Moderator ventana Posted March 7 Moderator Share Posted March 7 6 hours ago, Reality Check 2 said: Makes me look forward to opening the next set of questions…. About like getting a root canal. Maybe I should not have signed up for this. Another sparkling vote of (no) confidence for NCCPA. A few questions I flatly disagreed with. Cookie cutter medicine with out enough clinical info that really make decision. and stop with the childhood illness crap. I don’t do peds! (I feel for all the specialty PA’s forced to take a primary care test!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Umbach Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 If the point of this exam is to make sure we retain the appropriate "walking around knowledge", then what recommendations does the NCCPA have to maintain this knowledge? Anyone have a good strategy for long term maintenance of this knowledge base? I have been in neurosurgery for 25 years and despite doing monthly CME, am finding it progressively harder to sift through these questions and solve them to a level I expect of myself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 20 hours ago, Umbach said: If the point of this exam is to make sure we retain the appropriate "walking around knowledge", then what recommendations does the NCCPA have to maintain this knowledge? Anyone have a good strategy for long term maintenance of this knowledge base? I have been in neurosurgery for 25 years and despite doing monthly CME, am finding it progressively harder to sift through these questions and solve them to a level I expect of myself. The NCCPA has zero evidence recertification does anything to improve the quality of care or make any of us a better provider. The sad truth is they have this entire profession by the short-and-curlies and there is nothing anyone can do about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator True Anomaly Posted March 12 Moderator Share Posted March 12 I’m on my second year of PANRE-LA, and this most recent quarter was the toughest for me as well. Multiple questions that have multiple correct answers that I would get tripped up. But other questions seemed reasonable. Maybe this was a “test question month”. I’m still passing, so to me that’s all that matters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 14 minutes ago, True Anomaly said: I’m still passing, so to me that’s all that matters There is a bigger question... does this test improve outcomes or make anyone a better provider? There is so much passive "that's the way it is". I rode the NCCPA like a rented mule for 10 years and challenged them to justify their existence over and over. I invited Dawn Morton-Rias to my podcast when I was president of PAFT and offered to provide the questions ahead of time and promised I wouldn't deviate from them. Hard questions like "can you prove this improves outcomes?" Nope... the pretty much exact response was "there's no upside to answering these questions." I am retiring in less than 2 years and I work for an org that doesn't require continued certification. I am still taking the PANRE-LA just because I'll probably want to do something after retirement and I'm hedging my bets. I am still frustrated I have to spend my money and my time doing this worthless test. Question everything. Get the NCCPA's foot off your neck. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted March 12 Moderator Share Posted March 12 with a 10 year recert I only have one time left to test.... thank goodness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator True Anomaly Posted March 12 Moderator Share Posted March 12 2 minutes ago, sas5814 said: There is a bigger question... does this test improve outcomes or make anyone a better provider? There is so much passive "that's the way it is". I rode the NCCPA like a rented mule for 10 years and challenged them to justify their existence over and over. I invited Dawn Morton-Rias to my podcast when I was president of PAFT and offered to provide the questions ahead of time and promised I wouldn't deviate from them. Hard questions like "can you prove this improves outcomes?" Nope... the pretty much exact response was "there's no upside to answering these questions." I am retiring in less than 2 years and I work for an org that doesn't require continued certification. I am still taking the PANRE-LA just because I'll probably want to do something after retirement and I'm hedging my bets. I am still frustrated I have to spend my money and my time doing this worthless test. Question everything. Get the NCCPA's foot off your neck. Our re-certification process continues to evolve, but this evolution takes time. How rapidly this whole process evolves is subjective- for some, it’s too slow and for others it’s pretty fast. Maybe some day we won’t have to recertify at all. But that day isn’t today. In my own humble opinion, the re-certification process has gotten better since I became a PA. I have taken the PANRE previously, but I’m not old enough to have taken Pathway 2. Making the PANRE have a home option is at least a step in the right direction to me It’s not perfect, but it will continue to evolve. And I trust that there are enough vocal PAs out there who will continue to push for this whole process to be more fair and equitable So in the meantime….yes, I’m very happy that at least I’m still passing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 I think "better" is a response to years of complaints. It is more reasonable and easier. I like that to my abuser confining themselves to slaps after punching me for years. Its better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Umbach Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Appreciate the input and conversation. Was just curious about others thoughts. I’d been doing reasonably well till this 5th quarter. I would like a reference or text with questions that covers the expected “general news to know knowledge” like the resident ready series. Those books are great but doesn’t seem to help me test much better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted March 12 Moderator Share Posted March 12 I see zero. Zilch. Nada. Benefit to recert to clinical ability. what it is is a money grab. 16000 PA recert yearly $350/each 5.6 million a year. dont think recertifications is anything but a money grab. