GOOD NEWS! I spoke with the NCCPA representatives at the AAPA conference and they clarified the scoring. You will NOT lose points if you miss a repeated topic that you previously answered correctly! That is fantastic to hear and wanted to clarify this since I raised the question in my video!
Exactly. What you said - no one else (MD, DO, NP) has to take it. That’s what *really* gets to me. I, like you, am in the 2nd quarter. My take on the experience is that it is a side dose of stress - one that our entire profession gets to experience, as if medicine weren’t already stressful enough, in and of itself. I’m ready for it to be over, and I’ve barely started. I really wish we’d have been permitted to just blaze through all the quarters in one fell swoop and be totally done. Oh well. No one asked me. And yet…they do happily collect my $$$ for this test and at regularly scheduled intervals (for the privilege of receiving my uploaded CME logs). 😂
To me this is WAY better and way less stress than having to do a review course and spend hours studying not knowing what all you should be studying, to go sit and answer 350 questions (or whatever it is) all at once with zero references. I think this is more like real life. We have references in real life. We don't have a 5 minute time limit, but nonetheless, I think it's more important that we can find the information we need, than memorize it (temporarily in many cases) for an exam.
Erika, many states don't need NCCPA certification maintenance. Keep that in mind, because we might be stressing ourselves for nothing else but for their autocratic pleasures.
While it is true, that you can work in many states, without having NCCPA certification, most employers will require it. I do know some people who have been at the same job for a long time, and don’t plan on leaving, have let their certification lapse. Unfortunately though, most of us are in situations where we must keep up certification in order to stay employed.
I’d also say that having that cert as painful as it is. Gives options to change jobs or move to other states etc. I do prefer the LA over the PANRE in one long stressful day in an awkward place with no food water snacks, bathroom breaks, unless scheduled in between blocks! After trying to find time to study as like some I’ve spent my career in a speciality. Finally I agree why do we actually have to continue to take this test!??? Personally I’d pay the NCCPA the test money 💰 💵 💴 if I didn’t have to take the darn exam even though it’s every 10 years now! 😊
Concerning the question you have about scoring (at 8 minutes in on your video), an email sent out by NCCPA says: “Starting in the second quarter, 5 topics are repeated to reinforce existing knowledge and facilitate learning. In these cases, the better of the two responses is counted and the other response is removed from the score. This provides opportunities to improve your performance over time.”
I’m doing the PANRE LA but I’m against high stakes recert testing. The NCCPA said many times that the PANRE LA doesn’t need any preparation as it’s a test of “walk around knowledge.” I hope to see high stakes recert tests for PAs to be gone in my lifetime
I did better in the 2nd quarter by one question, but I also made a silly mistake in the 1st quarter because I didn't read the question thoroughly! It happens. The questions I missed may have been harder. The majority of the rest I knew immediately.
I have started making myself read the final sentence of the question first so I know exactly what they are asking for. Then I read the rest of the question. I think it helped me focus on the question more.
Thank you for all the info. I agree with what you said about the scoring system. It’s very stressful to know that your score keep changing after each quarter instead of you passing each quarter and done with it.!!!
At the AAPA conference, I did get clarification from NCCPA that your score can only improve with retested topics. So, that's better, but I think I'd still like a solid pass/fail.
I took the 2nd quarter a couple of days ago and scored 21/25 (22/25 1st quarter). I thought the scenarios to read were longer this time but I found both quarters to be about the same in difficulty. I never enjoyed the day-long ordeal of the PANRE (which I took FIVE TIMES 😅 on the 6 year system) but I am enjoying the learning process of the PANRE-LA. I thought the PANRE-LA scoring process was designed to encourage us to learn, so I thought a WRONG answer in the first quarter would get replaced by a CORRECT answer in the next quarter - I didn’t interpret it to go the other way, but I could be wrong.
Turns out you were right and I was wrong! I verified this with NCCPA. You can improve your score, but it won't ever decrease. Like you said , the repeat questions are to solidify learning.
