rickgregory Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 OK. So has anyone started the alternative PANRE? It opened yesterday. How was the difficulty of the questions? Similar to PAkRat, the AAPA review book...Harder? I took the PANRE 2 times already, it seemed difficult but passed both times. How about the alternative? The no studying thing make me WAY nervous. Let's not be specific to what questions...Would not want to mess the pilot up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmj11 Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 I will start it tomorrow. We have already been warned about not saying too much about the questions, but I can give you a general idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbrsmurf Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 I'll probably start on it in March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kang1208 Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Out of curiosity, how are you guys studying/preparing for this PANRE pilot? Although they mentioned it is "walk around knowledge", I suspect it may be more difficult than the conventional PANRE due to the fact that it is like a "take-home" exam? Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickgregory Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 The 2 PANREs I have taken in the past were difficult, especially the last one...Had tons of Pulm (way more than anyone except a pulm doc needs to know). I passed them by a pretty wide margin although it did not feel like it during the test. I'm expecting the Alternative to be NO different. You can study tons of different test questions from many different books/websites, etc. Unless your a PA student, immersed in studying medicine, there is no way a professional PA that is working the amount I work, can take the time or have the energy to study all that info. It's WAY to much and broad. I was in ortho for years while I took my PANREs. I have been an ER PA for 5 years now and studying is just as painful and the practice questions I have reviewed (about 1000) are still to "test specific" or broad. I don't think PAs generally deal with OB, neuro, pulm, cards, ortho, etc in the same practice...Sure family practice/urgent care or ER do, BUT, NOT not in the depth that the PANRE is asking. We will see how the Level 1,2,3 thing goes... Just my opinion, I'm sure there are very smart PAs who can take the PANRE cold and pass easy. Guess that's not me after 18 years of being a PA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 No way would I touch the pilot project after trying the little sample they sent out. Like I know all the ED rules for avoiding a CT scan regardless of my medical index of suspicion. Hardly walking around knowledge for me.I took a review course and then took the PANRE early in the year, just in case. Not that big a hassle for once every decade. Beats death by a thousand cuts.Hopefully they will make the pilot better as they go. Good luck, everyone!Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cideous Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 If we fail it we have another year to take the stupid PANRE....AGAIN for the 5th freaking time......Let's hope I can retire if that happens lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmj11 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I just finished the 1s qt alternative exam. I think it took me 15 minutes. If you don't get 90%, in your sleep, you shouldn't be a PA. That's all I'm saying. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamthePA Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 It's straight forward. I got 3 wrong. 1 in derm (never see derm in hospital), 1 in peds (i am adult hospitalist) and 1 i read too quickly. I could have taken the 3 full minutes and likely gotten the peds and derm one right by googling, but I don't care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joelseff Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I just finished the 1s qt alternative exam. I think it took me 15 minutes. If you don't get 90%, in your sleep, you shouldn't be a PA. That's all I'm saying.Wow that's reassuring. I did well on the PANRE a couple years ago but I admit it was tough and took a review course. I still have 8 yrs to go but hopefully this alternative shakes out. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmj11 Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I have worked for most of the past 35 years in headache medicine. I did not study, I did not do a review course. It is just basic common sense stuff that all PAs should know. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haeriphos Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I just started mine, have done 10 of the questions so far and they're pretty straightforward. I was worried that they would allow someone unfamiliar with the content to just google the answer but I don't get the sense that would work very well. Uptodate is great for confirming an answer or narrowing in on the specifics, but if you're clueless on the question then you probably aren't going to figure it out in the few minutes you have allotted. This is my first PANRE so I don't have anything to compare it to. I've also worked in quite a few different areas of medicine which means I'm definitely not an expert on any of them. Despite that, I haven't had any problem answering them so far. I really like being able to do a handful at a time over the quarter but I wish you could work ahead into future quarters. Doing this for two years is a little daunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBanner Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 On 1/4/2019 at 4:37 PM, jmj11 said: I just finished the 1s qt alternative exam. I think it took me 15 minutes. If you don't get 90%, in your sleep, you shouldn't be a PA. That's all I'm saying. You are a gentleman and a scholar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBanner Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 I just took it, aced it. It took me about an hour but I reviewed every answer. I thought they were PA school-level questions. Most commons, pathognomonics, first-lines, etc. I dont think anyone in the IM/FM/EM realm will have any problems. Long-time specialty PAs may have to do some deft googling. You only have a few minutes per question though. If these are representative of PANRE questions I think I could take it cold and pass by a nice margin. But 25 open-book questions every quarter is such a low burden. You also get immediate feedback which is nice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickgregory Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 Thank you all for the feedback. I'm working a ton so will take it next week and update the forum. Sounds so far that the esoteric specialty questions are not a major factor as in the past! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbrsmurf Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 Wow, so they give you the answers right when you finish? That's nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKPAC Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 Would you guys stop talking about how easy it is! NCCPA is going to make it harder! I thought it was super-hard. Let's tone it down a little! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickgregory Posted January 8, 2019 Author Share Posted January 8, 2019 It was super-hard....How did you do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 I didn't even take it but found it to be very difficult. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbrsmurf Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 There isn't a definition yet of what is "passing" right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmiller3 Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 On 1/7/2019 at 10:53 AM, BruceBanner said: I just took it, aced it. It took me about an hour but I reviewed every answer. I thought they were PA school-level questions. Most commons, pathognomonics, first-lines, etc. I dont think anyone in the IM/FM/EM realm will have any problems. Long-time specialty PAs may have to do some deft googling. You only have a few minutes per question though. If these are representative of PANRE questions I think I could take it cold and pass by a nice margin. But 25 open-book questions every quarter is such a low burden. You also get immediate feedback which is nice. Thanks to you (and everyone else) who has commented. I am in the middle of selling one house and building another, and the stress of this has been weighing on me. Good to know it seems to be straight-forward. What is a passing score? Obviously I have not even watched the video they recommend yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBanner Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 I have no idea what a passing score is, being a pilot I dont think there is one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSUnoles Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 completed mine as well. 2 wrong but one read question wrong the other peds which i havent done since PA school i think its reasonable and for me it beats sitting in a Pearson exam center Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cideous Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Questions are timed which can cut down your ability to look stuff up. Honestly, I thought the questions were not quite as straight forward as I was expecting. I think anyone not in family practice will still struggle with it. (Ortho I'm looking at you...). "Walking around knowledge every PA should know..." I don't think so. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 That's because, despite their best effort to make it plausible, there is virtually nothing that constitutes "walking around knowledge" across the entire spectrum of medicine. This new test is a good step but isn't even close to the final answer which is some kind of CME/Testing hybrid that has remediation in areas of weakness with no risk of losing certification. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.