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 2 hours ago, Umbach said: Appreciate the input and conversation. Was just curious about others thoughts. I’d been doing reasonably well till this 5th quarter. I would like a reference or text with questions that covers the expected “general news to know knowledge” like the resident ready series. Those books are great but doesn’t seem to help me test much better. Because the questions cover such a broad expanse of medicine its really tough to pick a reference (or 2) that would be good study guides. Its likely you'll spend a lot of time reading things that won't be in a question. When I start my questions I have UpToDate and Google and Medscape open on another screen. If I need a clue I start searching. About 90% of the time I find at least something that points me in the right direction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShakaHoo Posted March 12 Author Share Posted March 12 1 hour ago, sas5814 said: Because the questions cover such a broad expanse of medicine its really tough to pick a reference (or 2) that would be good study guides. Its likely you'll spend a lot of time reading things that won't be in a question. When I start my questions I have UpToDate and Google and Medscape open on another screen. If I need a clue I start searching. About 90% of the time I find at least something that points me in the right direction. I have found UpToDate - is by far the best resource (However I believe their information was literally Too Up To Date - for one of the questions - hence what started this thread). I find Google has a lot of awful information - and you can generally support 3/4 answers if you rely on Google as your resource. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 29 minutes ago, ShakaHoo said: I find Google has a lot of awful information - and you can generally support 3/4 answers if you rely on Google as your resource. Yea you have to be careful with Google to make sure the info they send you to is credible. There is a way to only "scholarly" articles but I don't remember how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAAdmission Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 4 hours ago, ventana said: I see zero. Zilch. Nada. Benefit to recert to clinical ability. what it is is a money grab. You can always look at a non-profits 990: https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/national-commission-on-certification-of-physicians,581218672/#form990s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted March 13 Moderator Share Posted March 13 On 3/12/2024 at 5:17 PM, CAAdmission said: You can always look at a non-profits 990: https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/national-commission-on-certification-of-physicians,581218672/#form990s 22 million in revenue...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted March 14 Administrator Share Posted March 14 I love UpToDate, but it is too current, too dense, and not oriented to quick perusing. Wikipedia is better than UpToDate: It's written to be read fast, is adequate enough for most of those questions, and covers pretty much everything you'd want to see. We'll leave it as an exercise for the reader whether the fact that Wikipedia is good for answering PANCE-LA questions is good or bad... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted March 14 Moderator Share Posted March 14 Just saw an interesting post about rather NCCPA used AI to write the questions this 1/4. Would explain a lot. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 14 Moderator Share Posted March 14 7 hours ago, ventana said: Just saw an interesting post about rather NCCPA used AI to write the questions this 1/4. Would explain a lot. Should you travel by train or on Saturday? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShakaHoo Posted April 3 Author Share Posted April 3 Sample questions, completely made up You have a patient who is 45 years old who presents to your clinical for neck pain radiating down the right arm. The patient has no symptoms concerning for myelopathy. The patient reports that they are in 8/10 pain. They are having difficulty sleeping at night. You diagnose the patient with Cervical Radiulopathy. What is the appropriate first treatment modality for treatment of this condition. A) Ibuprofen B) Flexeril C) Gabapentin D) Physical Therapy E) Oxycodone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 5 hours ago, ShakaHoo said: Sample questions, completely made up You have a patient who is 45 years old who presents to your clinical for neck pain radiating down the right arm. The patient has no symptoms concerning for myelopathy. The patient reports that they are in 8/10 pain. They are having difficulty sleeping at night. You diagnose the patient with Cervical Radiulopathy. What is the appropriate first treatment modality for treatment of this condition. A) Ibuprofen B) Flexeril C) Gabapentin D) Physical Therapy E) Oxycodone Well everyone knows that is caused by low Oxycodone titers..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 Just finished this quarter. Still passing but had a bad round. There are WAY too many "what would you do first" questions when 3 or 4 or 5 are all correct things and would likely be done all at once. Many have "what would you do" questions where the correct answer is highly subjective and 2 or 3 of them would all be fine choices and not wrong at all. One mentioned an intensivist. I do not have an intensivist. I have never met an intensivist. The only way to get to an intensivist is after an ER evaluation (generally). I have never worked in a hospital and spent most of my career in primary care in under served areas. The answer to the question is "send them to the ER." Not a choice. It is clear to me many of these questions are being written by people who work in large academic centers or work in specialty care and their idea of "common knowledge" is horribly distorted. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Check 2 Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 I completely agree with Scott. The PANRE LA questions are not based in any "walking knowledge" I have over the past 30 yrs. Finished my quarter as well. One involved a medication as "first choice" for a chronic disease that I have NEVER seen prescribed ever by any specialist of that genre. Had to look the med up to even find out what it is. Another answer choice was the correct answer by all accounts. We need an ADULT PANRE LA. I don't see kids anymore. Also, I don't admit patients. I know who needs to be admitted and I get them to the proper place with proper people. The nuances of their ultimate admit and further disease are not "walking knowledge" of the triaging PCP. Do we ever get to give feedback on these? I am definitely passing but really question the data being pushed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted April 16 Moderator Share Posted April 16 Agree we Scott and RC2 above. Passing as well, but it is a terrible test. A lot of "fist actions" that are done in reality are not even options. I also had to look up a lot of weird meds that I have never heard of ( and I used to teach pharm to first year PA students). Awful test. I think the answer is to allow a CAQ in one's specialty to count for recert purposes. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted April 16 Moderator Share Posted April 16 geez have yet to do this 1/4 not sure I am looking forward to it..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Check 2 Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 But we still don't have an Internal Medicine CAQ....................... We really really really need one. Or let me take the IM National Boards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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