Relationship Between Physician Assistant Program Length and Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination Pass...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Physician Assistant (PA) programs are crucial for training healthcare professionals.
• The length of PA educational programs varies, prompting an examination of its impact on student outcomes.
• The Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) is a key measure of PA competency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the correlation between the duration of PA educational programs and their 5-year average PANCE first-time pass rates.
• To determine if program length influences the success of graduates on the PANCE.
• To provide data for educators considering program length in new and existing PA programs.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective correlational study analyzing data from accredited Master's level PA programs in the US.
• Included 108 PA programs with 5-year average PANCE pass rates; excluded provisional/probationary programs.
• Statistical analysis revealed non-normally distributed data.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant relationship was found between PA program length and PANCE first-time pass rates (ρ = -0.04, P = .68).
• Further analysis showed no significant differences in PANCE pass rates based on didactic or clinical phase length.
• Program length did not correlate with graduate success on the national certifying examination.

Conclusions:

• PA program length does not appear to affect graduates' ability to pass the PANCE.
• Shorter PA programs demonstrate comparable performance to longer programs regarding PANCE success.
• Findings suggest that program length may not be a critical factor in preparing PAs for certification, informing curriculum planning.