Mock Board Exam Writing Groups in Physician Assistant Education: A Method to Enhance Curriculum and Mentor Junior Faculty.

Abstract

Ensuring students are prepared for the Physician Assistant National Certification Exam (PANCE) is an institutional priority for all physician assistant programs. While many factors predicting PANCE performance have been investigated, exploration and discussions of interventions to improve PANCE performance are limited. Repeated exposure to board-style questions has been shown to improve board scores in similar populations. Currently, existing question banks cannot be used to generate secure summative examinations, and commercial question banks may perpetuate inequitable access among physician assistant (PA) students. To address this issue, the University of Oklahoma Physician Assistant program used a community of practice model to create a mock board exam writing group. The group was created to facilitate the development of 9 PANCE-style exams to bolster students' clinical preparedness and PANCE performance. These writing groups also provided a platform for junior faculty to receive feedback and guidance from senior colleagues, thus facilitating and promoting mentorship. This article highlights the potential benefits of mock board exam writing groups in PA education and provides insight into their development and implementation.