What do you think of the scoring system? Does it bother you? Also, if you got 25/25 correct, please share your score below so we can see if any of the scores came close to the 1500!
Definitely a weird scoring system. I got 21/25 correct in both the first and second quarter so far and am sitting at a 1316, which seems to be the same as your friends who got 25/25 correct. I wonder if my questions have been more difficult so far?
I am not sure if I have the right info but is it true that majority of NP schooling is done online. I know they do fewer clinical hours in the NP program (minimum of 500 hrs) than PAs (over 2000 hrs). So, if that's the case, not sure why they are not required to update their certification?
Yes, there are many online NP schools now, but also still plenty of in-person programs. And yes, they do have fewer clinical hours than we do in school. NPs are governed by the Board of Nursing, . I guess it's up to the Board as to what they require. In most states, an NCCPA re-certification is not required to keep your license, but in all practicality, it's hard to find a job without having the -C certification.
No, you can’t copy the question. Unfortunately, you have to type in what you’re searching for. That’s why in the video I recommend really honing in on the key aspects of the question that are unique that will point you to the right answer.
Thank you for your great videos. The “Score Status” tab does not show up for me for my first quarter, but my due date is not until 3/11/24. Will it only show up after the due date? Is my score calculated based on other test takers scores? I’ve read different things about it. Also agree that this re-certification is nonsense. It and several other factors come up when I talk to people about whether to become a PA or NP. Ultimately PA’s are far better trained than the majority of NP training, especially with all the bad online NP programs popping up now days. The amount of CME we have to get/year and are-Cert is a really hard sale. As if we’re trying to suppress our own growth and has nothing to do with “life long learning” (there are much more proven ways to do this) but everything to do with bureaucratic money making to legitimize themselves.
Thank you Jeremy! Yes, scored do not tabulate until after the quarter ends. Even then, it's not instantaneous. Don't worry, after the first couple of quarters, that urgency for seeing the score goes down significantly! I do believe they evaluate the response and look at "flagged" questions and outliers. It is my understanding questions may be thrown out if they are bad. Also, remember your score is dynamic and you will have an opportunity to be retested on questions you got wrong. A correct answer will then retroactively improve your score. Yes, there is much debate about the need to even having this test. While I am proud to be able to point to our intensive training and our unusually high requirements to keep our licenses, I'm not sure how much meaning that holds with legislators and people who have power over our profession? I would like to think it helps us, but I don't know how much. I suspect getting rid of this recertification exam would not be problematic to our lobby efforts, but I could be wrong. If anyone reading this has insight, please share!
Thanks for your help. I had at least one bad question that I would be surprised isn’t thrown out. They wanted one treatment and I put another and I still haven’t found anything saying one is better than the other. I agree with you about being proud of our rigorously trained profession and a lot of that starts with the rigors of being accepted, but when millions are being brought in from these tests for something that ultimately does very little to help maintain competency, one has to wonder what it is REALLY about. Thank you again for all the time and effort you put into these videos, they are very helpful.
It is my understanding that the passing score of 1150 does not change. However, I’m going through this for the first time like others are, so I’m not 100% sure of that.
Plus even though there was a pilot of the LA. The NCCPA have tweaked things slightly some for the hood like ability to skip quarters. But I totally agree this shouldn’t be an exam I need to study for. Only if I want to review questions I got wrong so as to get it correct if I see it again! Otherwise I’m not doing any studying 📚 🎉
GOOD NEWS! I spoke with the NCCPA representatives at the AAPA conference and they clarified the scoring. You will NOT lose points if you miss a repeated topic that you previously answered correctly! That is fantastic to hear and wanted to clarify this since I raised the question in my video!
Exactly. What you said - no one else (MD, DO, NP) has to take it. That’s what *really* gets to me. I, like you, am in the 2nd quarter. My take on the experience is that it is a side dose of stress - one that our entire profession gets to experience, as if medicine weren’t already stressful enough, in and of itself. I’m ready for it to be over, and I’ve barely started. I really wish we’d have been permitted to just blaze through all the quarters in one fell swoop and be totally done. Oh well. No one asked me. And yet…they do happily collect my $$$ for this test and at regularly scheduled intervals (for the privilege of receiving my uploaded CME logs). 😂
To me this is WAY better and way less stress than having to do a review course and spend hours studying not knowing what all you should be studying, to go sit and answer 350 questions (or whatever it is) all at once with zero references. I think this is more like real life. We have references in real life. We don't have a 5 minute time limit, but nonetheless, I think it's more important that we can find the information we need, than memorize it (temporarily in many cases) for an exam.
Erika, many states don't need NCCPA certification maintenance. Keep that in mind, because we might be stressing ourselves for nothing else but for their autocratic pleasures.
While it is true, that you can work in many states, without having NCCPA certification, most employers will require it. I do know some people who have been at the same job for a long time, and don’t plan on leaving, have let their certification lapse. Unfortunately though, most of us are in situations where we must keep up certification in order to stay employed.
I’d also say that having that cert as painful as it is. Gives options to change jobs or move to other states etc. I do prefer the LA over the PANRE in one long stressful day in an awkward place with no food water snacks, bathroom breaks, unless scheduled in between blocks! After trying to find time to study as like some I’ve spent my career in a speciality.
Finally I agree why do we actually have to continue to take this test!??? Personally I’d pay the NCCPA the test money 💰 💵 💴 if I didn’t have to take the darn exam even though it’s every 10 years now! 😊
Concerning the question you have about scoring (at 8 minutes in on your video), an email sent out by NCCPA says: “Starting in the second quarter, 5 topics are repeated to reinforce existing knowledge and facilitate learning. In these cases, the better of the two responses is counted and the other response is removed from the score. This provides opportunities to improve your performance over time.”
Thank you so much for sharing that! Good to know!
I’m doing the PANRE LA but I’m against high stakes recert testing. The NCCPA said many times that the PANRE LA doesn’t need any preparation as it’s a test of “walk around knowledge.” I hope to see high stakes recert tests for PAs to be gone in my lifetime
Yep, I think many people share this view!
I did better in the 2nd quarter by one question, but I also made a silly mistake in the 1st quarter because I didn't read the question thoroughly! It happens. The questions I missed may have been harder. The majority of the rest I knew immediately.
I have started making myself read the final sentence of the question first so I know exactly what they are asking for. Then I read the rest of the question. I think it helped me focus on the question more.
Thank you for all the info. I agree with what you said about the scoring system. It’s very stressful to know that your score keep changing after each quarter instead of you passing each quarter and done with it.!!!
At the AAPA conference, I did get clarification from NCCPA that your score can only improve with retested topics. So, that's better, but I think I'd still like a solid pass/fail.
I took the 2nd quarter a couple of days ago and scored 21/25 (22/25 1st quarter). I thought the scenarios to read were longer this time but I found both quarters to be about the same in difficulty. I never enjoyed the day-long ordeal of the PANRE (which I took FIVE TIMES 😅 on the 6 year system) but I am enjoying the learning process of the PANRE-LA. I thought the PANRE-LA scoring process was designed to encourage us to learn, so I thought a WRONG answer in the first quarter would get replaced by a CORRECT answer in the next quarter - I didn’t interpret it to go the other way, but I could be wrong.
Turns out you were right and I was wrong! I verified this with NCCPA. You can improve your score, but it won't ever decrease. Like you said , the repeat questions are to solidify learning.
What do you think of the scoring system? Does it bother you? Also, if you got 25/25 correct, please share your score below so we can see if any of the scores came close to the 1500!
100% bothered! But staying hopeful…I feel I’m too good of a provider to be gutted like this by my people over this recertification process…
Personally I’ve always hated there silly nonsense of a scoring system! How about we use the good ole 0-100 scale!?? At least I understand that… 🤔
I missed 2 this time …
Definitely a weird scoring system. I got 21/25 correct in both the first and second quarter so far and am sitting at a 1316, which seems to be the same as your friends who got 25/25 correct. I wonder if my questions have been more difficult so far?
