necessity of passing.

 

NPs have grandfather clauses in one way or the other as well. Their recent thing to new applicants is you must have a masters degree in NC but they do not have any type of recurrent testing.

[CornellSPA]

I have heard of afew PANRE problems from AASPA members, there may very well be some kind of a key problem going on. Remember when dealing with the NCCPA my and many surgical people's expereinces reflect their interest in the money stream, so be clear that you are fully paid up (and the prices are high!), then ask for their help!!

 

Also, I know you get afew chances to take the PANRE before your "C" is really in jeopardy!

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

[chatcat]

Anyway, in NC, it is either '94 or '96 (have to check to be sure) you don't have to have a current PANRE to be licensed as a PA (G.S. 21 NCAC 32S .0202 (4).) if you want to look it up. You just have to have passed the PANCE and have a license in NC prior to whichever date is correct. Checking might take some of the mental heat off the necessity of passing.

.

 

Nope...all PAs must have certification by NCCPA to be licensed in NC. Here's the citation:

 

"The physician assistant must attest on his or her annual renewal that he or she is currently certified by the NCCPA."

[dm123]

Nope...all PAs must have certification by NCCPA to be licensed in NC. Here's the citation:

 

"The physician assistant must attest on his or her annual renewal that he or she is currently certified by the NCCPA."

 

 

I figured I would get a rise out of someone. That is why I included the legal statute in my original post. I’m kind of a closet lawyer wanna-be with too much time on my hands.

 

Below is a copy paste of the applicable regulation and a link to the law and link to the source. It is the same as yours only farther down.

 

 

G.S. 21 NCAC 32S .0202 (4).

 

(4) submit to the Board proof that the applicant has completed a Physician Assistant Educational

Program; if a physician assistant was licensed in North Carolina after June 1, 1994, he/she must

also show successful completion of the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination;

 

It is kind of long but the applicable part is about 3/4^th the way down. http://www.ncmedboard.org/images/uploads/other_pdfs/NCMB_Rules_3_4_2011.pdf

 

 

I have in my possession, a written verification from the NC Board of Medical examiners verifying my original post.

 

My view is that there are way too many bureaucrats in government trying to justify their existence by making work for everyone else. There goal is to not have to make a judgment call and possibly end up with a red face by creating a rule or pigeon hole. When something doesn’t fit they try to ram it home or created a committee to redo all the rules making more work allowing them to hire more people. Example, A PA seeking reinstatement must, according to the application packet, get a form filed out from all states he/she has worked in as a PA. Meaning, NC will send a completed form to NC verifying he/she has worked there.

 

It is relatively common, when new regulations come into play to exclude those licensed under prior regulations to be exempt. Before there was Family Practice MDs there was, and still are GPs (general practitioners). They had 4 years of medical school and 1 year of internship and could hang up their shingle as practicing doctors.

 

Don't get me started on bureaucrats. The computer age has only allowed for more of them, more rules, and more confusion. Most of our regulatory boards are made up of people who follow the lead of the hired help/bureaucrat's recommendation. It starts at the county level and goes up. Go to a local meeting of county commissioners or the planning board. The ones with the real power are the bureaucrats making the recommendations under the auspices of an attorney. Look at our recent national health care vote. Two thousand plus pages and the promise to work out the details after the vote. Gets my pants in a wad.

[dm123]

Opps, duplicate post.

[maryfran123]

Thanks for the vote of confidence RC :D

I will likely just take the Primary Care exam because it is suppose to be like the old exam we've been taking for years.

The board review course is primary care.

Plus seems like there may be issues with the surgery exam.

[smrem]

I sat for my third recert this last June and could not believe how poorly I scored...My points from the last 2 recerts fell over 200 points...how does that happen? I also am not the smartest PA but a score of 200??? after being in the field for 20 years. When I called the NCCPA and questioned when they started giving only the generic name for the meds they informed me they never gave the trade name. I KNOW the last recert. had both generic and trade names. I thought something was up after I took the test this last time,but now after reading about all the other PA's that have had the same experience I am convinced something is NOT RIGHT! I studied the hardest I have ever studied for this test and failed! I never failed a test like this before...Any ideas what we can do?

[pamb77]

I just found out today that I failed the PANRE that I took 4 days ago. I scored a 320 and felt that the questions were not primary care based at all. I have worked in Primary care for 12 years and the questions on the PANRE were very unfair. There were several about infertility in men! That is obviously not primary care related. I emailed NCCPA today to ask about my score and to see if they would allow me to review the test, but have not heard back from them yet.

I am very depressed about failing, but am glad to find that others are in the same boat and that it could possible be an error by NCCPA.

[ostroff]

I took the exam on Friday and scored very well. I thought the primary care questions were good questions although some were a bit tricky. I scored a 644 and I work in interventional radiology. I studied from a USMLE book that has very precise, quick summaries of most topics from the NCCPA blue print and some nice cram pages in the back and also did practice tests from the newer and an older version of the AAPA book. I also used some notes I made from when I took the PANCE. I have heard from many who have said this test was not like the others and they were unsure they if they passed or not. This was my first recert so I have nothing to compare it to. I think they key is practice tests and not over studying because then you get burnt out. I took a week to study after work. I felt this was plenty and I was actually getting burned out on reading after just a few days. Good luck to everyone taking it soon!

 

Thanks for posting that info on NC...I do think you need to be certified by the NCCPA to keep your licensure though. Page 95 states you have to have current certification. As far as I know you have to maintain certification. I was audited and I had to show my current certification. I did not read through the whole thing but this is what I did read:

21 NCAC 32S .0216 CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION

(a) A physician assistant must complete at least 100 hours of continuing medical education (CME) every two years,at least 40 hours of which must be American Academy of Physician Assistants Category I CME. CMEdocumentation must be available for inspection by the board or its agent upon request. The two year period shallrun from the physician assistant's birthday, beginning in the year 1999, or the first birthday following initiallicensure, whichever occurs later.(b) A physician assistant who possesses a current certification with the National Commission on Certification ofPhysician Assistants (NCCPA) will be deemed in compliance with the requirement of Paragraph (a) of this Rule.

The physician assistant must attest on his or her annual renewal that he or she is currently certified by the NCCPA.

[xrayvision]

Hi....My God, when I read your post, I thought it was about me. I just took the PANRE August 1st after studying very hard. I have 24yrs in this profession and never had a problem. I came away feeling confident as well, and was shocked when I got a score of 218 out of 379.....I too think there is some kind of mistake in the scoring ....but what to do? Did you ask the NCCPA for a re-score? What was your experience when you contacted them? I live in NY and graduated in a time when Certification was not mandatory, and was always told our group was "Grandfathered In"... waiting to hear from you or anyone going through this.

[xrayvision]

Hi, I've been practicing for 24yrs and took PANRE August 1st, and came away feeling fairly confident as well...was shocked to see I only scored a 219...and like one of the other PAs with the same outcome and same #yrs experience, I too scored very high in Hematology...an area very foreign to me...it was as if that PA's post was about my experience ....this makes me think something is wrong with their scoring...that, or they are purposely failing people to get the $ for each test. I too am currently very down and depressed. I have 2 small children, and needed to get this out of the way. I am not surprised that the NCCPA isn't admitting there's a problem, and they should!!! They never stand by their own people like Nursing does. Now I'm left wondering if I should re-read/study the Lange practice test book...I bought the newest book, and studied it 2x in addition to reading, plus my experience.....Does anyone out there have any advice? Now I'm reading ads for materials that teach you strategies for passing...they state you need to know this as much as you need to know medicine......anyone have any input? .......... Ready for a nervous breakdown in NY!!!