PANCE PANRE tips newsletter
Free tips to pass your National Commission on Certifying Physician Assistants exam
PANCE PANRE Questions are their own little world. Issue: 102
Clinical experience can get in the way of PANCE or PANRE success. Although this may sound counter intuitive, it often rings true with test taker’s experiences. Even new grads can have difficultly as they may use their past experience or that of their preceptors to a disadvantage while taking their exam. We have all been trained to think globally as clinicians. Each patient is their own we must consider multiple potential etiologies of their presentation, including those which the patient may not provide. We can look at each of our patients as a large, complex puzzle with many potential solutions and underlying disorders. In addition, we as good clinicians must consider the fact that often times, there are multiple underlying comorbid conditions which may, and likely will, affect each other.
Clinical experience can get in the way of PANCE or PANRE success. Although this may sound counter intuitive, it often rings true with test taker’s experiences. Even new grads can have difficultly as they may use their past experience or that of their preceptors to a disadvantage while taking their exam. We have all been trained to think globally as clinicians. Each patient is their own we must consider multiple potential etiologies of their presentation, including those which the patient may not provide. We can look at each of our patients as a large, complex puzzle with many potential solutions and underlying disorders. In addition, we as good clinicians must consider the fact that often times, there are multiple underlying comorbid conditions which may, and likely will, affect each other.
In contrast, a test question on the PANCE or PANRE is a
microcosm. The only thing that exists in
this “little world” is the words in the question. If it is not written, it need not be
considered. If it is written it is
likely important, although some may not be.
When taking your exam, you must make sure to keep your clinical mind in
check, and focus on the little world in the question.
What exactly do I mean by this? First and foremost, never assume a patient in a question has a disorder. If it is not written, then it does not exist and has no bearing in the answer you are looking for. For example, if I were to pose the following question: A 64 year old, obese male has lower extremity bronzing, is on hypertensive medication and is on hemodialysis….. we might want to think the patient is diabetic, as many patient with this presentation clinically are diabetic. Since diabetes is not mentioned in the question, we should not use that as a factor when choosing our answer.
Secondly, experience can make certain answers which are “wrong” on the exam seem “right” to us. Experienced PAs have seen tens of thousands of patients, and in doing so, have seen many presentations. We may have seen answers A,C and E in our practice and know that these 3 things could occur in the patient in the question. In this situation, the experienced PA must step back and for the sake of the exam, choose the “best” answer. That means the “best” answer based on standard of care, not our personal clinical treatment history or experience. We, as practitioners, know what is best for our patients in a real clinical setting. Often the treatment which is best a particular patient is not “standard of care”. While we are taking our PANCE or PANRE, we must think inside the microcosm of the question. In this “little world”, only standard of care exists.
Best wishes in your PANCE or PANRE preparation.
HELP PANCE PANRE
http://www.helpzebra.com
What exactly do I mean by this? First and foremost, never assume a patient in a question has a disorder. If it is not written, then it does not exist and has no bearing in the answer you are looking for. For example, if I were to pose the following question: A 64 year old, obese male has lower extremity bronzing, is on hypertensive medication and is on hemodialysis….. we might want to think the patient is diabetic, as many patient with this presentation clinically are diabetic. Since diabetes is not mentioned in the question, we should not use that as a factor when choosing our answer.
Secondly, experience can make certain answers which are “wrong” on the exam seem “right” to us. Experienced PAs have seen tens of thousands of patients, and in doing so, have seen many presentations. We may have seen answers A,C and E in our practice and know that these 3 things could occur in the patient in the question. In this situation, the experienced PA must step back and for the sake of the exam, choose the “best” answer. That means the “best” answer based on standard of care, not our personal clinical treatment history or experience. We, as practitioners, know what is best for our patients in a real clinical setting. Often the treatment which is best a particular patient is not “standard of care”. While we are taking our PANCE or PANRE, we must think inside the microcosm of the question. In this “little world”, only standard of care exists.
Best wishes in your PANCE or PANRE preparation.
HELP PANCE PANRE
http://www.helpzebra.com
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Phone: 786-474-6907
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Phone: 786-474-6907
Email: sales@help-campus.com
Follow the links below for more information: