Practice Testing for PANCE Preparation

I’m glad to see you once more! For the last few weeks, we have enjoyed blogs from our consultant, Dr. Medea Valdez, about the purpose and practice of hiring consultants to assist with the accreditation process. I’d like to thank her for providing valuable input to our readers. 

Now, you may recall that over the summer, I taught a PANCE preparation webinar and shared with you some of the main ideas I implement to ensure that PA program graduates are thoroughly prepared for their big standardized test. 

My PANCE Masterclass webinar is targeted to those preparing for the PANCE and includes a ten-week intensive study schedule that can be tailored to meet their needs. Because these blogs are for PA professionals, I share my advice for PANCE preparation so that you may share these ideas with your students as they complete their PA education. High PANCE pass rates from our graduates reflect well on us, too, so whatever we can do to assist our students with making the most of their preparation is no waste of time!

PANCE preparation requires more than just hours of reviewing notes. Self-assessment must be incorporated through practice testing; test-takers ignore it at their own peril. Students who did well in their clinical phase will be knowledgeable about their chosen field's medical aspects. Yet knowing the body's systems is insufficient if test-takers are overly anxious, unpracticed at timed testing, or uncomfortable comprehending lengthy question stems and ignoring lots of distracting data. 

As I have stated before, standardized testing is a skill that can be improved on with practice, and it’s important enough that I devote a significant amount of my webinar to addressing it. 

Most PA graduates are experienced test-takers, but practice testing for the PANCE is necessary because it is more difficult, demanding, and stressful. Familiarizing themselves with the time constraints and the question styles is advantageous even for students who have done well with other testing, such as end-of-rotation exams.

Start with the NCCPA Practice Test One

When it comes time to begin PANCE study, I recommend starting with a baseline NCCPA practice exam. Note that these tests do require a fee.

NCCPA (www.nccpa.net) has two versions of its practice test: Version A and Version B. I have heard that NCCPA may soon include more practice tests. Presently, if preppers exhaust both versions A and B but would like to take another NCCPA practice test, its practice PANRE (Physician Assistant National Recertifying Exam) tests are very close in difficulty and subject matter and are acceptable substitutes.

The NCCPA’s practice exams, which consist of 120 questions, provide a “snapshot” in time, contributing another data source to validate a student’s preparedness to take the PANCE.

Here is an important caveat to consider. The NCCPA practice exams are strong sources for indicating overall readiness, but I recommend looking only at the overall score. An NCCPA practice test is too short to cover readiness in any system. For example, it may only include four questions about the renal system; success on four questions does not indicate thorough knowledge of a subject. Remember that these tests are “big picture” viewpoints. This initial test will give preppers a starting gestalt of their PANCE readiness.

I recommend that the first NCCPA practice test be taken about two months before graduation (or, if not, then definitely prior to beginning study for the PANCE). 

NCCPA Test Two, Before the PANCE

The second exam should be taken one to three weeks before taking the PANCE. The NCCPA provides a feedback report that gives an impression of a student’s performance. These test results provide a valuable viewpoint about where they are in terms of their knowledge and test-taking abilities. 

This second NCCPA practice exam often indicates that a student is sufficiently prepared and has a good chance of passing the PANCE. Note, however, that if the student has not scored well within the NCCPA’s “green” zone on this second practice test, I usually do not recommend proceeding with the PANCE. The risk of failure is too high. I strongly suggest postponing for additional time for study and self-assessment.

Understandably, students may feel impatient when told that their PANCE prospects don’t look good. So, yes, I’ve had many students think that they were “close enough” and proceed with the PANCE, only to experience the disappointment of failing. My webinar includes real-life case studies with examples of NCCPA practice test scores and PANCE outcomes, to illustrate this point. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and one of my greatest pleasures is getting a message from a student I’ve worked with saying, “I passed!”  Therefore, I provide all the information I can to help ensure that outcome.

In my next blog…

I’ll continue discussing the value of practice tests. Many test banks are available for practice, and I’ll share my advice to PANCE preppers on choosing the right one and using it to its full potential. I’ll see you then.

Mark your calendars!

If you’d like to participate in the next presentation of PASS AND EXCEL, we’ll be holding our October session on October 3, 10, 17, and 24, 2025. These live strategic sessions take place on Fridays at 12:00 Noon EST. You can sign up now by clicking the button below to reserve your seat.