Physician Assistant-Certified — Requirements & Free Practice

US · License preparation

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NCCPA initial national board certification for physician assistants after passing PANCE.

Initial by examination

Attempts: For never-certified graduates on or after January 1, 2003, eligibility is limited to six years and six attempts; PANCE may be taken once in 90 days or three times per calendar year.
Education: PANCE eligibility requires graduation from an entry-level ARC-PA accredited PA program. NCCPA deems PA program graduates to have graduated from an accredited program if their program was accredited at the time of matriculation.

Provider: NCCPA; Pearson VUE testing centers
Format: Five blocks of multiple-choice questions
Exam questions: Total questions: 300; The total includes the scored and unscored questions.
Time limit: Five hours of examination time
Passing score: 350 on a 200–800 scale
Exam fee: $550 PANCE application payment

Examination outline

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