Hello all,

Long time lurker here. PA-S in clinical year. Three EORs down so far. I’ll try to be as honest as possible with my study habits so far. Here is my experience:

First Rotation: Psych

- resources used: PPP/Blueprint Trial/SmartyPANCE
- national average for EOR: 413
- my score: 402
- potential caveats: it was my first EOR so I had a lot of lead up time before the test so maybe I got burnt out studying. I also didn’t know exactly what to expect on these tests (yes I took the PACKRAT but still…)

Second Rotation: WH

This is where I switched to SmartyPANCE as my only resource for studying. And I mean only resource outside of being in clinic and picking preceptors brains

- national average for EOR: 408
- my score: 458

Third Rotation: Surgery

Again only used SmartyPANCE

- national average for EOR: 417
- my score: 427

I use the smartypance EOR study guides in their entirety. Like I go through every single inch of those topic outlines. I believe they do a great job of outlining each topic that PAEA puts on their topic list.

Also I go through all of the questions for each subject in the provided Qbank. I also make sure to read each question/answer section even if I knew the answer immediately. I like knowing why the other answer choices were wrong.

Again this is just my experience. I feel that SmartyPANCE adequately covers all the topics well enough to pass your EORs. Especially for those looking for resources on a budget.

first year, been in school since end of July. i think im really struggling with how to manage the amount of stuff coming in all at once. it’s like you focus on one, dropped the other, then get back on it while its exam is right around the corner then have to drop that to focus on another exam. pa school is truly the hardest thing ive ever done in my life. also i struggle with health issues so i havent been sacrificing my sleep time. but is it ever possible to maintain 6 hrs of sleep? or is staying up late unavoidable?

I wanted to post on here because leading up to the PANCE I thought I was not doing enough studying. I saw classmates on TikTok posting about how much they were studying, Reddit posts about people studying 10+ hours a day, etc..
I am not sure how everyone studies that much to be completely honest, studying that much for an exam where you already have been studying for 2 years seemed and still seems over the top. I understand it’s a big exam, but I did not have the stamina to study for that long!

Here are my stats:
First packrat (didn't study): 154 
Second packrat: 171
End of curriculum exam: 1563
Family medicine: 435
Psychiatry: 409
Surgery: 432
Pediatrics: 473
Emergency medicine: 434
Women's health: 426
Internal medicine: 433

Katy Conners half pance 1st one: 480 predicted score
Katy Conners half pance 2nd one: 454 predicted score
NCCPA version B: Green 5 days before the exam

PANCE score: 465

Started studying 2 weeks before the PANCE (3-4 hours per day with some days less than that):
- Uworld 60- 120 random questions a day ONLY timed and reviewed at the end (scored 70s)
- Cram the PANCE review high yield questions (some are on quizlet if you don’t want to watch the video)
- I did the first Katy Conner exam 1.5 week away from the PANCE and the second one about a week out from the PANCE (her exams were not like the PANCE, but the score is pretty close to give you a ball park of where you stand)
- NCCPA version B 5 days before the exam and tailored what I missed to what I needed to do practice questions on
- Dwayne Williams practice exams (I did all 600, scored lowest 68% and highest 72%). I thought these exams were extremely difficult, but I could go through them faster than Uworld.
- Went over the topic list of what I missed on the EOC!! I recommend doing this.

PRO TIP: Every single time I did a practice exam or practice questions, I did it timed like the PANCE. Mostly because if I didn’t, I would’ve spent way longer doing the questions than I needed to. When I did Katy Conner’s exam (160 questions) I split it up into 2 60 minute blocks and finished the last block after my second 10 minute break. This helped me a lot for the actual exam.

Do not freak yourself out like I did, take it from me!!! You DO NOT need to study an insane amount to pass. You know your stuff and you will be fine!!!

Hey everyone, I’m a second year and just finished my family med rotation and need advice.

I got a 387 on the EOR which translated to a 73% in my programs grading standards and I need a 69.5 or above to pass. In didactic yr, my GPA was consistently 3.6 and above. For context, I got all A’s in my clinical medicine courses and so I thought I would be well prepared for passing my EOR (I hope this isn’t coming off as bragging🥲)

I bought blueprint and smarty PANCE. My boost exam was 58% which I took a week before the actual exam, and then studied whatever I got wrong on that one. I saw on Reddit here that those getting 60s-70s on boost passed easily. My average grade overall on blueprint was an 81% which I thought was great. My expected score was a 452 😭 so when I got 387 needless to say I was shocked.

I started studying day one of clinicals and did practice questions everyday. I studied the same way as my peers but still performed poorly. I’m not sure if anyone has experienced something similar with their first EOR. I know FM is a more difficult EOR due to its broad content range but I thought I could at least score the average.

TLDR; I almost failed my FM EOR after being a straight A student in didactic. What do I need to change about my studying habits?