What Is the Physician Assistant Exam?
The Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) is the certification exam that enables a physician assistant program graduate to obtain state authorization to practice medicine as a physician assistant. The Physician Assistant Exam is the middle step of three steps necessary for physician assistant practice: (1) graduation from an accredited physician assistant educational program; (2) passing the PANCE exam; and (3) obtaining state authorization for physician assistant practice. Physician assistants generally take the PANCE exam after graduation from physician assistant school but before beginning physician assistant practice.
Who Must Take the PANCE Exam?
Every physician assistant graduate of an accredited school, who expects to practice in the U.S., including Guam and the District of Columbia, must generally take and pass the Physician Assistant Exam. Some states offer temporary physician assistant licenses while awaiting the PANCE exam and exam results, but those licenses are generally of a short duration of one year or less. To get a temporary license, you must generally obtain an eligibility letter from PANCE exam officials documenting your PANCE exam qualification and pursuit. You can certainly earn a physician assistant degree without taking the PANCE exam. But you must have state authority to practice as a physician assistant, and all fifty states require passing the PANCE exam to obtain that authority. Passing the PANCE exam qualifies the physician assistant for state authorization to practice. Take and pass the exam, or you won't get to practice as a physician assistant. Retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento if you face exam issues preventing you from practicing as a physician assistant.
PANCE Exam Authority
The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) administers the PANCE exam. NCCPA, a nonprofit organization founded in 1974, is the only professional organization certifying physician assistants within the U.S. Although the National Commission is a private certifying organization, its recognition by all fifty U.S. states for physician assistant practice authorization effectively makes the National Commission a quasi-governmental regulator. The National Commission designs its standards to confirm a physician assistant candidate's clinical knowledge and reasoning, medical skills, and professional behaviors for competent physician assistant practice within the U.S. Retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento to address unfair treatment by National Commission testing officials. Their quasi-governmental authority means that they must generally afford you due process when attempting to deny you PANCE exam testing and passage.
Physician Assistant Certification Duration
Once you've passed the PANCE exam, you've cleared a significant hurdle. Although you will have to recertify every two years after at least one hundred hours of continuing education, your PANCE exam certification is generally good for ten years. Near the end of those ten years, you should take the Physician Assistant National Recertifying Exam (PANRE) to continue in physician assistant practice. The PANRE exam has 240 multiple-choice questions like those on the PANCE exam. National education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento is available to represent you regarding recertification issues.
PANCE Exam Content and Format
Physician assistant graduates take the PANCE exam on computers at testing centers around the U.S. on a year-round basis other than during the late-December holidays. The PANCE exam has 300 multiple-choice questions designed to assess the candidate's medical and surgical knowledge relating to physician assistant practice. The PANCE exam divides its 300 questions into five blocks of sixty questions each. Candidates have sixty minutes to complete each block of sixty questions. Generally, PANCE exam questions cover the body's organ systems, the diagnosis and assessment of their diseases and disorders, and the treatment of those diseases and disorders. The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) publishes a detailed Content Blueprint showing the distribution of questions among medical content and treatment tasks. To further aid examinees in preparing for the PANCE exam, NCCPA also publishes specific physician assistant competencies and offers practice exams.
PANCE Exam Timeline, Process, and Issues
Issues Qualifying for the PANCE Exam
To qualify to sit for the physician assistant exam, you must have graduated from an accredited physician assistant program. You have no clear way around that requirement. Go to an accredited physician assistant school and graduate with clear documentation of your completion of all degree requirements, or you won't generally get to sit for the PANCE exam. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) accredits physician assistant programs nationwide. Graduating from one of the 300 ARC-PA accredited schools should qualify a physician assistant to take the PANCE exam. Retain national education advisor Joseph D. Lento if you face one or more of these issues when attempting to show PANCE exam officials that you graduated in good standing from an ARC-PA accredited physician assistant program:
- the documentation and certification of your graduation by your school;
- your timely and proper transmittal of that document to PANCE exam officials;
- whether your school is, in fact, ARC-PA accredited;
- the timing of your school's ARC-PA accreditation relative to your attendance and graduation;
- graduation transcript holds relating to financial, disciplinary, or other matters preventing your graduation documentation; or
- graduation transcript notations relating to discipline or other matters.
Issues Registering for the PANCE Exam
To take and pass the PANCE exam, you will need to register for the exam on the NCCPA website and pay the registration fee. Beware, though: NCCPA registration requires you to create a personal certification record. Inaccuracies, inconsistencies, or gaps in that record can lead to registration issues. Record scrupulously accurate information relating to your physician assistant school attendance, academic record, and graduation date, and your personally identifying information, including full and correct name, birthdate, address, and other requested information. Don't let registration issues delay your PANCE exam and physician assistant practice authorization. Retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento to represent you on PANCE exam registration issues.
Issues Scheduling the PANCE Exam
Pearson VUE testing centers throughout the U.S. administer the PANCE exam. Within days of registering with NCCPA for the PANCE exam, you should receive an NCCPA acknowledgment letter with instructions for scheduling your exam with Pearson VUE. You will have a three-month eligibility window within which to schedule your PANCE exam at a local Pearson VUE testing center. Don't wait beyond the eligibility period or even near its end when exam dates may no longer be available. When you schedule your test with Pearson VUE, it sends you a confirmation letter with your test date, time, and address. Be sure to appear for the PANCE exam as scheduled. Missed exam dates can cause delays, suspicions, and other issues. Retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento if you face issues scheduling your PANCE exam threatening to prevent or delay your licensure.
