Pance Scoring

[Rgmerck]

Hey does anyone know how they are scoring pass/fail now.  I know that 350 used to be but I heard that increased but no actual numbers.  It's like super secret squirrel here!

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

Because it changes with each group. It’s always been around 350, but some people have passed with 320 some have failed at 370. Just depends on how well the group your with does.

[Rgmerck]

I heard from our director that a 350 no longer...needs to be around 400.  Something within 1 standard deviation

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

9 minutes ago, Rgmerck said:

I heard from our director that a 350 no longer...needs to be around 400.  Something within 1 standard deviation

It’s never been a number. A certain percentage will fail, but they just manipulated the numbers to change the scores of all the people who passed to a 350 minimum. So maybe it is 400 now, but that would me they increase the number of people who should fail, or maybe they just changed the calculation. The number means nothing.

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

[Rgmerck]

Just finished PANCE.  Feel like a moron.  Is that normal?

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

3 hours ago, Rgmerck said:

Just finished PANCE.  Feel like a moron.  Is that normal?

Very

[justcurious111]

Im a recent graduate who spoke with my PA dean who is also involved with PAEA. Her response is that the previously PANCE exam was not a hard enough test to be a benchmark. They didn't want to continue the situation with "if you get into PA school then you will become a PA". For that to be the case they adjusted the percentages for each topic to make it more balanced.

They also made the test significantly more difficult than previously so that the national PANCE rate is more closer to 88% than 98%. That's one PA educators take on things. 

[ProSpectre]

3 hours ago, justcurious111 said:

Im a recent graduate who spoke with my PA dean who is also involved with PAEA. Her response is that the previously PANCE exam was not a hard enough test to be a benchmark. They didn't want to continue the situation with "if you get into PA school then you will become a PA". For that to be the case they adjusted the percentages for each topic to make it more balanced.

They also made the test significantly more difficult than previously so that the national PANCE rate is more closer to 88% than 98%. That's one PA educators take on things. 

It's interesting that she says the exam wasn't "hard enough". The 1st time pass rate in 2014 was only 95%, and crept up year by year until it was 98% in 2018. Did they make the exam any easier over that time, or is there a better explanation for the rise in pass rates? 

The national 1st time pass rate for both Step 1 and Step 2 of the USMLE exams is 96% for MDs and 95% for DOs, while Step 3 has a 1st time pass rate of 98% for MDs and 100% for DOs. Are these exams too easy as well? Of course not, students just know they're important and use quality resources to ensure they are prepared. 

My guess is the old PANCE pass rates likely increased as study resources (like Rosh, Kaplan, PPP, etc) got better and students were simply more prepared for the exam. With this new change the pass rates have dropped, but I would bet money that they will slowly creep back up again, just as they have in the past. 

I'm not discounting her comments, I just think this whole re-formatted PANCE is interesting (not just that they changed it, but that they specifically state that they changed it because too many people were passing on their first attempt).