Another Passing the PANCE Topic

[bluesclues]

Hello everyone! Now this is lengthy so beware 

Now I took the PANCE about 1 month coming out of graduating PA school. And I am here to confess I underestimated this taste greatly and overestimated myself as well. 

Before graduating my program gave us a quick run through of all the material that we covered to refresh our memories and draw out our weak points. Great system but I didn’t use it to it’s full potential and unfortunately took advantage of it and substituted it as my "studying month”. So instead of going through the material again on my own I decided only doing practice questions was sufficient for me. I also found comfort in the pass rate for first time PANCE takers and figured there was no way I could land in that small margin of failures.

WRONG.

I failed, as you probably have guessed by now and felt like completely useless and incompetent. I loathed in self pity and cursed myself for about a good week at most before getting back with a plan. 

So once you fail the PANCE you must wait 90 days from your previous test date in order to retake. This is how I used my 90 days:

First 1.5 month: Purely studying and ROSH questions (all 3000+). I made a book that had all the topics PANCE would cover and used it to write down important points (I hate flash cards so it’s up to you to pick your poison). Bottom line is to WRITE IT OUT AND DON'T MEMORIZE. When you fail, there’s clearly a deficiency in your basic knowledge of the material and you have a lot of learning to do and writing is a great tool to help things stick. 

Second 1.5 month: I did questions after questions after questions. And I was referring and adding to my notes throughout this time if I got things wrong or was unaware. As far as question material are. I used 3 main sources aside from ROSH:

1. PA for Dummies: I skimmed through the book and did the questions in between but my main focus was their 300 Q (Full PANCE) at the end which was good.. 
2. Davis: Also focused on the last 300+ Q test at the end. But in this case, reviewing this book is killer, it’s very good at breaking down and connecting ideas together so I would highly recommend this one for critical thinking.
3. PACKRAT’s: there’s plenty online to choose from

• One of my friends had bought HELP which I shared with him but i’m not a fan of their questions. However if you have it, use it for the lectures at least. They organize the important topics well.
• NCCPA has their own practice test but I did not buy it. However it is the best one to get an idea of how the questions are worded.

So in conclusion, I stick by my quartet of ROSH, PA for Dummies, Davis, and PACKRATs.  

Another things I wanted to address is that although I am not someone who’s failed many tests, I still don’t consider myself a great test taker. In fact I may even have some sort of anxiety linked with it. 

Point being, if you have some sort of internal issue, deal with it. Whether that’s through a health professional or practicing your timing or setting, etc. please focus on it and don't avoid it because it will bite you in the ass.

Let me know if anyone has questions. As I forewarned, this was extremely lengthy but i wanted to be as explicit as possible.

Good luck to all current and future test takers, see you on the other side! 

[ak004]

I’m curious, how had you scored on PACKRAT and EOR exams prior to taking PANCE the first time?

[bluesclues]

I was mainly in the 80-85 ranges for EOR and 140s for PACKRAT.

[yertlebertle]

Thanks for sharing, you most likely are talking about the new PANCE, anything you saw the first time around that you really wished you focused on more?

[bluesclues]

22 minutes ago, yertlebertle said:

Thanks for sharing, you most likely are talking about the new PANCE, anything you saw the first time around that you really wished you focused on more?

Yes, both attempts were for the new PANCE.

The main thing, as I emphasized in the OP, was my general lack of prep and review over the topics the first time around.

Was there a particular one? Not necessarily as the PANCE is pretty "well spread" and isnt too heavily based on 1 topic over another. 

[Kristina-M]

Hello to everybody, 

I just took PANCE and passed it on my first try. My biggest advice to everyone would be know PPP book in and out, cover to cover. Yes you can practice Rosh review questions or use other resources but do not rely only on questions, because you will miss minute details that sometimes are tested on PANCE. I studied only for 3 weeks after graduating PA program and passed on my first try! You all worked hard throughout didactic and clinical year and you are ready for this exam. It's really not that bad as long as you know your PPPs. Good luck to everyone prepping for PANCE and taking it soon! You all can do this!