What Assessment Tool is the Best Predictor of Pass Rates for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination?

Authors

James Tkacik, University of LynchburgFollow

Specialty

Clinical Review - DMSc program

Advisor

Professor Laura Witte, PhD, PA-c

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To compare and contrast various assessment tools in Physician Assistant (PA) education to determine which tool is the best predictor for passing the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). At times, a university or PA program may have excessive financial burdens, such as limited funding for purchasing test materials. During this time, a program may need to decrease budgetary spending. Should this occur, is there one test that could be given that has the highest prediction rates of passing the PANCE? In addition, most current examination products correlate to passing PANCE; however, is there a 'best one'?

Method: Performing a literature search using PubMed, ten articles pertaining to this topic serve as the basis for this clinical review.

Results: During a cursory review of the literature revealed no current research identified to compare any difference in predictive values from various examination platforms.

Conclusion: There are many assessment tools in PA education to evaluate passing the PANCE. Two of the three examinations researched for this article have both a positive and negative predictive value. Both the PACKRAT and the PAEA End of Rotation (EOR) examinations show comparable positive and negative predictive values in anticipating the outcome of the PANCE. No information is found for predicting PANCE outcomes using the PAEA End of Curriculum (EOC) examination.

Recommended Citation

Tkacik J. What Assessment Tool is the Best Predictor of Pass Rates for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination?. University of Lynchburg DMSc Doctoral Project Assignment Repository. 2021; 4(1).