Comprehensive PANCE Resource Review

Comprehensive PANCE Resource Review

Updated: 12/02/2016

If you are reading this review, please understand that I wrote this with the intention of being informative, not discriminatory, chastising, or undermining. All of these resources have no doubt been the result of many long nights and lots of collaboration amongst writers, editors, and publishers and I fully respect that. That said, I hope that this review provides a comprehensive review of resources available online and print for students to use as a guide during clinical rotations, studying for the PANCE, or reviewing for the PANRE. Best of luck to you all and let me know if you have any comments to add below! Thanks for reading!

Online Vs. Print Reviews

	Online Resources	Print (Book) Resources
Pros	Interactive Provide personal performance feedback Most provide videos, podcasts and other multimedia to enhance experience Most include x-rays, EKGs, and colored images in high definition	Easy to take with you “on the go” Never have to worry about internet connection One-time purchase Most contain great outlines, tables, or images Cheaper costs
Cons	May have to repurchase subscription Can be very costly upfront Could require internet access	Info will likely be outdated by the time you recertify Will often lack color images, often helpful for dermatology Low resolution for x-rays

PANCE Review Books

In my personal opinion, all of these resources have their pros and cons. The perfect book would not only follow the NCCPA format but would be in order of highest percentage covered on the PANCE to least. Knowing that there are sections on the rotation exams and PANCE in surgery, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and infectious disease, I would definitely like my review to include these sections - something to consider before you decide on a purchase. No book is perfect and I hope that this review is somewhat comprehensive, giving you better insight into each as you make the decision of where to place your money. Ultimately, my goal is not to praise or critique one book over another, but to offer suggestions for improvement and highlight the best aspects of each.

The PA School Interview Guide

The PA School Interview Guide

Updated: 10/27/2015

Knowing how to prepare for a PA school interview is as easy as...oh, wait. It’s not at all easy. In fact, easy is probably the last word that comes to mind when you think about your upcoming interview at any PA program. Considering how competitive PA school is and how increasingly competitive acceptance is becoming, you’ll want to read this article to ensure you are fully equipped with the right information before walking through the door.

Numerous PA hopefuls comment on my blog daily, including students who have been offered interviews and are curious about how to prepare; others who have been through interviews and are simply looking for ways to improve. You’ll find the majority of PA school Interview Questions, Essays, and Scenarios on this blog post. The following is an updated guide for the types of questions programs are asking now, topics you’ll need to know, and questions you should be asking.

5 STEPS FOR PA INTERVIEW PREP

1. The first step to be successful in the PA school interview is to CHECK OUT THE PA SCHOOL INTERVIEW GUIDE - this guide will give you the “in’s and out’s” of each program with information about the interview you will not always find on the program’s sites.
   

EENT List of Most Commons for Physician Assistant Students

Most Commons in HEENT for Physician Assistants

HEENT (EENT) makes up 9% of the PANCE and is one of the most common “bread and butter” medicine topics you’ll come across. Below is a combination of “most commons”, “buzzwords”, and other clinical pearls I have come across since completing my didactic year. I compiled this in order to help myself prepare for the PANCE and for rotations. I hope it helps you in your studies as well.

1. Head
1. Bell’s Palsy - most common acute disease involving a single nerve and most common cause of acute facial nerve paralysis

Pediatrics List of Most Commons for Physician Assistant Students

Most Commons in Pediatrics

• Most Common Congenital Heart Lesions
• Left-to-Right Shunts (Breathless)
• VSD (Ventricular septal defect) - 30%
• Right-to-Left Shunt (Blue)
• Tetralogy of Fallot - 5%
• Most common cyanotic heart anomaly with R-L shunt
• Common Mixing (Breathless and blue)
• Atrioventricular septal defect (complete) - 2%
• Coarctation of the Aorta - most common site is ligamentum arteriosum
• More common in males than females (3:1)
• Pathognomonic signs: rib notching on CXR, “three sign” on CTA

