Devildog Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Did anyone take the test this year? Did ya get yer results? I know they said December, but... Peace, Dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted November 16, 2011 Moderator Share Posted November 16, 2011 took it. no results yet. didn't seem like an em exam, seemed like a hospitalist exam...very little arrhythmia management, trauma, airway stuff, etc lots of esoteric bs. I probably passed it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 9, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 9, 2011 I called nccpa today to ask when the caq scores would be out. they said the testing organization had not released scores to them yet and that they expected to have them at the end of the month. I'm wondering if they are having to curve the hell out of the exam to get enough passing scores. as I said earlier, it didn't really seem to reflect em practice as much as I would have expected. if >50% of "qualified em pa's" fail their inaugural exam that would send a strong message that their exam process is flawed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I'd like to know how many PAs took each exam. Hard to curve an underpowered sample size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 9, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 9, 2011 as of july(the exam was given 9/12) 80 people had signed up for the em caq so I am guessing total sample size for that exam <125. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devildog Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 I called nccpa today to ask when the caq scores would be out.they said the testing organization had not released scores to them yet and that they expected to have them at the end of the month. I'm wondering if they are having to curve the hell out of the exam to get enough passing scores. as I said earlier, it didn't really seem to reflect em practice as much as I would have expected. if >50% of "qualified em pa's" fail their inaugural exam that would send a strong message that their exam process is flawed. I called them yesterday and they told me the same thing.. "about a week before the new year" was their line... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devildog Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 Results are out.. got the email today..( i passed, whew!) Dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 29, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 29, 2011 yup, I passed too. would have liked to know how many folks took the exam, what my score was, etc the official score just says "passed" without any other numerical info. now we have to wait to get our caq certificate in the mail. I'm hoping for a low cert #, single digit would be best. hoping for 001 or 007. "why yes, I was the first pa certified to practice emergency medicine in the united states by our national certification body....:) " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarian Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 "Fluffery"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 29, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 29, 2011 "Fluffery"... "job security". I have it (the CAQ) and a lot of folks don't. PA's have it and NP's don't. my goal is to be able to apply for any em pa job anywhere in the country(or any international em pa job) and KNOW that I will get a job offer. sooner or later it will make a difference. first it will be "CAQ prefered" then it will be "CAQ required" then it will be "residency prefered and CAQ required "then it will be "residency and CAQ required". I have already seen em pa job ads that say "MS degree and 10 yrs em experience or em residency required". imagine 2 candidates with similar backgrounds, 1 with CAQ, 1 without, interviewing with a doc or HR person who knows squat about pa's. who do you think gets the job? ACEP (american college of emergency physicians-our bosses-) have been pushing for an additional exam in em for pa's for years. they helped write the em caq. now they are starting to push for postgrad training. trust me, it's coming. a doc asked me out of the blue about the caq last week and was very interested that I had taken it. it will probably result in a job offer to be faculty at a new em pa residency.(they plan on requiring that all residents take and pass it to graduate). remember when pa school faculty jobs said "bs required, masters preferred" then "masters required, doctorate preferred?" that change from bs to doctorate requirement has happened over a very short period of time ...now all those jobs say "doctorate required". same deal. degree creep, certification creep, academic creep, whatever you want to call it, it's real. it's why I got the postgrad ms even though it didn't make me a better pa(the fact that I could do it essentially for free didn't hurt either). (at my last em job interview they were more impressed with my masters in em from nebraska than my prior experience as a medic, although the medic experience got me cleared to work solo fairly quickly). same reason I take every 2 day em cert course available. same reason I got the Dfaapa. are most of these things a money making scam for aapa, nccpa, etc. you bet. no argument from me on that count. bob blum( a surgical pa for 40 yrs) pointed out to me that it's worth your while to have every credential and cert available in your specialty as a pa so your cv is beyond reproach or question. you don't ever want to hear a lawyer say" do I