A Comparison of Physician Assistant Programs by National Certification Examination Scores

Abstract

Entrance into a career as a PA in the United States requires a license or certificate from one of the states, the District of Columbia, Guam (a U.S. territory), or the federal government (e.g., the military services, Veterans Administration, Public Health Service, and Bureau of Prisons). Within most legislative domains, this license or certificate is predicated on graduation from an accredited PA program and on passing the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) develops and administers the PANCE.1 As of the end of 2002, there were 134 accredited PA programs in the United States, together providing a wide range of styles and approaches to educating students who will successfully pass the PANCE and become primary care clinicians. These programs, whose curricula are modeled after those of allopathic and osteopathic medical schools, teach the basics of medical science followed by clinical rotations. This occurs, on average, over a continuous 26-month period (with a range of 12–45 months, depending on the prior qualifications of matriculants). Programs must meet certain accreditation standards.2-4 Unlike medical schools, which seem to have a standard profile of education, content, and degree, there is a wide variety of PA programs from which to choose. PA programs may be housed in research-oriented universities, hospitals, colleges, and 2-year community colleges. Some programs grant a master’s degree, while others grant a bachelor’s degree or a certificate. Approximately half of the institutions that sponsor PA programs are established through public funding at the state level; the rest are private.5 The tuition at these schools varies widely. Hooker revealed a 16-fold difference in total tuition from the least expensive to the most expensive PA program in 2000. Higher tuition costs are associated with privately funded institutions.2 While tuition may be a factor in an applicant’s selection of a program, it is Rod Hooker is an associate professor in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. Brian Hess is the director of test development and research for the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, Norcross, Georgia. Daisha Cipher is an assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas.