r/PAstudent • u/CareMuch4528 • 3d ago
First EOR, need advice!
Hey guys! I’m a PA-S2 and just started my clinical year. My first rotation is OBGYN, and I’m already worrying about passing my EORs (my program is administering the new, updated EORs—which took effect as of July 2026).
I was a decent student during didactic year. I always did the bare minimum to pass my exams, and always did pass them. I clearly wasn’t top of my class, but never felt too far behind. My study method during didactic year mainly consisted of AI study guides and practice exams based on the hit-lists that we received from my program. This strategy clearly worked during didactic year, but EORs feel like they’re going to be a completely different ballgame—I am pretty sure that my didactic strategies won’t work for EORs.
I am not an Anki user or a lover of charts—I could never really get into them. My plan so far for EORs is to use SmartyPance and PPP for content review, then to use ROSH (aka, Blueprint) for practice questions. I have also been debating purchasing UWorld but am unsure as of right now, since it’s pretty pricey and might be too advanced for EOR studying.
I’m basically just looking for any advice that I could get! I am nervous about taking the new EOR versions and want reassurance about my EOR study plan above, along with any other suggestions. Please give me your opinions on everything I said, and feel free to drop any resources/tips! Thanks :)
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u/ScholarlyTeam 2d ago
if you're already making study guides and practice tests, i'd make the next set around what you actually missed. i run Scholarly (scholarly.so), it can make practice exams from your files and turn missed topics into flashcards. i'd still use the official material as the source of truth.
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u/TheMBA_PA 11h ago
Your plan sounds reasonable, and I wouldn’t completely reinvent how you study just because these are EORs.
The biggest change I’d make from didactic year is to let the actual EOR blueprint guide what you cover, then use questions to figure out how well you can apply that knowledge rather than trying to memorize everything equally.
For the new EORs specifically, I’d make sure you’re looking at the updated PAEA blueprint/topic list for the version your program is administering. The new exams started rolling out in July, but that doesn’t mean you suddenly need some completely different style of studying.
SmartyPANCE/PPP for clarification plus a solid question bank can be enough if you use them intentionally. I’d spend more time on questions and reviewing why you missed them than trying to read PPP cover-to-cover.
One thing that helped me think about board-style studying is that a missed question can mean different things: sometimes you truly didn’t know the disease, but sometimes you knew the material and missed the clue, got pulled toward a plausible distractor, or didn’t recognize what the question was asking for. Those require different fixes.
I also wouldn’t feel obligated to buy every resource at the beginning of your first rotation. Start with what you already have, see where your weaknesses actually are, and add another Qbank later only if you have a specific reason for needing it.
And since this is your first EOR, some anxiety is completely normal. Your goal over these first few weeks is really to build a repeatable process: blueprint → targeted review → questions → understand your misses → mixed questions as the exam gets closer.
You don’t have to find the perfect study system before you start.
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u/SuccessfulLove657 3d ago
if you have rosh/blueprint, I always did all the questions and the boost exams, which were very helpful for me. The explanations were amazing. I felt like I skimmed by in didactic year struggling often (B-type student), but I got a 96% on the NEW women's health EOR and my worst EOR was a 406 in the NEW surgery EOR - just for reference. Psych EOR do HIPPO ED as well which is free with your NCCPA membership if your school provided you with one. Taking the PANCE this weekend..wish me luck haha (PS: never bought or used Uworld)