In the early part of November 2015, the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) selected a new Physician Assistant National Recertifying Exam (PANRE) model for further exploration and public comment. The NCCPA believes that the new “two-component” model, consisting of the usual secure exam plus a new series of at-home generalist assessments, would better assess PAs’ maintenance of the skills and knowledge that are needed in a rapidly changing field. They further state that, for PAs whose test performance scores are deficient but fall within a defined performance range, the new model would allow PAs to undergo remediation through CME to benefit from additional focused study rather than face retesting or the loss of certification.
The American Academy of PAs (AAPA), which advocates for the more than 104,000 certified PAs in the United States, remains unconvinced about the need for the new model. They believe that the proposed exams will place additional and unnecessary burdens on PAs, employers, and the health care system overall and that competency is better judged at the practice level. We summarize the differences between the current PANRE and the proposed new exam model in the following table:
| Current and PROPOSED PANRE models | ||
| Current PANRE | Proposed PANRE | |
| Certification Maintenance Cycle | 10 years | 10 years |
| Credential Awarded on Successful Completion of the Exam | PAs are awarded a generalist PA-C credential | PAs are awarded a generalist PA-C credential |
| Type of Assessment | Proctored, timed, secure exam | A proctored, timed, secure specialty-focused exam, in combination with periodic take-at-home, open-book generalist exams |
| Exam Content | Broad-based general medicine exam covering all organ systems and the patient lifespan | A specialty-focused exam on the knowledge needed to practice in a safe and effective manner in the PA’s area of practice and broader-based core knowledge exams |
| Scoring System | Pass/fail system based on number of questions answered correctly according to a passing standard recommended by a representative panel of certified PAs | Performance assessed based on number of questions answered correctly according to passing standards recommended by representative panels of PAs; rather than a single pass/fail standard, test includes opportunities for remediation to established levels of performance |
| Relationship to NCCPA’s Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) Program | None | The specialty-focused exam would also satisfy the exam component of the CAQ program requirements for those scoring above an established performance level; PAs would still have to fulfill the program’s other requirements if they desire a CAQ |
The Current PANRE Process
The four-hour (PANRE) includes 240 multiple-choice questions that are administered in four blocks of 60 questions, with 60 minutes to complete each block and with a 15-minute break after each of the first three blocks. The exam covers a breadth of medical and surgical conditions across all organ systems and throughout the human lifespan. The entire exam consists of general medical and surgical questions, but PAs can focus 40% of those questions in one of three areas of their choice: primary care, adult medicine, or surgery.
For decades, certified PAs have been required to take the PANRE in the fifth or sixth year of a six-year certification maintenance cycle. However, in 2014, PAs started transitioning to a ten-year certification maintenance cycle, with the PANRE taken in the ninth or tenth year of each cycle. PAs have up to four opportunities to pass the PANRE in the final two years of each cycle.
Proposed New Recertification Exam Model
The recertification exam in the proposed new model would be made up of two separate components. The first component would be a proctored, timed, secure exam (similar in format to the current PANRE, which is administered at Pearson VUE test centers). The second component would include periodic take-at-home exams to test PAs on the broad base of core knowledge that they should have as generalist-educated providers who are able to change specialties.
The proctored exam would assess PAs’ grasp of the knowledge needed to practice in a safe and effective manner in their specialty area of practice. The NCCPA anticipates that this new test would be shorter in duration than the current four-hour proctored test. Performance on the proctored, specialty-focused exam will fall into several scoring bands: (1) a minimum level below which examinees would be required to retest; (2) a remedial level of performance in which examinees would not retest but would be required to complete continuing medical education (CME) activities related to areas of suggested knowledge deficiency; (3) an intermediate-to-high range in which no remediation would be required; and (4) an exceptional level of performance at which examinees would be eligible for a Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) in that specialty, should they desire to pursue one and if they meet related CME and experiential requirements.
During the take-at-home exams, PAs would be allowed to consult resources (i.e., colleagues or medical textbooks and/or journals) to help determine the correct answers on topics they may not encounter every day in their specialty, just as they do in practice. The NCCPA anticipates that PAs would be given somewhere between three and six weeks to complete a take-at-home exam.
Because of the time it would take to develop these new exams, it would be several years before the new PANRE model would be implemented, if the NCCPA does in fact decide to pursue it.
PAs Concerns and NCCPA Reasoning
It is understandable that some PAs may be feeling uneasy about the newly proposed changes as well as about the rules for certification maintenance in the new ten-year certification maintenance cycle. However, according to NCCPA President and CEO Dawn Morton-Rias, Ed.D., PA-C, the recently announced new PANRE model is necessary because it addresses the significant shift in practice that has taken place throughout the spectrum of health care.
“Our challenge,” says Morton-Rias, “is to reconcile two divergent interests: (1) a desire to preserve the generalist nature of the PA-C credential (which is fundamental to the profession) and the flexibility PAs have to change specialties during their career, and (2) a call from PAs for exams that are more relevant to their current practice. We believe that the model that we are exploring balances those two important concerns.”
The AAPA, however, is not convinced that the new PANRE model would accurately demonstrate competence and expertise in specialties, or that any one test can or should be used as the sole measure of PA expertise. According to AAPA President Jeffrey A. Katz, PA-C, DFAAPA, there is no research that demonstrates that PA recertification exams have a positive impact on patient safety, outcomes, or satisfaction.
“The AAPA wants to ensure that the NCCPA’s proposed specialty exam requirements do not become a de facto threshold for practice or employment,” says Katz. “The AAPA is committed to preserving multiple pathways to demonstrate competence and expertise in specialties. It is well-documented that provider competency is established at the practice level, which is one of the best ways for practitioners to build and maintain expertise in today’s constantly evolving healthcare landscape. For example, in hospitals and other licensed facilities, physicians, PAs, and other providers of medical care are required to undergo a focused, professional performance evaluation to be granted privileges to practice. Such an evaluation may include observation, proctoring, and simulation.”
PAs often state that the ability to move from specialty to specialty is one of the most treasured aspects of their profession. Indeed, according to the NCCPA 2014 Statistical Profile of Certified Physician Assistants, more than 70% of certified PAs practice in specialties other than primary care, and the generalist PA-C credential supports PAs’ flexibility to change specialties during their career. Morton-Rias says that the proctored exam in the new model would provide flexibility to PAs in this regard, allowing them to select an area (from several common specialty areas) that reflects their practice area on this high-stakes exam. Katz, however, believes that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to establish practice-specific proctored exams that are relevant to PA practice across all specialties, subspecialties, and settings because the PA scope of practice in any given specialty or environment varies.
“For example,” says Katz, “it would not be appropriate to test a PA in orthopaedics on all aspects of orthopaedics if that PA focuses exclusively on hip replacement. The process would require an infinitely diverse set of specialty exam options. This is why competency is best assessed at the practice level.”
In choosing the new model, the NCCPA Board was looking for a recertification method that would reflect the consideration that PAs and the NCCPA both desire a recertification exam process that is relevant and meaningful to current and emerging PA practice. In their daily practice, PAs are constantly called upon to recall knowledge, but they also have the opportunity to consult other resources when necessary, and, according to the NCCPA, that fact is reflected in the nature of the proposed new PANRE model. The new model also provides feedback, especially to PAs who test at the marginal level of proficiency, and permits them to complete activities to improve their knowledge base going forward. According to Morton-Rias, this type of learning method tends to be very useful for adult learners who may test at the borderline level.
As the United States’ only certifying organization for PAs, the NCCPA is serious about its obligation to develop PA certification programs and assessment strategies that are aimed at serving the best interests of the public.
“It is reasonable for the public and other key NCCPA stakeholders to expect that PAs are assessed across general or core medical content and within their area of current practice,” says Morton-Rias. “Healthcare continues to become more complex and PAs are becoming increasingly visible and critical to successful delivery of care in every clinical setting and specialty. Modernizing the recertification exam process to reflect the current and future state of practice is an obligation we have to PAs and to all who rely on the certification we confer.”
Katz is in agreement that there is need for PA assessment, but he disagrees with the type of assessment proposed by the NCCPA.
“It is interesting to note that, currently, PAs are the only medical profession that requires an individual to periodically take and pass a high-stakes comprehensive exam to remain certified,” says Katz. “In 24 states, PAs would lose their license to practice medicine or retain prescriptive authority if they did not pass the exam to maintain their certification.”
“What we hear most from PAs is their commitment to practice medicine and provide valued, safe, and quality patient care,” states Katz, “but some PAs who have practiced for 20 years and passed certification twice are talking about retiring simply due to the burden of the exams. In the face of a looming provider shortage, our healthcare system and, more importantly, our patients, cannot afford to lose highly experienced medical practitioners.”
Next Steps in the NCCPA Process
The final decision to adopt the new model is still months away, however, and would only occur after the NCCPA gathers comments from the public.
“We are preparing for a public comment period of several months before the Board makes its final decision, which will be sometime within the second quarter of 2016,” says Morton-Rias. “If the model is approved by the NCCPA Board, it would take a minimum of three to five years to begin to implement changes, giving us all time to adjust and plan.”
The public comment period will officially launch later this month with the publication of a white paper that addresses the year-long process to inform the development of this model and the rationale for the various attributes of this potential new PA recertification exam process.
The exploration of this new model is an ongoing process, and, according to Morton-Rias, the NCCPA wants and needs to hear from PAs and those who rely on the certification that the NCCPA confers on PAs.
Note: To register for the PANRE, you must apply online through the NCCPA.
For information about the need to take a PANRE review course, see the NEJM Knowledge+ blog article “Why and When to Consider Taking a PANRE Review Course”. Many online review courses are available, including the NEJM Knowledge+ Family Medicine Board Review.
The NCCPA is out of touch. They say they conducted a survey and that is how they reached this new proposal…I deal with many PAs and NONE of them are in favor of this convoluted proposal. In fact, most PAs just want to keep the current PANRE. The constant changes that the NCCPA keeps making to CME and now PANRE has truly started to turn PAs off to recertification. Now there is much discussion about dropping certification. Many states do not require PANRE… Just PANCE… Hmmm… May not be a bad idea..
I feel as a PA-C who has been in practice for over 40 years this new exam that is being proposed who create an undue burden on practicing PAs in general. Time for on going education is the PAs responsibility. Going to specific CME courses and staying abreast on current topics and issues in their particular field of interest is their responsibility not AAPA. It should not be grade school mentality of take home open book tests that are not procured and may serve no useful purpose to the individual practice of the PA. CAQ PAs will and should stay abreast of current medical treatments in their specific field of interest and tested in a sit down proctured exam every 10 years. There should also be CME courses specific for their CAQ speciality. Take home exams burden the PA unnecessarily in busy lives with work, family and free time. The take her me exams that are being proposed will not encompass the need of each and every PA. CAQ CME courses specific to their speciality will and should address that issue. Thank you Roy F.C. Parker, PA-C, DFAAPA , CAQ Emergency Medicine
As a PA who has practiced primarily in pediatrics for past 28 years, I welcome the opportunity to be tested on a subject area that is pertinent to my specialty. I see this move reflecting the trend toward more specialized practice for PA’s .Count my vote as a “yea” for the new proposal.
A focused exam will in the future restrict what area any given PA could practice in. Personally I am tired of taking exams that do not focus on clinical practice. PA’s have the burden of work, home and family which is hard on its own. Now we have this new 10 year recert process which is ridiculous. Why do we need to continue to recert when our counterparts do not. I work in a pediatric subspecialty….who is going to formulate a test in my area? There is a global problem with this entire plan.
I agree – out of touch!! My practice is ortho/pain management & rehab. I also practice primary care within this scope. I see post-op total knees, total hips & fractures in the skilled nursing setting. I am in the OR maybe every 6 weeks when I am on call. How will the NCCPA write an exam to test ME??
Seems to me the money should be spent on more opportunities for PA’s…for example, when my long term care patients go hospice I can no longer care for them. NP’s seem to have a better lobbying effort to open opprotunities for them & they are not required to take recertification exams. Maybe the focus should change to SUPPORT the profession??
that is a great point
I too work in both Pain Management and Orthopedic Surgery, and agree that there is no way to write a specialty test for this. I feel far removed from Primary Care for the most part so the current PANRE takes away a great deal of valuable time from my practice, and family life. Interesting that Physician Assistants are the only ones held to this high stakes testing system.
We just had a broad based change to the testing and cme standards that no one I know is happy about. I have plenty of friends who made sure to take the pance prior to the change over just so they did not have to deal with new cme rules. As someone who just finished his first 2 years with the new cme rules, I can say that I felt the performance evaluation program I need was needlessly expensive. I spent more on that 20 hours than on the other 180 hours plus I did. It also felt pointless. The selection pool of options was so small that it was difficult to find something applicable so I did a program on outpatient diabetes care when I work in the ER. Before someone comments on the option for self assessment option about hand offs in the ED, I typically avoid that as much as possible by expediting workups and also often close the area I work in when I leave. Now we are going to make another large sweeping change which appears to only add more time, and probably expense, to an already tedious cme and recert process. I don’t see where the need is coming from aside from a subgroup of pas who don’t want to have study for a generalist test. I also don’t remember getting any surveys about this despite reports of “surveys” being obtained.
