casper SURVEY OPEN: 2023 HPSA/SDN Situational Judgment Test Experience survey

[MrSmile12]

If you are an applicant to physician assistant programs and were required to take the Acuity Insights Casper assessment, the Health Professional Student Association (HPSA), the publishers of Student Doctor Network (SDN), wants to hear from you! We know there are over 50 PA programs that are using Casper, but only in the last two years have prehealth advisors focused their attention on situational judgment tests (SJTs) as it is becoming more a necessary part of medical school applications. The Casper assessment has been around at least a decade, and we have been publishing articles about Casper during this time, but we want to hear from you and how your results could play a role in admissions decisions.

Complete the 2023 Situational Judgment Test Experience survey.

The following 55 PA (University) programs in the US have asked applicants to take the Casper assessment (Acuity Insights website)

• AdventHealth
• Alvernia
• Assumption
• Augusta
• Barry
• Boston University
• Brenau
• Chatham
• Clarkson
• College of St. Mary
• Colorado Mesa
• Drury
• Emory and Henry College
• Florida International
• Florida State
• Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady
• Franklin Pierce
• Gannon
• Grand Valley State
• Kettering College
• Lawrence Technological
• LSU Shreveport
• Marietta College
• Marquette
• Marshall
• Mary Baldwin
• Mercer
• Mercy College of Ohio
• Midwestern
• Northwestern College
• Oklahoma State
• Pennsylvania College of Technology
• Pfeiffer
• Quinnipiac
• Randolph-Macon College
• Samuel Merritt
• Stanford
• University of Colorado
• University of Detroit Mercy
• University of Florida
• University of Lynchburg
• University of Michigan Flint
• University of New Mexico
• University of Oklahoma
• University of St. Augustine
• University of Texas Medical Branch
• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• University of Toledo
• University of Utah
• University of Wisconsin LaCrosse
• University of Wisconsin Madison
• UT Health at San Antonio
• Wake Forest
• Wayne State
• West Coast

Currently, I am unaware of data about Casper's use in admissions decisions or its relevance in student affairs or graduation success of PA students (such as the PANCE exam)

Your feedback matters!

We learned a lot about how premed applicants prepared for Casper last year, but there is very limited information from applicants in non-medical professions who have had to take these assessments. Our initial survey suggested a trend that applicants with higher Casper results are preferred. Recently, medical residency applicants are being asked to complete Acuity Insights Assessments, and very little is known about how program directors use these data. Your responses are vital to get objective insights on how admissions committees value the results of these exams.

Given the large number of PA programs that use Casper, we want to hear from as many PA/CASPA applicants as possible. This year saw an expansion of SJTs in medical school admissions, and more information has been made available on preparing for these assessments. We want to stay current with these trends to guide future applicants and students facing these SJTs.

Findings from the 2022 survey align with the NAAHP Testing Task Force report released last summer. This includes concerns about proctoring, consistency of scoring, and concern that applicants are paying for validity research. But we need more student voices to gain a louder voice to advocate for future health professional school applicants.

Your feedback has helped HPSA develop a workshop focused on preparing for SJTs like Casper and PREview. This workshop is part of our Becoming a Student Doctor preparation course, and we have already had some positive results among those who have participated in our mock interview workshops. An updated workshop was presented at the UC Davis Prehealth Conference on October 14, and we welcome opportunities to present the full-length SJT workshop to your campus!

Fill out this survey and help future applicants become providers in their chosen profession!