As a medical practitioner, it is important to have a continuing medical education. Here are some studying tips for PANCE (Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam) or PANRE (Physician National Recertifying Exam):

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2014/12/01/studying-tips-to-pass-the-pancepanre/
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14“Hopeforthebest,planfortheworst”
Makesureifyourcertificationisupsoon,don’twait
untilthelastminutetotaketheexam.Intheworst
casescenariothatyoufail,youhavetowait3
monthstotakeitagain,whichcanputyourcareerin
jeopardyifyouareapracticingPA. Giveyourself
enoughtimecushionsothatyoucanretakeit,take
anothercourse,studymoreetc.toensureyoupass
thesecondtimearound.thesecondtimearound.
13
“Sometimesyouavoidchokingwhenyourealizeyou
havebittenoffmorethanyoucanchew.”
Behonestwithyourself.Ifyouarenotreadytotake
theexam,don’tgointoit“hopingforthebest”.This
isdifferentthanbeingnervousorapprehensive
abouttheexam.Deepinside,youknowwhenyou
arenotready.
12“Wheninarut,trustyourgut”
Thisisalsocrucialintimemanagementtoolwhen
youarestuckonadifficultquestion.Manypeople
willhavearightanswerandthenchangeittoa
wrongonebecausetheyfalselydoubtedtheir
choice.Changingitmayworkifyouwereinitially
unsureofthechoiceyoumadeand,throughfurther
reading,younowfeelthereisabetteranswer.But
ifyoustronglybelieveananswerisrightbasedonifyoustronglybelieveananswerisrightbasedon
materialthatyoufeelyouunderstand,thenchances
areyourgutwasright.
11“Answerallofyourquestions.”
Indoingexamquestions,neverleaveanyquestions
unanswered.Answerallofyourquestions.Because
thePANCE/PANREisatimedexam,youshould
practicedoingquestionsinacertainamountoftime,
leavingyourselfaboutaminuteforeachquestionsto
assurethatyouanswerquestionssufficiently.Ifyou
thinkyouhaveananswerbutyouspend10minutes
perseveratingonwhichoneisright,thenyouhavelostperseveratingonwhichoneisright,thenyouhavelost
valuabletimetoanswerotherquestionsforthatone
question,forcingyoutorushyourthoughtprocessin
answeringtheremainingquestions.Soputananswer
downandflagitsothatyoucancomebacktoitatthe
endoftheexamandthenhavealltheremainingtimeto
spendontheflaggedquestionsnowthatyouhave
givenananswertoalloftheotherones.givenananswertoalloftheotherones.
10“Knowwhentorun”
Youneedtoknowabsolutecontraindicationsof
medications.
09“Knowwhentowalkaway.”
Youneedtoknowwhataresomeoftheprecautions
whenusingcertaindrugs,suchasbetablockers
canmaskhypoglycemia.
08“Yougottaknowwhentoholdthem.”
Youalsoneedtoknowwhentheendingsmay
misleadyou.Forexamplemetronidazoleisan
antibioticthatisnotinthesameclassas
fluconazole(anantifungal)orthatbecausemany
antibioticswerederivedfromStreptomyces,some
drugscanhavesimilarendingsbutareindifferent
classes,suchasstreptomycin,vancomycin,
clindamycin,erythromycin.clindamycin,erythromycin.
07“Drugsaregoodforyou”
Remember,pharmacologyis18% oftheboardsand
manystudentsandpractitionersaliketendnottodo
wellonthistopic.Theystressthisonthe
PANCE/PANREbecauseoneofthebenefitsof
beingaPAisourabilitytoprescribemedications.
Wehavetounderstandhowthedrugisworkingfor
thediseaseweareusingitfor,sideeffectstowarn
thepatientsabout(whichoftenarerelatedtothethepatientsabout(whichoftenarerelatedtothe
mechanismofaction),contraindicationsanddrug
interactionssothatwedon’tcauseharmtoour
patientsunknowingly.
06“Learnthosebookslikeyoulearnthosesongs.”