I am really tired of all the changes this is getting ridiculous. I agree the Mr. Parker it is all just creating an increase burden on practicing PA’s. The continued changes are beginning to take the appeal of being a PA away. A PA could work in almost any field of medicine at any point in his or her career. With CAQ and specialty certifications will soon force a PA to specialize in one area, and in order to change could be to big a burden. I have practiced in many different fields in my career and have always been excited to be able to take advantage of opportunities into new areas. the NCCPA needs to stop with this game on which organization can test there members better. PA’s a whole do a great job and that is not because the NCCPA test us. PA’s on there own stay up on what is current because it is necessary for patient care. We don’t want or need the NCCPA to try to keep there fingers on us so they can show committee some statistics how there testing and education. Like many organizations sometimes as a group we need to make changes. As whole we can drop the NCCPA and develop a new governing board as the current is completely losing touch with the real practicing PA’s. This occurs throughout the business and medical world from time to time.
First they completely messed up the CME process, and now they want to needlessly complicate the PANRE. If it isn’t broken, why fix it? We have enough hoops to jump through with certification, licensing, DEA, and local credentialing. Please stop this paternalistic certification process. Get rid of the dumb PI-CME and this help you help yourself junk and let us just take whatever Cat I CME we think is best for us, and one good validated exam that tests a minimum level of competence. We have plenty of people telling us how to practice; we don’t need NCCPA adding to our misery.
I could not agree more.
I totally agree
I disagree that the current PANRE isn’t broken. I think any high-stake re-cert testing should go away. There is NO proof that it’s in any way helpful, makes more “safe” providers, or any of those claims. I feel making CAQ a mandatory thing or anything of the such is a HUGE mistake, for numerous reasons.
Can we address the 800 pound gorilla in the room? Why do we have to re-test at all? No other medial profession makes you take the certification test at all. Not nurses, physicians, Resp. Therapist, etc. Only test these other professions take is a recertification exam for their Board specialty. The time, expense, and stress related to taking a test every 10 years is unnecessary. Show me the proof that retaking a test makes me a more competent PA. We all ready have to take 100 hours of CME every two years More than any other profession. This goes more to adding to the feeling that we are second class citizens more than ensuring that we are competent to practice. Just look at all of the sold out test prep classes filled with anxious PAs worries about failing a damn test and losing their livelihood. Enough is enough!. Who wants to take a test at age 65? Does this test your abilities to provide quality patient care? No. Does it test your test taking abilities? Yes. Does it just add unnecessary stress and expense to your life? Most defiantly.
I completely agree with you Mark…I graduated in 1992, and I have worked in family practice and urgent care for 23 years. I am approaching my 4th PANRE with complete dread. I feel more stress about taking the test this year just due to the fact that I have been out of the classroom for so long. If we complete CME, use resources, stay out of malpractice court…why torture us with a huge test that frankly is seeming more and more like specialty boards and less and less like general knowledge. I am not a cardiologist, a pulmonologist, an orthopedist or a dermatologist. If I have patient concerns in those areas, I will refer/defer to the specialists. Even the $400 cost, on top of $295 AAPA dues and $130 CME logging fees seems more like a fund raiser than anything else. I discontinued my membership to my state society because I just dont feel like I’m getting anything out of it…Lots of politics and very little practical information. We really need to work on reform…
Well said!
As a PA who just graduated from my program, I have to say, I have been attempting to follow the changes being made for recertification and CMEs throughout my time in school. I find that the NCCPA is and has been making many changes (CME requirements, CAQs, New PANRE and Specialty Tests), but for what real reason? I have to say, I’m happy to only be worrying about the PANCE at this point and hope the seasoned PA’s who have an opinion on the matter of the new PANRE proposal actually voice their legitimate concerns, so that once it’s my time to step up to the PANRE plate, I am not crushed by the complete inconvenience and countless wasted hours being described here in the responses I have read up until this point. That’s my 2 cents. Thanks for reading.
Interesting times indeed. If we are truly focused on “life long learning” I would suggest that the PANRE be a take home test focused on what a generalist needs to know. Sounds like the old “Pathway II” in a sense yes. When you look at our peers (NPs, MDs) more and more of them are choosing to use continued life long CME (yes focused on self assessment and PI or QI) but more importantly LESS restrictions than we have currently.
We also need more transparency regarding what the NCCPA is doing for our profession rather than developing more testing focus on MOA with academic institutions so that the CAQ’s offer real world value ie advance degree credit. We are not physicians and having advanced training means little without real academic value.
Last but not least lets see the NCCPA and ARC work closely on focusing on PA educators – more and more of them are now academic administrators and do not have time to see patients (is patient safety really being meet with 8 hrs a week in clinical practice?) and the restriction that only PA-C’s can be program directors is outdated and needs a review. As our academic workforce gets older more and more program directors with large academic departments will not remain clinical active.
Yet I applaud the new direction the NCCPA is taking with having a senior academic PA leader at its helm. Lets move forward and be competitive with the other providers out there.
I agree with the new evaluation model. I have never understood how a maximum security exam of multiple choice questions could accurately evaluate a physician assistant’s competency. In the real world, I have never been in a situation where I could not use consultations, references and communication with the patient to help evaluate and treat that patient. National and world studies have shown that multiple choice testing is the least preferred method of testing for knowledge and understanding. I would like to see on site evaluations by NCCPA, then NCCPA could get actual on the job information. But I know that putting someone in a room with nothing on them ie watch, billfold, keys or pen and throwing 240 multiple choice questions at them is easier. If the PANRE as it is now is a good testing method, why doesn’t NCCPA let someone who is not a physician assistant but a good multiple choice test taker have a try at it. I think it’s because they are afraid that that person may pass the test.
NCCPA is listening and actively soliciting input on the proposed PANRE model from certified PAs and other stakeholders including PA societies and associations, patient interest groups, state medical boards and employers through the end of March 2016.
Full details on the new PANRE model are available in the white paper, “Re-examining Recertification for the PA Profession” at: http://www.nccpa.net/Uploads/docs/PANREModelWhitePaper.pdf
We encourage you to read the entire white paper and send us your comments.
I have been in practice for more than 37 yrs. I have, fortunately, never been involved in a malpractice suit.
