Studying for and taking the PANCE: My experience

[Aunt Val]

Hi, everyone!  There have been several questions about taking the PANCE lately, so I want to add my experience in the hopes that it will help those who are preparing for it.  I just took it a couple weeks ago, so the experience is still fresh on my mind.

I took a couple of months after I finished school to study before I sat for the exam.  I think that for me, it was good timing, though two months may be too long for others.  I used two main resources:  PANCE Prep Pearls and Rosh Review.  I like both of those and found them to compliment one another well.  I also used Anki for making flashcards, and I listened to podcasts from physicianassistantexamreview.com over all the body systems that I scored low in.  Highly recommend!  Additionally, I took the two NCCPA practice exams to gauge my progress.  They're $50 each, so not cheap, but it was worth it to me to make sure I was on the right track.

Before I started studying, I made a calendar that mapped out what I needed to study each week in order to fit everything in.  A couple of friends and I got together over Zoom in the mornings to study, and then in the afternoons we studied individually.  The accountability of having others who knew my study schedule and expected me to be on our calls was really helpful.  Study time was six days a week (I took Sundays off).

On the two days right before the exam, I didn't study at all but gave my brain a break to rest up for the PANCE "marathon".  It was tempting to want to cram in a few last-minute things, but I decided not to, following the advice of Brian Wallace, the host of physicianassistantexamreview.com.  He only recommends one day off beforehand, but I went ahead and took two just because one of those days was really busy with other things.

On the morning of the exam, I got to the testing center and did their check-in process (wearing a mask, of course).  The exam has 5 sections with 60 questions each, and you get a break between sections.  Toward the middle to end of the second section, my mind started wandering off and I had to stop and refocus.  Same thing happened with the last section.  I finished each part with a few minutes left on the clock.  Some questions were super basic, and some were a lot more challenging.  There were a few that I had to completely guess on.

After the exam, you have to wait up to two weeks to get your score back.  My score report actually came in 3 days; I don't know if that's normal.  And I passed!  Not with as high a score as I had hoped, but passing is all that really matters.

So that's my story.  I hope it's helpful.

[LisaPA]

10 hours ago, Aunt Val said:

Hi, everyone!  There have been several questions about taking the PANCE lately, so I want to add my experience in the hopes that it will help those who are preparing for it.  I just took it a couple weeks ago, so the experience is still fresh on my mind.

I took a couple of months after I finished school to study before I sat for the exam.  I think that for me, it was good timing, though two months may be too long for others.  I used two main resources:  PANCE Prep Pearls and Rosh Review.  I like both of those and found them to compliment one another well.  I also used Anki for making flashcards, and I listened to podcasts from physicianassistantexamreview.com over all the body systems that I scored low in.  Highly recommend!  Additionally, I took the two NCCPA practice exams to gauge my progress.  They're $50 each, so not cheap, but it was worth it to me to make sure I was on the right track.

Before I started studying, I made a calendar that mapped out what I needed to study each week in order to fit everything in.  A couple of friends and I got together over Zoom in the mornings to study, and then in the afternoons we studied individually.  The accountability of having others who knew my study schedule and expected me to be on our calls was really helpful.  Study time was six days a week (I took Sundays off).

On the two days right before the exam, I didn't study at all but gave my brain a break to rest up for the PANCE "marathon".  It was tempting to want to cram in a few last-minute things, but I decided not to, following the advice of Brian Wallace, the host of physicianassistantexamreview.com.  He only recommends one day off beforehand, but I went ahead and took two just because one of those days was really busy with other things.

On the morning of the exam, I got to the testing center and did their check-in process (wearing a mask, of course).  The exam has 5 sections with 60 questions each, and you get a break between sections.  Toward the middle to end of the second section, my mind started wandering off and I had to stop and refocus.  Same thing happened with the last section.  I finished each part with a few minutes left on the clock.  Some questions were super basic, and some were a lot more challenging.  There were a few that I had to completely guess on.

After the exam, you have to wait up to two weeks to get your score back.  My score report actually came in 3 days; I don't know if that's normal.  And I passed!  Not with as high a score as I had hoped, but passing is all that really matters.

So that's my story.  I hope it's helpful.

Took mine this morning. I used similar studying as you. I had 6 weeks of studying. M-F. PPP, rosh, u world (question bank), the final step (by Brian Wallace), PAER. 

I also took Brian’s suggestion of taking the day off before. The morning of, I had the same breakfast I had before every exam of PA school (protein overnight oats and coffee ). I was thankful that while sitting at the computer, the testing center said we didn’t need to wear our masks. I took at least 5 minute break between each section to clear my mind. I also brought snacks to make sure I wasn’t hungry. 
 

Clinical year packrat I got a 145. My first one in didactic was I think in the 130s. I didn’t feel like the worst thing ever once I left the pance. I felt like I struggled on the packrat more. Definite ones I had to guess completely on. Definitely ones I knew 100%. And then a lot I wasn’t 100% but I was able to narrow down and hopefully take an educated guess enough to pass. 
 

Now we play the waiting game. I get nervous since I was one of the lower scoring students in my class, but I feel like I studied a lot for this exam, so I am hoping. 

[Aunt Val]

Thanks for sharing, Lisa. I hope you get your score report soon! 

[LisaPA]

On 9/29/2020 at 3:32 PM, Aunt Val said:

Thanks for sharing, Lisa. I hope you get your score report soon! 

Passed!

[Aunt Val]

Woohoo!!! Congrats!!!