Learnthebuzzwordsbecausetheyareoftenthe
decidingfactorwhenyouareleftwithtwochoices
witharelativelysimilarpresentationorsimilarexam
findings.Alsowhenlearningthem,knowallthe
differentdisordersthatbuzzwordisrelatedtoso
youcanlookforthedifferencestohelpfindtheright
answer.
05“Justbecauseyourfriendsdoitdoesn’tmeanyoucandoittoo!”
Whatweseeanddoinclinicalpracticecanbe
differentthanwhatisonthePANCE/PANRE.The
PANCE/PANREisbasedonstandardsofmedicine.
04“Don’tbeafraidofthelions,tigers,bearsandZEBRAS”
ThePANCE/PANREexamisnotanexambasedon
clinicalexperience.Itisbasedontheexamcontent
andstandardsofpractice.SoforpracticingPA’s,
don’tusethestrategythattheZebras(thediseases
thatarerareincomparedtothehorses)arenot
importanttostudy.Therearecertainhigh-yield
topicsthatcomeupalotonexamsandyouwill
begintonoticethepatternonceyoustartdoingbegintonoticethepatternonceyoustartdoing
questions.
Questionsarehelpfulbecausetheyallowyouto
applywhatyouhavelearnedsothatyouareable
toseewhatyouunderstandandwhatyoustill
strugglewith.Anotherreasonwhyquestionsare
sobeneficialisinunderstandingtheexplanation
ofthecorrectanswers.Sometimeswepickthe
rightanswersforthewrongreasons,whichmay
havegottenusacorrectanswer,butcouldleadhavegottenusacorrectanswer,butcouldlead
toawrongchoiceselectionwhereitcountsmost,
ontheexam.Sowhenyougetananswerright,
stillreadtheexplanationtosolidifythematerial
youalreadyknowandtoseeifyourtrainof
thoughtwasinlinewiththethoughtofthe
questionwriter,whichwillenhanceyourexam
takingtechniques.takingtechniques.
Readingisimportantbecausemoststudentsand
practitionersfailtoreadenoughandthatisthe
foundationtopassing.Inreading,thegoalshould
betomemorizewhatyouneedto.
BONUS
03 “Lookbothwaysbeforeyoucross!!”
Justasimportantasitistosetasidetime,learning
howtodividethatstudytimeisimportantto
maximizetheeffectivenessofyourstudies.Most
peopleareawareofthePANCEblueprintandfor
thoseofyouwhoaren’t,theNCCPAwebsitehas
graciouslyprovideduswithablueprintwhichbreaks
downtheexampercentagebyorgansystems.
TheyevengoonestepfurtherastoprovideuswithTheyevengoonestepfurtherastoprovideuswith
allthedetailsofthethingsthatcomprisethatorgan
system.Soyourstudytimeshouldreflectthat.
02 “Byfailingtoprepare,youarepreparingtofail”–literally!!
Youhavetospendsometimestudyinginorderto
passthePANCEorthePANRE,especiallyforwhat
Icallthe“Silver-StarPA’s”–thosewhohavebeen
practicingover20plusyearsorclosetoretiringbut
stillhavetopassthePANREtocontinuepracticing
(evenifitsonlyforafewmoreyears).Theearlier
youstart,themoretimeyouhavetoprepare.Even
ifitmeansstudyingforthathalfanhourthatittakesifitmeansstudyingforthathalfanhourthatittakes
youtogettoworkonthecommuterrail,orduring
downtimeatworketc.
01
“Yourmoneyistime,sospenditwiselyandyour
playtimeisupwhenthestreetlightscomeon”
AftergraduatingandbeforetakingthePANCE,PA
studentshaveallthetimeintheworldtostudy
(thoughmanyofthemargueagainstthatnotion).
ForpracticingPA’s,freetimeislikeaPinkStar
Diamond,extremelypreciousandexceedinglyrare!!
Sowhenyoudofindthetimetostudy,youhaveto
maximizethattimesothatyougetthemostoutof
thestudytime.thestudytime.
StudyingTipsFor
PANCE/PANRE