Issues Taking the PANCE Exam
Taking any licensing exam can be unnerving. Exam nerves and strict testing conditions, though, can also lead to anomalous behavior and suspicions of exam irregularities. The NCCPA's Policies and Procedures for PA Disciplinary Matters reveal a long list of suspected cheating behaviors around and during the PANCE exam. Pearson VUE proctors or other testing officials, fellow examinees, PANCE exam officials, and even persons outside the exam who hear about or suspect cheating may all contribute to allegations and evidence of wrongdoing or other exam irregularities and issues. To reduce your risk of PANCE exam issues, be sure to follow all PANCE exam rules and procedures. But if you face PANCE exam issues nonetheless, retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento for your best outcome to those issues.
Issues Obtaining PANCE Exam Results
PANCE exam officials indicate that they should post your PANCE exam score to your online account within about two weeks after you complete your exam. You should receive an email notification that your results are available online. You may, though, not see a timely PANCE exam score posted if your account shows any unresolved anomaly during the course of your application, registration, scheduling, exam, or post-exam period. NCCPA officials may instead be investigating those anomalies while you await your exam score beyond the usual two-week period. A disciplinary investigation may be ongoing if you are unable to obtain your PANCE exam score after the usual waiting period and any follow-up inquiries with NCCPA officials, and you have no other explanation for the delay. National education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento can assist examinees when communicating with exam officials over delayed or withheld PANCE exam scores. Don't argue with NCCPA exam officials, and don't respond to inquiries that may be investigatory without first consulting with a skilled and experienced attorney advisor.
Retesting Issues for the PANCE Exam
The PANCE exam, while challenging, generally has a pass rate well above ninety percent. You and most other examinees should pass on a first try. But the NCCPA permits retakes for examinees who fail on the first try or even a subsequent try. NCCPA procedures permit up to six attempts at the PANCE exam within six years before a candidate has exhausted the opportunity. On the other hand, examinees who fail a first or subsequent attempt may not attempt a retake within ninety days of their failed try. NCCPA procedures also limit retakes to three times within a single year. As in the case of obtaining a withheld PANCE exam score, a candidate's inability to qualify for a retake could indicate that NCCPA officials suspect irregularities in the prior attempt. National education advisor Joseph D. Lento is available to advocate and negotiate for your PANCE exam retake opportunity. Get help to preserve your PANCE exam opportunities and your ambition to practice as a physician assistant.
PANCE Exam Investigations
The NCCPA Review and Appeals Department accepts complaints against a physician assistant seeking PANCE exam certification. The NCCPA maintains a complaint procedure for triggering those investigations, indicating again that anyone from a fellow examinee or suspicious acquaintance outside the testing center to test proctors and other exam officials can initiate an investigation. The NCCPA's Policies and Procedures for PA Disciplinary Matters indicate that disciplinary officials will notify the accused candidate in writing of disciplinary charges. But disciplinary officials may complete the bulk of the investigation well before any substantial contact with the candidate. If you are aware of a pending investigation or suspected investigation, you have things you may be able to do to bring exonerating or mitigating evidence before the investigators. But don't attempt to do so on your own. Retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento for skilled and experienced disciplinary representation. Don't make a difficult matter worse on your own.
PANCE Exam Discipline
The NCCPA Review and Appeals Department adjudicate the PANCE exam discipline. The NCCPA's Policies and Procedures for PA Disciplinary Matters grant the Review and Appeals Department sole discretion to determine which matters to pursue and how to pursue them. Generally, though, the same procedures indicate that disciplinary officials will give the accused candidate thirty days to respond to written notice of the disciplinary charges. The procedures do not clearly indicate that the accused candidate will have any other protective procedure, such as a hearing on the charges. But review and appeal of the initial adjudication are possible under another unpublished appeal procedure. The appeal may provide a hearing or other protective procedures. National education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento has the substantial skills and special experience to help you make the best possible response to disciplinary charges and help you effectively navigate these disciplinary procedures. Remember that a disciplinary charge does not necessarily mean a discipline finding. Let attorney advisor Lento help you negotiate or advocate your best possible resolution.
PANCE Exam Discipline
PANCE exam irregularities can lead to serious consequences. The NCCPA's Policies and Procedures for PA Disciplinary Matters expressly authorize disciplinary officials to deny or revoke eligibility, certification, or recertification, temporarily or permanently. Other potential consequences include letters of censure, letters of suspension, orders to retake an examination at a time and place and in a format disciplinary officials determine, refusal to release a PANCE exam score, requiring candidates to wait a specified period of time before reapplying to take the PANCE exam, and recommendation to the NCCPA's Board of Directors to take legal action. Injunctions regarding distributing test materials or otherwise interfering with PANCE exam integrity or procedures may also be possible. Don't underestimate the broad and lasting impact of these consequences.
Premier Education Attorney Advisor Services
Your physician assistant education was obviously a substantial investment for you. Your physician assistant career also has enormous value to you. National education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team can help you protect that investment and preserve that value. They have helped hundreds of students and professionals nationwide successfully overcome education, licensing, and certification issues. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now for skilled and experienced national education attorney advisor representation.
