Jbsox24 Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 An 85% first time pass rate on the PANCE for MCPHS class of 2011... Is this a concern or just a fluke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agale Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 The program director addressed that at our interview session. She said that they've adjusted the curriculum to reflect the topics on the PANCE... so say cardio is 15% of the PANCE, so MCPHS increased the time dedicated to cardio. She also said that this year's 3rd-years are already performing significantly better on the PACKRAT that the previous class. She also said that one person failed it by one point and another only failed by 3 points. She may have made one more point about it... but I'm thinking it was just a fluke. I've thought about it a lot... definitely not inconsiderable, but I'm not letting it weigh on my decision too heavily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbsox24 Posted November 19, 2011 Author Share Posted November 19, 2011 Thank you! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wageeslin Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I am a current first year, and am not concerned with the PANCE pass rate of last year at all. MCPHS has put forth MANY changes to insure this does not happen again. They have adjusted curriculum, gotten rid of a few professors, and increased the opportunities available to take practice tests and study sessions. I truly believe it was a fluke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopefulPA Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Just out of curosity how many were in the first class? If the had 100 students then 85 is awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgorynski Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 The class size is 75 students. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopefulPA Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 That is over 10 people failing, I would be concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panelson Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Also remember, they have a new program director appointed and changing the curriculum since last year's class took the PANCE. She has worked with this program for a few years now and since she is now in charge, she wants to make sure this does not happen while she is at the head. After going to the interview session I have decided to go to this program because of how great and fast they have addressed this problem. I have no concerns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MassPA-C Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I would say that the poor pass rate was about 50% of my decision not to attend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLurg1687 Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Same here. I got an interview and decided to not take it. I got into Stony Brook, which has a 97% pass rate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillum003 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Current 1st year and will say that the program turned things around, they now fly in the world's top PANCE instructors for the third years free of charge to insure they preform well on the PANCE. Look at the pass rate this year to increase heavily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverPA Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 This thread worries me just a bit: The fact that the program is being changed quickly to meet higher standards is great but simply to pass the PANCE bothers me. Even more, the fact that the "world's top PANCE instructors" are being flown in to help you increase the pass rate reeks of what I think is going wrong with education anyway; i.e., teaching to the test. I would worry more about getting a good, broad PA education and what will naturally follow is a higher PANCE pass rate. The fact is, those of you in the current year are not necessarily having better PA education but are simply helping to save a program by ensuring a PANCE pass rate, which is not necessarily giving you a better education. I guess what I'm saying is this: make certain you are getting a great PA education and not just going to school to pass the PANCE - two different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillum003 Posted April 11, 2012 Share Posted April 11, 2012 You are changing my words around. I didn't say the curriculum is now based on the PANCE, though if you look into the top 5 programs in the country, their curriculum is heavily based on the PANCE (my twin brother attends Emory's PA program). The PA education here is one of the finest. Yes the school is basing the didactic curriculum around a style that is similar to the PANCE, but that doesn't mean that they aren't teaching us the PA curriculum. Our Pharmacology courses are one of the most intensive courses in the country. We take the exact same class, instructors, notes, and exams as teh Pharmacy kids. Our Gross Anatomy Lecture, notes, labs and exams are instructed by the same professors that teach the course at Harvard Medical School in the same lab the Harvard students use. The rotations are done at some of the world's finest hospitals along with other Harvard medical students (Mass General, Vanguard, Beth Israel, Brigham Women's, Brown University). Our curriculm is one of the finest and continues to improve every year. The fact that the directors fly in world class instructors for the PANCE doesn't doubt our education as PA's, but is a bonus to ensure we are successfull on an exam that we have to pass in order to begin practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jschmitz47 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 To finish up the class-size issue, the class of 2011 in Worcester started with 46 students and ended with 43. My numbers may be off by 1 or 2, this is from memory. Still, 85% is not very good. The class in Worcester expanded quite a bit for the classes of 2012 and later because the school acquired a substantial amount of new space so was able to add lab space, classroom space, and staff. I graduated in the 2011 program, passed the PANCE on my first take, and thought the program prepared me for the PANCE fine. Like almost everything in life - what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanderso17 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I know this is an old, dead, thread. Although, I felt I needed to clarify a few things, to the best of my knowledge. I was a member of this infamous 85% pass rate class in 2011. I passed the first time. I remember actually being very shocked when I saw the results for our class. Someone had mentioned earlier in this thread that the class was 75-100 people. That wasn't the case. Our class was 38, maybe 39 people. The classes after the 2011 class were the groups that saw larger overall class size. That being said, there was some transition during out time at MCPHS. I still feel like our education was outstanding, although we did undergo a change in program director, we also lost a professor due to illness. We found ourselves having to go through a restructuring process, during our third (last) year. The program director who took over at that time, she is absolutely amazing. You can see what her leadership, direction, and plan has done. The pass rates are outstanding. So, all in all, the class of 2011 pass rate (in my humble opinion) was merely a fluke. Not that it really matters anymore, since this is old news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.