TDNet Discover

Background: Physician Assistant (PA) programs use specific admission criteria in selection of matriculating students to ensure they have the strongest probability of successfully graduating and passing the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination (PANCE) on their first attempt. Programs typically utilize similar criteria including minimum undergraduate GPA (uGPA), minimum science prerequisite GPA, graduate record examination (GRE) scores, and other metrics. However, schools do not disclose the exact weight of these requirements and each school likely places emphasis on different metrics. Purpose: Our goal is to assess what admission criteria are most strongly correlated with first time PANCE pass rates for physician assistant students to give students and admission committees a standardized assessment tool to select and predict a student's chance of successful program completion and first time PANCE pass rates. Methods: We conducted a systematic review (SR) to search and review Google Scholar, PubMed, NIH, and South College Library databases from December 2022 to January 2023 using agreed upon search terms. The studies were rated on quality using a standardized checklist, and data was then extracted and synthesized. The results were then used to form final conclusions. Results: Undergraduate GPA was the only variable found to have a statistically significant positive correlation to first time PANCE pass rates. Conclusion: Overall, more studies including all CASPA participating schools need to be utilized with retrospective regression analysis from 2019 onwards as the PANCE was modified in 2019 and data must correlate to current standards to be useful in the prediction of first time PANCE pass rates