My employer, for whom I have worked over 12 years, appreciates me. I have fought my way through the early struggles of PA recognition and discrimination only to find that now I have to continue to prove myself to an organization (NCCPA) which has become more of a business than an advocate for my profession! At this stage of my career, I, like most of my fellow PAs, am sick of being hounded by certification requirements and attempts to restrict my practice options by adding more hurdles (CAQs). I have BLS, NCCPA, ACLS, DEA, Massachusetts DEA, 100 CME requirements, increasing dues and now someone’s stupid idea to change the testing rules once again! I should have been Grandfathered in many years ago. Maybe we have NCCPA employees whose only purpose is to generate research; like those changing the ACLS exam and book every 2 years.
Our country is in desperate need of providers and PAs will be sent to the front lines once again during this Crisis. Don’t mess with success.
Just CME’s that’s all….no more TESTS PLS….People have personal lives, families, many other things going on in their lives….Have pity on our lives!!!!
Even dentists don’t need to take exams q 10 years! ONLY CME’S to stay certified!
Pls let’s file a petition with the organization to adopt CME’S only needed!
Thanks.
There is another professional title that represents generalist training and allows the holder to freely change practices throughout the medical career. It is called “physician.” In order to continue to have an MD or DO, physicians do not ever have to take another examination. If they wish to maintain a specialty board certification (which is almost never required to practice) then they may be subject to a recertification process. But even then, should they decide to drop the board cert., they can continue to practice their professions, and even change types of practice or specialty, subject to institutional requirements (hospitals, etc.).
The NCCPA is conflating practice with specialty. If we were to follow the physician model, recertification would only be required for those seeking to obtain and maintain specialty board certifications. The PA is the equivalent of the physician GP. If physicians, or even NPs and nurses, aren’t required to take a comprehensive exam in order to maintain a generalist practice, why should PAs to have to do so?
I agree with almost all comments posted. It does seem a little strange that we are the only profession being tested for recertification. The process is timely and costly and with the shortage of health care providers it creates an environment of less health care to the patients we serve. The undo stress it puts on us is unfair, not to mention the continued costs. The NCCPA should truly consider and value the steps that are already in place to ensure our capabilities as professionals who truly care about the patients we serve. A paper test in no way can truly evaluate a persons knowledge. All we do is study for hours, cram our heads with a lot of information we won’t use, and for what?
I believe the recertification test should be dropped and continued CME and evaluation through the credentialing process should suffice.
I agree with other comments that there already are too many changes just regarding CME, and now they want to change the exam. I’ve been a PA for 20 years, and I’m still trying to figure out the new types of CME. How many practicing PA’s are on these NCCPA committees, because they are really out of touch with how busy we already are. Many good, experienced PA’s are going to retire early or leave medicine because of these increasingly burdensome requirements (possibly myself included).
I agree; take the PANCE test once and no recertification exam please. Sometimes I wonder why I pay my dues if the NCCPA doesn’t listen to its own members. I’ve been a PA for over ten years and dread taking the PANRE again and risk potentially being out of work. NP’s take one test and they are done, maybe we should follow this model. I think keeping up with CME’s is enough.
I agree with most of the comments above. The CME requirements are becoming burdensome to the point of ridiculousness!!! 10 year cycles, PE, SA, CAQs, take home exams, PANRE?? Throughout the course of these comments, many EXCELLENT points have been made and I hope that they are being forwarded to NCCPA leadership.
1. If we are medically modeled after the physicians, why aren’t we completing MOCs like they are?
2. Hounding us to complete more and different CME will only decrease our numbers
3. If the new CMEs types and the PANRE don’t cause older PAs to leave practice in disgust, it stands a good chance of failing existing specialty PAs out of practice…who are SUPERSTARS at what they do. It’s happened twice in my hospital already.
4. If we must have a PANRE, I feel the new model is probably better
5. Once in practice, collaboration is key. I had many mentors tell me, “You don’t have to memorize all this stuff, you’ll only use it once per year, just know where to find it when you need it!!”
6. Even ACLS, PALS and BLS have gone away from memorizing the “Mega code”, for best outcomes, you read the card, wouldn’t that be a take home test as well??
7. How much of all this PANRE re-cert requirement is financially driven?
8. My recommendation is we just complete our CMEs and junk the PANRE.
Kirby Meyer
PA-C MPAS DFAAPA
I couldn’t agree more with most of the comments above! I’v been working in Allergy , asthma and immunology almost 10 years now needless to say I’ll be lucky to have one question on the boards in that specialty! I have four kids at home and and extremely hectic life I honestly don’t know where to begin to study I feel like I have to go back to school all over again because most thing on exam are not related to what I do day to day . I feel like the base knowledge I need to practice I got in school! This add extreme amount of pressure on everyone me , my family my job and patients as well as my employer and patients will suffer. I will need to take time of to study etc… and of course there’s a financial aspect!. After all this is done this will benefit no one because once again I will not use 99%of this knowledge in my scope of practice. I think doing cme in my disapline should be sufficient and I’ll be more then happy to learn something about what I do that may help my patients . No other health care professionals go through just grueling process and neither should we , pa school was enough.
I agree. Please read my comment below.
This entire recertification process has become nothing but a headache. It appears that it is a divisive way of preserving the “cash cow” and that’s it folks! Just calculate the enormous amount of money this process brings to the NCCPA. We got into the profession and sat for the PANCE after passing the arduous training x 2 years which in itself should boldly display one’s tenacity and dedication. Our working colleagues, MD’s, PA,s NP’s and our patients are the true judges of our competence. For G-D’s sake, if we are competent enough to do our daily jobs, not cause harm and positively contribute to our patients care, why then is a PANRE or a convoluted, diluted and needless complex recertification process being continued at all? I will tell you why. It’s about extracting dollars from our pockets year after year and holding us hostage with a high stakes / all or nothing ridiculous proctored exam that serves no good purpose. Now the 10 year recertification model is thrown at us. WOW! Look what they cooked up now. Folks, the NCCPA will not give this stuff up easily. They will fight this to the bitter end and are likely very pissed off that they were challenged. We peeked behind the curtain and saw the wizard. I am approaching my 14th year of practice in a small sub-specialty that I am very proficient at, respected by all of my MD/PA colleagues/ patients, never had a problem with malpractice/questionable medical decision making and just passed my 2nd PANRE in my career. I don’t think that I will have the desire to prepare for it again in 10 years. Spent a lot of cash on the NEMJ course which was nothing more than all PA classes into one 6 inch 3 ring binder. The anxiety and sleeplessness that went on before and after are indescribable. I hope that the AAPA will help us shoot this recertification thing down once and for all.