understand correctly that there is a nationally recognized certificate to indicate proficiency for em pa's and you don't have it? why is that? did you not think you could pass it", etc. sure it's a feather in the cap and I agree I am not a better pa today than I was yesterday before I passed the CAQ but the folks who do the hiring will put a lot of stock in it. there are several pa's on this forum and elsewhere who are better em pa's than I am but on paper I have more credentials than they do and would probably get a job that they would not because of that.I would be willing to make a wager that we will see ads in the pa journals within 5 yrs specifying passage of the CAQ. I interview new pa's applying for jobs with our group and have already been asked about it by job applicants( will it be required?). my answer was "not at the present time"....and this was before the results of the first test administration were even available. folks know it's out there. I also think hospital credentialing bodies and the joint commission will catch on to the caq existence fairly quickly. I can imagine procedure credentialing that says to do xyz you must have a CAQ in em(part of the eligibility requirements for the exam are that a doc sign off that you can intubate, put in chest tubes and central lines, etc). just like hospitals can get "magnate status" for having all rn's with a bsn or higher it wouldn't surprise me to see ads that say " come to our hospital. all our em and surgical pa's have passed additional certification exams in their specialty above and beyond the minimum requirements", etc. just like there is already a division between pa's with prior experience and those without there will soon be a CAQ vs non-CAQ division. it happened with docs, it will happen to us as well. it used to be that an fp doc with only an internship could get any er job. now for most em md jobs you need to be "residency trained and board certified in em". I plan to practice for at least another 25 years and I think by the end of that time all pa jobs outside of primary care will require residency + CAQ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarian Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Kinda a long winded post to confirm that its "Fluffery"... Its simply folks with "self-concept" issues seeking more baubles to hang around their necks... When the reality is... if you want to cure that subconscious need for self flagulation for "only being a PA"... you should simply do as Lisa (and many other PA-Cs) has done and enroll in MD/DO school. Personally... I think EVERY PA-C should boycott the CAQ. Taking it only supports it as a "requirement" to validate experience. So you are right... it WILL soon become a "requirement" because you guys have been "bamboozled" into participating. So basically... by taking it... YOU are supporting a situation where a 21 yr old kid who has done NOTHING but sat in classrooms, done some clinicals and happens to be a superb test taker will be considered for positions over those with yrs experience... Why... cause YOUR "test" says they are the most qualified... Yeah... ok... great job!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIPPER Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 yup, I passed too. would have liked to know how many folks took the exam, what my score was, etcthe official score just says "passed" without any other numerical info. now we have to wait to get our caq certificate in the mail. I'm hoping for a low cert #, single digit would be best. hoping for 001 or 007. "why yes, I was the first pa certified to practice emergency medicine in the united states by our national certification body....:) " Nice job. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 30, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 30, 2011 So basically... by taking it... YOU are supporting a situation where a 21 yr old kid who has done NOTHING but sat in classrooms, done some clinicals and happens to be a superb test taker will be considered for positions over those with yrs experience... there is actually a practice requirement to take the exam. new grads are not eligible. you also need acls/atls/pals and an em doc to sign off that you are competent both in general and on a full page of procedures. it's not a great exam but most non-em folks would fail it. I'm sure a lot of good em pa's actually failed it. I think they set the bar too high. with 25 yrs of em experience I had doubts about whether or not I passed it. 10 yrs ago I might have failed it so many em pa's with only 5 yrs experience probably did. it does serve its purpose though. an fp, psych, nephro, ortho, etc pa would certainly fail this exam. a critical care pa like andersen would likely pass it as it seemed to focus more on the critical care aspects of em than anything else. I can understand your feelings about the test. I'm in a position right now in which I was encouraged to take it and it was subsidized(pm me if you want details). I would much prefer more residencies as I think those really do make a better pa, em or otherwise. maybe make the test only available to residency grads. I think that is probably where we are headed anyway. 