Orthopaedics List of Most Commons for Physician Assistant Students

Most Commons in Orthopaedics

• Compartment Syndrome
• Most commonly occurs in lower leg following tibia fractures or crash injuries
• Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury - most commonly injured knee ligament
• Osgood Schlatter’s Syndrome - most common in adolescents that are overactive (too many sports)
• Patellofemoral Pain: most commonly caused by anterior knee pain syndrome, chondromalacia patella, patellofemoral osteoarthritis
• Fibromyalgia - most common cause of chronic, widespread pain in the US

Neurology List of Most Commons for Physician Assistant Students

Most Commons in Neurology

• Tension Headache - most common type of headache
• Episodic Tension-Type Headache - most common headache subtype (<15 days monthly)
• Migraine - most common recurrent headache disorder
• Medication Overuse Headache (Analgesic Rebound) - most common cause of migraine-like and “mixed” headaches that occur > 15 days per month
• Epilepsy - most common in childhood due to perinatal injury, infection and genetic factors and old age due to stroke, tumors, or dementia
• Seizures
• Most common toxic causes of seizures: drugs, alcohol, and medications
• Most common metabolic causes of seizures: hypocalcemia, hypoglycemia, hyponatremia, hypoxia

Gastroenterology List of Most Commons for Physician Assistant Students

Esophageal adenocarcinoma is the fastest growing cancer in the United States. In total, it affects about 1.5 million people per year worldwide and 38,000 in the US alone. There has been a 6-fold increase in the last 3 decades, accounting for 60% of esophageal cancers. This is one puppy you don’t want to mess with; don’t even get me started on colorectal cancer!

Gastroenterology accounts for 10% of the PANCE, so make sure you pay attention during this part of your didactic phase! Knowing that, you had better take a step into gastroenterology with your thinking cap on ready to learn about new disease and therapy that can affect the way you provide care everyday.

Most Commons in Gastroenterology

• Heartburn (pyrosis) - most common symptom of esophageal disease
• GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease) - most common disorder of the esophagus
• Ulcerative Colitis - most commonly affects young adults in 2nd and 3rd decade of life, but 2nd peak in 7th decade
• Most common in N. America, England, N. Europe, and Australia
• More common in industrialized countries
• More common in higher socioeconomic status
• Important: Ulcerative colitis increases the risk of colorectal cancer
• Crohn’s Disease - most common between 15-30 years of age, though can present at any age
• More common in industrialized countries
• More common in higher economic status
• Most common in N. America, England, N. Europe, and Australia
• Skip areas common: The most common distribution pattern of Crohn’s disease is ileocecal, which involves the distal portion of the small intestine (terminal ileum) and the proximal large bowel (40% of patients)
• Most common skin lesions in IBD: pyoderma gangrenosum and erythema nodosum

Dermatology List of Most Commons for Physician Assistant Students

Most PA programs teach in a systems-based style of learning with “block” style approaches to navigating through the mounds of medical factoids we must learn and know. It’s often talked about how PA students should start their own lists of “most commons” in medicine for each block or system in preparation for course examinations and the PANCE. It has come to my attention that this is most definitely the case. As such, I’ve decided to create a list of most commons for each block we cover, the first being Dermatology!

Most Commons in Dermatology:

1. Most common treatment for keloids: triamcinolone acetonide (corticosteroid) in concentrations of 10-40 mg/mL at 4-6 week intervals
2. Most common cutaneous cyst: epidermal inclusion cyst (EIC), also known as cutaneous cysts
3. One of Top 3 Skin problems in children: verruca vulgaris
1. Most common primary treatment: cryotherapy and salicylic acid (cure rate improved by combining both therapies)
4. Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is one of the most common STIs causing Condylomata Acuminate, also known as External Genital Warts (EGW)
5. Most common type of psoriasis: Plaque Psoriasis (affects 80-90% of patients).
6. Most common clinical pattern seen in Psoriatic Arthritis:
1. Oligoarthritis - swelling and tenosynovitis of one/few hand joints.
7. The “Butterfly Rash”
1. Many facial rashes are described as malar or “butterfly” rashes
2. Most commonly, they are either: seborrheic dermatitis or rosacea, NOT systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
8. Most common dermatologic condition in infants: Diaper Rash (diaper candidiasis)