I’ve been practicing as a PA since 2001. I haven’t even reached the point to where I’m on an Q10 year PANRE yet. My next PANRE is due in 2019 and have yet to go q10 years before yet another new proposal is being made to change the process again? Think about it NCCPA! Obviously you seem to have no confidence in any of your proposals or changes, otherwise you wouldn’t be considering another change after only a few years. California does not mandate recertification to practice. Maybe it’s time to say goodbye to the “C”.
This entire PA recertification process has gotten so diluted and “out of control” that it is turning off potential PA’s from pursuing PA school. NCCPA has really started a “war” with us and there was absolutely no reason to open up the so called can of worms. They should have left well enough alone, not changed the structure of the PANRE during 2011 and kept things “nice”. It was enough to have to accrue 100 CME Q 2 years and chase down other requirement to stay “certified”. They should be more concerned that their “stakeholders” are their fellow PA’s that feed them the cold hard cash in form of PANCE/PANRE fees and other costs to practice. As far as I see it, once PANCE is satisfied, CME should continue in some fashion but the PANRE should be dissolved. It serves to pull in big dollars that could be spent in better places. The stress and anxiety and high stakes exam to continue with practice is nothing more than a punishment. It gives the profession a bad name.
Create a new recertifying body. That’s becoming the general consensus. The nccpa represents the nccpa under the guise they are protecting the public from P.A.’s. The panre should have been discontinued years ago. Because it’s a cash cow for the nccpa they will not give it up without a fight. Fortunately P.A’s across the country are realizing no other health care provider requires retesting for life. Certainly no other Healthcare profession requires MOC coupled to MOL. Drop the panre, cme only for recertification. In the meantime join AAPA huddle and stay informed.
My wife is a NP. She is not required to recertify. She is as smart as I am…LOL.
This whole recertification is a joke. Making money for a lot of folks out there. All these companies making tons of money and it seems like there is more popping up every time you Google PANCE/PANRE classes.I Just took PANRE and had to go through hell juggling between studying, working two jobs, and taking care of 4 kids. I am glad that PA’s are speaking up. Please drop the recertification exam or even I would be happy with take home exams every 10 years. PA’s rule!
I agree with James. Drop the test.
Join AAPA and support the move to create a new recertifying body that will require CME ONLY for recertification. The nccpa has proven disingenuous at the least. The perpetual lie that retesting is the only way to stay competent is being exposed. There is a HUGE industry that feeds financially off of the nccpa and directly P.A.’s that are forced to purchase these expensive courses just to take an irrelevant exam. Voice your opinion on the AAPA HUDDLE! There are more P.A.’s unhappy with retesting for life than the nccpa reports.
I was treated more like a Professional as a Paramedic (requiring CME not re-testing) than I have been as a PA. All these changes by the ‘Draconian’ NCCPA are not just ridiculous but they are demeaning to all of us as professionals. I am perfectly capable, as a Professional, to make sure I KNOW WHAT THE HELL I am doing taking care of my patients in the Emergency Department as I have done. I have the respect of all the Physicians I work with (I even tasked with teaching residents when they rotate through) so now I am demeaned to have to prove myself through these burdensome requirements. I certainly hope the AAPA wins this fight and/or we establish a new certifying body that is MORE REASONABLE!! If that doesn’t occur I am leaving the profession due to stress I don’t need and will return to work as a Firefighter/Paramedic, at least there I have union protection from Extreme Change of Working Conditions. Just what Healthcare needs, another PA frustrated and throwing the towel in….
Count me with the vast majority (I’m sure) of practicing PA’s in any field and across the vast spectrum who feel that high stakes recertification testing of any kind should be done away with immediately. As was mentioned, we are the only high level providers who are required to do such a thing in addition to the perfectly reasonable formal requirements for CME and the sometimes more formal and often more stringent requirements of our employers to stay up to date with knowledge and skills just to practice. To maintain the generalist foundation and wealth of knowledge within every PA? Is this the reason? Well that simply does not accommodate everyone equally. We aren’t all generalists and this foundation can easily be ensured through required CME just like it is with other professions. We are constantly assessed formally and informally from my experience on the job and this totally is appropriate. The pass/fail standard is employed/unemployed. Patient safety is not the purpose, otherwise we would be assessed much more often. I see this sort of testing as an unnessesary and unfair and often extreme stressor for all PA’s who are not fresh out of school and on an equal playing field. There is absolutely no way to accommodate every specialty equally across the board. How can it be guarateed that the specialty specific exam for one PA is equally challenging and as accurate in assessing their expertise and skill in their field as the speciality exam for another PA? Conversely, how can you fairly assess a PA who has been practicing 100% outside Primary Care next to a PA who has worked in Family Med their whole career? We aren’t all the same. I feel it is very expensive to test and potentially retest. It is time consuming away from work and family. I don’t blame some PA’s for preferring to retire than test again. So much is riding on these recertifications. Yes, our ability to practice, but also our pride. These can be devistating results for a PA who falls short when the fact may be rather that the PA is profoundly skilled and more than capable to perform their duties within their field. I feel it is a shame. Certify us once, require all you like in CME and on the job assessments to maintain employment…but don’t make the maintaining of certification within our field an unnecessary burden. Example. I am also a nationally certified Paramedic. Even I don’t have to recertify to work major medical and traumatic emergencies in the field. Surely, I maintain my knowledge and skills in my field. But to require me to prove I am capable or loose my job? The proof is the job! I wonder, how much of the recertification process for PA’s is for political purposes, power, and how much is for financial gains. I guess they think we’re blind to it. I am a BIG NO on a formal recertification exam.
About the PANRE:
I recently learned that there are many states, who do not require PANRE, (21 states if I counted correctly). Having given this much thought, I am convinced that a re-cert exam, sitting in front of a computer, is ONLY a very deep stresser, of which only TAKES AWAY from a PA’s functions as a working PA, especially if working full time. Also, the potential extreme outcome if one didn’t pass by the dead-line, in a state requiring the PANRE is just unbelievable. I’ve recently read some accounts of PAs, who had worked for many years, were very well-respected, esteemed, talented, and did very well at their job, who actually lost their license in their state and their job. It just shouldn’t be this extreme! The very certification body, who gives the original test and certification, is that same body, who can take away your very career–even if doing very well–if not passing an other test years later…it’s just insane to me. The AAPA has challenged the NCCPA that there shouldn’t be a re-cert exam. The AAPA also stated that the exam does not measure one’s clinical abilities at all. I wholeheartedly agree. I’m all for life-long learning in our career and keeping up CMEs, etc.. but to place such a deeply uprooting, career-killing end-result if not passed is absurd.