I am not sure if I have the right info but is it true that majority of NP schooling is done online. I know they do fewer clinical hours in the NP program (minimum of 500 hrs) than PAs (over 2000 hrs). So, if that's the case, not sure why they are not required to update their certification?
Yes, there are many online NP schools now, but also still plenty of in-person programs. And yes, they do have fewer clinical hours than we do in school. NPs are governed by the Board of Nursing, . I guess it's up to the Board as to what they require. In most states, an NCCPA re-certification is not required to keep your license, but in all practicality, it's hard to find a job without having the -C certification.
Can you copy some parts of the questions into google to find the answer from the question during the exam?
No, you can’t copy the question. Unfortunately, you have to type in what you’re searching for. That’s why in the video I recommend really honing in on the key aspects of the question that are unique that will point you to the right answer.
Thank you for your great videos.
The “Score Status” tab does not show up for me for my first quarter, but my due date is not until 3/11/24. Will it only show up after the due date? Is my score calculated based on other test takers scores? I’ve read different things about it.
Also agree that this re-certification is nonsense. It and several other factors come up when I talk to people about whether to become a PA or NP. Ultimately PA’s are far better trained than the majority of NP training, especially with all the bad online NP programs popping up now days. The amount of CME we have to get/year and are-Cert is a really hard sale. As if we’re trying to suppress our own growth and has nothing to do with “life long learning” (there are much more proven ways to do this) but everything to do with bureaucratic money making to legitimize themselves.
Thank you Jeremy! Yes, scored do not tabulate until after the quarter ends. Even then, it's not instantaneous. Don't worry, after the first couple of quarters, that urgency for seeing the score goes down significantly! I do believe they evaluate the response and look at "flagged" questions and outliers. It is my understanding questions may be thrown out if they are bad. Also, remember your score is dynamic and you will have an opportunity to be retested on questions you got wrong. A correct answer will then retroactively improve your score.
Yes, there is much debate about the need to even having this test. While I am proud to be able to point to our intensive training and our unusually high requirements to keep our licenses, I'm not sure how much meaning that holds with legislators and people who have power over our profession? I would like to think it helps us, but I don't know how much. I suspect getting rid of this recertification exam would not be problematic to our lobby efforts, but I could be wrong. If anyone reading this has insight, please share!
Thanks for your help. I had at least one bad question that I would be surprised isn’t thrown out. They wanted one treatment and I put another and I still haven’t found anything saying one is better than the other. I agree with you about being proud of our rigorously trained profession and a lot of that starts with the rigors of being accepted, but when millions are being brought in from these tests for something that ultimately does very little to help maintain competency, one has to wonder what it is REALLY about.
Thank you again for all the time and effort you put into these videos, they are very helpful.
@@jeremyplatt1351 There are definitely some bad questions/answers in this test. It is very frustrating!
I found the 2nd qtr much harder than 1st quarter questions and longer stems! I scored the same…
I recently finished my 2nd qtr and was surprised my questions were shorter than the first quarter. Seems like it's very random!
I heard the passing score of 1150 doesn't change? Do you know if this is correct? Or does the passing score of 1150 change per each test / quarter?
It is my understanding that the passing score of 1150 does not change. However, I’m going through this for the first time like others are, so I’m not 100% sure of that.
Plus even though there was a pilot of the LA. The NCCPA have tweaked things slightly some for the hood like ability to skip quarters.
But I totally agree this shouldn’t be an exam I need to study for. Only if I want to review questions I got wrong so as to get it correct if I see it again! Otherwise I’m not doing any studying 📚 🎉
more or less wonder how many questions does this score equal to? missing
I thought it was easier I got 21 put of 25
Just completed mine and, for me, I had easier questions this time too!
100% agree with you on several levels!
Thanks Lisa!