20 yrs from now every pa will likely be required to do a residency for anything outside of primary care. I can't say that it's a bad idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 30, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 30, 2011 Nice job. Well done. thank you. congrats to devil dog are in order as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamin2baPA Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 So, E: I am up for testing 2013 and this will be my first recert. I have worked my entire PA career in an 85k+ Level I ED. Compete with EM residents for criticals. No procedures. I do see criticals on a fairly regular basis. I have seriously considered specialty testing for the very reasons you listed above. What can a first timer do to prep other than the obvious reading in EM? You said it was a tough and maybe for a hospitalist. Any reading or prep that you can recommend? Thanks and congrats. Hope you get 007! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 they plan on requiring that all residents take and pass it to graduate interesting........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 31, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 31, 2011 So, E: I am up for testing 2013 and this will be my first recert. I have worked my entire PA career in an 85k+ Level I ED. Compete with EM residents for criticals. No procedures. I do see criticals on a fairly regular basis. I have seriously considered specialty testing for the very reasons you listed above. What can a first timer do to prep other than the obvious reading in EM? You said it was a tough and maybe for a hospitalist. Any reading or prep that you can recommend? Thanks and congrats. Hope you get 007! starting in 2012 SEMPA will offer a CAQ prep course taught by experienced em pa's and folks who have taken and passed the CAQ. I didn't study for it at all as I didn't know what to focus on. chances are with a bit of procedures review you would do fine given your experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 31, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 31, 2011 interesting........... acep and em physicians in general are very much in favor of postgrad training in em for pa's and some test to validate this experience. the number of em pa residencies and fellowships has doubled in the last 2 yrs. I believe there are 14 now with more in the works. soon there will definitely be a two tiered hiring system in em; pa's who have not done residency and/or caq will be looking at fast track jobs and those with better credentials will compete for the better jobs. it's happening already with residencies. when I sort cv's those with a residency go higher on the pile than those without in most cases unless the guy without has years of experience. new grad without residency? bottom of the pile sorted by prior experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted December 31, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 31, 2011 certificate just arrived in the mail. it doesn't have any number on it other than our regular nccpa cert # but there is a seal that says "2011 inaugural year" at the bottom center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 1, 2012 Moderator Share Posted January 1, 2012 I have a friend who is pa program faculty who was part of a panel which evaluated the test. they threw out a lot of questions and were asked to decide a passing curve % for each question. who knows how many questions remained after they worked on it.... I would be interested to know the total # they kept( I'm guessing around 100) and the passing % required, what the avg was, how many passed and failed and my specific score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 3, 2012 Moderator Share Posted January 3, 2012 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/02/health/physician-assistants-pass-emergency-medicine-exam/?ref=latest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajnelson Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/02/health/physician-assistants-pass-emergency-medicine-exam/?ref=latest A former EMS buddy of mine used to work Fire/EMS out of that hospital and was always trying to get me to move there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 4, 2012 Moderator Share Posted January 4, 2012 A former EMS buddy of mine used to work Fire/EMS out of that hospital and was always trying to get me to move there! I talked to one of those pa's last yr at sempa(melanie in fact). they were recruiting. I'm thinking of taking a job out there or in vt. with kargiver if I can talk my wife into it....seems ideal.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajnelson Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I talked to one of those pa's last yr at sempa(melanie in fact). they were recruiting. I'm thinking of taking a job out there or in vt. with kargiver if I can talk my wife into it....seems ideal.... I want to get back east eventually, just don't think I want to live in an area that cold and snowy again!! Phoenix sure has spoiled me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janede Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 took it, passed ..studied using materials for ABEM..this exam was pretty steep, tight on time and Im usually a rocket on tests (too much caffeine)..many questions straight out of the PEER review..I also used an online course intrainingprep.com...pretty cheap: registered as a resident..it is a review for the EM in training exam. I wrote a letter to NCCPA after I took it as I think they were a little off on the focus but Id suspect if you work in high acuity, studied and didn't generally freak out, you'd pass...I work in a 120K, high acuity X 16 y ...no guts, no glory :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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