Correction: There are currently 20 states in the US that require the PANRE / re-cert exam / re-cert of NCCPA. So, the majority of US states that DO NOT require re-cert has been growing, which is awesome. The AAPA has rightfully been trying to get the state boards of medicine to stop requiring the re-cert / PANRE. Bravo AAPA !!!
ANY re-cert exam that can literally cause one to be suddenly irradiated from their job, despite how long there for, or how much that person had excelled in that position, is off-the-chart-madness and cruel. Anything I can do moving forward to get my state to do away with the requirement for re-cert, I WILL DO.
In reply to Malcolm.
Very true indeed. The NCCPA borders on organized crime. The PANRE is nothing but a cash cow and should be retired once and for all. Just look at the numerous amount of time you can take it in the ninth and tenth year. It’s absolutely insane and makes the PA profession unpopular. Many are avoiding PA programs as we speak. It has become the career to avoid. NP’s have become more popular. Thanks NCCPA for all your support.
After practicing successfully for 27 years in an orthopedic P.A. practice specializing in total joint replacements I failed to pass the panre by 1 question. Always recertified through the pathways II. That was my third panre attempt. Each exam my score improved. I only got better at test taking and guessing. Perhaps all the time in studying, away from my wife and young family increased my knowledge of superfluous, irrelevant information. After a long family crying session and an even more difficult decision, my wife and I decided it wasn’t worth the long hours away from my children and sleepless nights to make another attempt at this career ending, profession strangling exam. Not to mention all the time and expense on courses and practice exams.The nccpa offered no remediation only an email to retest in 90 days. Lost my career over an irrelevant test. My physician is devastated and still hasn’t replaced me as hope I will reconsider and retest. I loved my job. Patients still 6 months later send me cards, texts expressing how much they miss me. Ironically other P.A.’s still feel comfortable enough to call and ask ME (a non-certified P.A.) clinical advice rather than their supervising physician. I’m currently helping to train a new P.A. graduate in my current role as a surgical tech.. My state has been labeled THE worse state to work in as a P.A.. I agree. No certification in kentucky means no license. The next time someone suggests P.A.’s should be retested to prove ourselves competent, ask to who should we prove this to. Some corrupt agency that’s managed (very insidiously) to position themselves between us and our physicians, the state medical boards, the insurance companies? I empathize with Santo the 70 year old gentleman that is struggling with this terrible test. I must now find a way to not lose my home also. Im almost 60 years old. My first career was a mechanical engineer. Im not a stranger to learning. Never thought I would be in this situation. I pray for Santo and all who are in this boat. I’m certain there’s more like me but because of embarrassment, shame, feeling of failure for the first time in our lives, we just don’t talk about it. Other P.A.’s in the same boat I’ve corresponded with also speak of the depression aspect. Those who say “if I have to pass some irrelevant exam to work, so should you”, I say NONE of us should be forced to pass an EXAM after 20 years of successful, SAFE, practice.I’ll stop there. I thank all who have posted support for those of us in this predicament. I hope change is coming for the sake of this profession.
This thread started a while ago. There’s been so much going on with NCCPA and potential changes recently. Many/most of us here got the NCCPA email that self assessment is done and that all those massive changes are not going to happen. The letter from the NCCPA stated that they’re going to move to a PANRE of core knowledge only, which will be evolving to over the nest few years.
How did this huge retraction happen? I believe all the massive changes would have absolutely happened–if it were not for the AAPA going to bat for us!
From what I’ve read, the AAPA really got in the NCCPA’s face and advocated for no changes and, in fact, the AAPA stated that there really shouldn’t be a high-stake re-cert exam at all.
As I read though some of this stuff, it became even more clear that the NCCPA was a force that of which had developed a lot (too much) of autonomy and wasn’t really accountable in a sense. NCCPA claimed to be wanting PAs to voice their opinions, however, I firmly believe the NCCPA would push through whatever they pleased despite what PAs say. The culture is very thick with the NCCPA…very!
The AAPA had to really get in NCCPA’s face to get any type of reasonable dialogue, yet, when I read the accounts on the NCCPA’s website and other news, the NCCPA were highly biased and even super whinny that, in fact, at a few points, I felt as though I was reading a prideful child’s responses. The NCCPA had posted things like, […the AAPA keeps asking us to show research and proof that a re-cert exam measures one’s clinical abilities…]. (to paraphrase). The NCCPA’s culture and posture is prideful, arrogant, and has become a system, of which is self-serving and unyielding to the very profession it claims to ‘support.’ I also am not sure the stats the NCCPA renders are really true. If there was such a high pass rate of the PANRE, why do I continue to come across so many PAs, who’s lost their job directly do to PANRE failure? hmmm… Again, who is the NCCPA accountable to??? …anybody? anybody? .. Bueller? ..Bueller?
There was apparently a big pow-wow with NCCPA, AAPA, and ARC-PA not long ago. THIS is how the changes came into play, as far as the NCCPA pulling back all the huge changes. I am convinced that if somebody didn’t step in it would absolutely have happened.
On a side note: this is the very first time I’ve actually ever really appreciated this level of advocacy of PAs by the AAPA, of which I am grateful.
I do feel that our profession perhaps needed to ‘prove itself’ at the profession’s beginnings and to set us apart as competent to those, who were either scrutinizing us and/or even allowed the profession to come into existence, like the AMA. However, the PA profession certainly has proven itself over the years and the evolution speaks for itself. I do feel that there’s just a strong level of traditionalism steeped in the NCCPA from early times as well.
I very strongly feel that there is absolutely no need to be set apart from all other medical professions and that a high stakes re-cert exam should absolutely be exterminated. Some type of re-certification process is not even needed. Even if some type of re-cert process was maintained, certainly a high stakes exam that can pluck an otherwise great PA out of their livelihood should be looked at as criminal and inhumane and done away with entirely. It is beyond absurd that it’s continued to be allowed over the years.
To read, and hear, stories of PAs, who have been practicing for years, and done very well and had no identifiable reason that they were in any way “unsafe” clinicians, yet suddenly irradiated from their license, jobs, and even livelihood, of which they worked so hard for over years, is beyond heartbreaking.
I’m 52 and have been practicing in Orthopedics ever since I graduated with honors from a well-respected master’s PA program. I passed the PANCE at 1st attempt and all prior PANREs. I have excelled in my position. I am highly trusted from the MDs I work with and that includes to be alone in the clinic. I’ve been at the same job for many years and was the only PA until recently and now there are several PAs. I paved the way in my office and company of how a PA should work and earned the respect of many. I’ve proven to be competent and only grew in my abilities. We’re taught to “know our limits” and I have not been caviler.
