Correlations of pre-admission criteria and post-admission didactic gpa to physician assistant national certifying examination results

Abstract

Purpose: To provide research on possible indicators for success using selected pre-admission criteria and post-admission didactic grade point average (GPA) to see if statistically significant correlations could be found between these and Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) performance. Methods: An observational, retrospective cohort study was done utilizing three previous graduating classes of the Wichita State University (WSU) Physician Assistant (PA) program (n=119). Data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0 (Chicago, Il). Results: Institution type (four-year versus two-year) for core science prerequisites was moderately associated with first-time PANCE pass rate (r=.269). PANCE scores, but not pass rate, were strongly associated with didactic GPA (r=.665) and program pharmacology GPA (r=.678). A moderate association was demonstrated between PANCE scores and program anatomy GPA (r=.414). Conclusion: As only one moderate correlation was found between pre-admission criteria and PANCE performance, advice regarding applicant selection criteria is limited.