I just failed my 1st PANRE ever and I have only 2 weeks to retake it and, if don’t pass, I will be absolutely added to those among us, who’ve been strong PAs and yet, just because of a computer exam, will be harshly irradiated from my job and very livelihood. It is a stress that is truly deeply immense and I’ve no words for. Literally, in 2 weeks, (or 3 ish when I get the results), it will determine my very fate. This is absolutely soul-wrenchingly horrible. I’ve a wife and 2 daughters and I’m the bread-winner. There’s no doubt that I’ll lose my home and face this awful humiliation and I feel is so needless and horrific. This is the “big gorilla in the room” (as stated in an earlier post).
The NCCPA pridefully claim that their “research” shows that a re-cert exam makes PAs safer. I’m sorry but, that is absolute bull. NCCPA clings to old concepts when we were establishing the profession. Certainly, we’ve proven ourselves. It’s clear to me that the NCCPA needs to evolve with our profession and, yet, has not. Who is the NCCPA accountable to???? If it wasn’t for the recent heated debates with the AAPA and ARC-PA, the NCCPA would NOT have yielded to our profession’s needs and what serves the profession better…I am very convinced of that.
If I pass the PANRE these next couple weeks, if there aren’t changes over the next several years, I will absolutely be looking into what else I can do for career change. I am not going to allow myself this horrific stress again–ever–if I have anything to do with it.
I’m strongly against a high stakes re-cert exam. If I pass this PANRE, I will absolutely fight very hard–at the very least–to get the high stakes re-cert exam irradiated at the state level with the state board of medicine. Currently, there are only 20 states that require it. How about we all fight for this?
Meanwhile, please be a strong voice to the AAPA and ARC-PA and write letters / emails.
In reply to Mike.
To the PAs that have lost their jobs because the didn’t pass the PANRE:
1) You should sue the NCCPA for loss of revenue
2) You should petition your State legislators to change, like we did in California, that you don’t need the “C” to practice. Just CME’s (50 in California) and then renew your license .Losing your job is over this stupid test , wait let me think of a politically correct term…hmmmm. Oh yeah, Bullshit.
In reply to H. PA-C.
Good luck on your recert! I am scheduled to take my exam next thursday. I graduated in 1992 and have been working as a PA for 25 years. I am terrified of failing the exam this time around. Although I work in a general medicine environment, I feel like there is so much new information in the study guides it’s almost as if I never even finished a PA program. The only difference between you and I is that I still have a full year to recert if I fail the first time.
Thanks Laura.. much appreciated. Good luck to you. I wish I had a year to re-take. I actually had plans to prepare much earlier but had 2 deaths of key family members, of which both of them made me executor of their estates and between that and working a ton of hours, I wasn’t able to.
Having practiced for 25 years in Women’s Health, and completing the PWII twice before, taking the PANRE was absolutely the most challenging and stressful thing I’ve done in all of those 25 years. I attended a brutal 45 hr review course that provided a 2 hr practice exam every night. For a week, I did nothing but absorb facts and associations that were thrown at me rapidly and completed 480 questions in addition to what I had done on my own. And I felt that it helped with 15% of the exam only!!! How humiliating it will be to learn if I did not pass after excelling at my position all these years. The exam was nothing short of torture. So many lengthy vignettes!! I could barely finish on time! So now I’m in the dreaded two week wait. NCCPA – bring back some version of the take home!!!! I learned so much by consulting with specialists about questions and doing the research on the questions! I actually enjoyed the process despite the 30 hours I put in to it each time!!! I agree with some of the comments above. I walked away from the PANRE very angry – that several of the NPs I work with and share the same job duties, are not required to complete such a daunting task, nor do they even come close to our required CME’s. I’m still having nightmares about those questions, many of which would not ever be experienced in the primary care setting! Most of us are not employed in the ER or by a hospital! Obviously it is my choice to specialize, and I do stay current with an occassional conference that is generalized, but I have a passion about what I do and there literally were 2 questions on the entire PANRE that represented the knowledge I have acquired from my position. Maybe I’ll be wealthy enough in 10 years to retire so I can avoid this experience again.
In reply to wendy.
Wendy, I feel your pain, anxiety, and most recently your anger. I am so sorry you or any of us have to go through this.This test is so out of touch with our profession it has become a detriment to recruiting new students and competing with np’s.. I will spend the next 10 years speaking out with others to abolish the panre. I will change professions before I take this test again. The sad reality is a certified surgical first assistant has more independent practice freedom with less recertification requirements and the ability to collect comparable and in some cases more reimbursement than a p.a. and do so with less training. I pray you passed this irrelevant, money grabbing test and have 10 years to practice without harassment from the nccpa. Also I pray that the AAPA can create a new certifying body and bring us more in line with n.p.’s who are expanding and filling positions historically held by p.a.’s. Wendy please know this, no matter what your test results are, your competency is NOT based on this out of date test.
In reply to wendy.
The more I practice and go through this God-awful re-cert process, namely, the god-forsaken PANRE, I feel it is SUCH a huge scam. Why do most PAs just sit back and take it?! Why haven’t we figured out that, we constitute a VERY large number and should work–collectively–against this travesty??!!
I can’t stand hearing all the stories like Wendy’s. We work very hard…work a lot of hours…and, we tend to excel at our jobs, with perhaps few exceptions. I know I work a ton of hours, take call and on weekends, I am working around the clock.. It is simply UNREASONABLE (at a minimum), for us to have to take so much time and spend so much money to prepare for this god-awful test. …but a test that holds our very job over our head is just something I did not appreciate as so awful when I was in PA school b/c I just wanted to be one and do it.
I really love what I do and I am very good at it. Among all the PAs in my practice, the surgeons have told the administration numerous times that I am the exemplary one out of all PAs in the practice. (The surgeon’s words, not mine).
I recently went to a CME conference and there were a lot, I mean a lot, who didn’t pass PANRE.
In all honesty, I do not believe the data the NCCPA puts out about pass rates. The PANRE pass rate in 2016 is pretty high.. so… hmm… why are there so many, who didn’t pass? hmm… Ya know, when money is involved, it doesn’t take much for a company to become corrupt and dishonest and falsify data. The NCCPA doesn’t seem to really be accountable to anyone so, yeah… I think they can say anything they want to. Some of my colleagues have a lot of respect for the NCCPA but, I don’t blindly trust but critically think about it.
I totally agree with Mike PA-C.. If I pass this round of PANRE, I am absolutely going to be fighting this tooth and nail the next 10 years. My only fear is that many PAs will just continue to roll over and take it and not fight. Me and a few PAs in my state are planning on getting the state board of medicine to discontinue the current requirement for PANRE to maintain state license, once the PANCE has been passed. There’s currently only 20 states that do require the PANRE. I found out that the NCCPA is visiting state boards to get that number back up. Ugh.. it’s like a fight. I absolutely HATE that they’re preaching a big lie that we’re “safer” by taking this re-cert exam..SUCH BS!!!! I will also be doubling my efforts to be a squeaky wheel trying to get the AAPA to create a new re-cert process!!!! The AAPA is against high-stakes re-cert exam.
It’s interesting… the only PAs, I’ve ever heard saying things like, “stop complaining, the PANRE isn’t that bad, just take it every 10 years” or, “we need it to be able to make moves to different areas of medicine” are PAs, who either don’t practice, teach, or work in ER, hospitalist, or general medicine. C’mon PAs, who say this… our profession has evolved.. over 75 percent of us now work in specialties. We have evolved. Our re-cert process NEEDS to evolve as well and become something that is actually REASONABLE and ATTAINABLE with out taking such huge chunks of time away from our work, families, etc, etc..
In no way am I taking the victim mentality position here…no way. I’m growing deeper convictions how this process is in need of a significant change.
In reply to MIke PA-c.
I’ve always felt that after PANCE is taken and satisfied, the high stakes PANRE is nothing more than a money grabbing scam for the holy NCCPA. It’s way past due for the AAPA to take out the crowbar and pry the certification process away from them. It’s become obvious to most PA’s that NCCPA has become untrustworthy and is only self serving. They have been ruining the PA good name and the word has been out to avoid PA programs and go for the NP option. Sounds very politically driven as well.
In reply to Mark Caplin.
There are only 20 states that require the re-cert / PANRE.
Of the state that do not require the re-cert or the “C” are there TRULY any states where, even at the hospital level / credentialing don’t need the “C” ?? (other than the original PANCE passing).
I might be ripped away from my job in a couple weeks. I need to know where I’m going to be acutely displace to/have to re-locate to/find new position…a state where the C truly is not needed, even at the medical facility level.
In reply to Malcolm.
Very true indeed. The NCCPA borders on organized crime. The PANRE is nothing but a cash cow and should be retired once and for all. Just look at the numerous amount of time you can take it in the ninth and tenth year. It’s absolutely insane and makes the PA profession unpopular. Many are avoiding PA programs as we speak. It has become the career to avoid. NP’s have become more popular. Thanks NCCPA for all your support.
Well guess it’s now or never. I have 3 chances left to pass this PANRE or I am out of a job! Talk about stress it’s absurd and just a money maker for the Nccpa. I am a single woman turning 60 this year and self supporting just purchasing a new Hóme to boot If I do not pass I not only lose my job but my home as well. I work with 2 NP’s who have no requirements to ever retest and require fewer CME hours than I . Talk about unfair and torture! I plan on pursuing one of the comments I read and sue the NCCPA for loss of revenue should I not pass. Maybe if they think they will lose more money than making they may reconsider this need for retesting. Good luck to all struggling and stressing. 3 strikes and I a out of the profession which I dearly love
As I sit here “studying” for the PANRE for the first time since taking the PANCE, I wanted to say thank you for all of your honesty.
I have been terrified of failing the test to the point that I have lost sleep and feel like I am on the verge of a panic attack when I think about it! It is absolutely absurd that NPs and PAs are held to different standards.
Fortunately, when I was having issues scheduling the exam online I called and spoke to a representative that was kind enough to inform me that the exam was not required in my state, unless my employer requires it. Phew! However, it still terrifies me.
While my employer does not require the exam and I feel like we are headed for some much needed changes to the PANRE, I have chosen to still take the test. To be 100% honest, I struggled with it and failed the PANCE the first time around so I don’t have high hope for it this time around.
I guess I am luck enough to not have to worry that I will loose all that I have built in the last 6 years if I fail the test. I like may of you would loose everything if that was the case.
So again, thank you for all your thoughts and honesty. I wish you all the very best with your endeavors an hope that one day we can make our profession a true reflection of PAs!
I felt Kaplan test questions were better clinically orientated then the PANRE questions… I just took it few days ago… pretty disappointed to think THIS is the test that defines me as a physician assistant with 6 years experience working underserved communities…
Agree with above. NCCPA doesn’t care about our profession, just the $$$$$$$. It feels like PA’s have absolutely no leadership. What is it? Like 50 years since Dr Stead started this off? Patients STILL don’t know what a PA is. Where are the billboards, or ads on buses? Patients know what a NP is though by God.
I’m 62 and am looking forward to getting out of it….
I just passed my PANRE.
But I literally, legitimately, for over 1 month, thought I failed. It was that difficult.
I went ahead and contacted a Class Action Lawsuit organization about this.
The PANRE needs to go away.
And this current model, of going 2 years of testing, is absolute crap.
Especially if a PA is an active duty military member. They may not have access to a computer for 90 days.
If the NCCPA wants to keep charging us money, then make “mandatory” CMEs that we have to complete or watch every 10 years.
They will still get their money.
I agree. Very disappointed in the way we are represented. Killed ourselves to become Physician Assistants and in the end, it’s all about the dollar bill. Disgusting and it cheapened the entire profession. I truly am looking forward to hanging up the white coat in the next few years.
We need to drive a stake thru NCCPA’s heart!. The proposed changes are in line with the NCCPA attempts to stick CAQs down our throats. I don’t want a professional name change. I’ve been a PA since the 70s and have fought OUR way to professional acceptance thru those early years. I have more certificates, exams and fees than a member of the Senate. Leave me alone!!. I am filling a need in our country’s shrinking provider network, my employer loves me, I’ve never had a lawsuit and I am providing high quality health care for a much lower salary than my MD co-workers. AAPA, we’re members and paying dues for you to fight for us. Start kicking ass!
Well said. Why change the game for us old timers who have become accustomed to the previous torture system?
Entire career has become junky. NP seems like the way to go at this time.
Marc said, “Entire career has become junky. NP seems like the way to go at this time.”
Don’t forget, according to them, NPs practice “advanced nursing” (whatever that is), not medicine. PAs are trained in the medical model and medical practice. What PA wants to practice advanced nursing?
Semantics. They are responsible for clinical care in the same setting that we are. True that we were trained with an MD model but at the end of the day or todays NP’s are earning what we are or greater. They have political backing which is of paramount importance. Our “c” requirement is a nuisance. Glad I will be out (hopefully) in 5 years. Not what I thought this would turn out to be.