The PA career is consistently ranked as one of the best in health care—recently, it was actually ranked the third best job overall by U.S. News & World Report. It’s easy to see why! The job itself is known for competitive salaries, high job security, job satisfaction, and work-life balance.

And the future of the PA profession looks bright, too—in fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 20% increase in PA employment between 2024 and 2034. It may not come as a surprise the PA profession is so up and coming, given it’s still relatively new. The first graduating class of physician assistants were from Duke University in 1967, which means the PA profession isn’t even 60 years old!

And yet, look at the impact we’ve had in such a short time. We diagnose patients, write prescriptions, and develop treatment plans. We are now key members of healthcare teams, and people rely on us for our clinical skills and medical expertise.

With all the things already accomplished by PAs in just under 60 years, you may be wondering, what’s next? What does the future of the PA profession look like? And what can we as healthcare providers expect over the next 10 years? While we can’t predict the future, we can take a look at some current trends that may continue into the future. Let’s dive in!

The Future of the PA Profession: 5 Things on the Horizon

1. More Respect

While the career already is respected, if you’re currently practicing as a PA or a student on clinical rotations, you may have been asked to explain your role as a PA to a curious patient. Or perhaps, you or a colleague may have had to accommodate a patient who “would rather see a doctor” likely due to misunderstanding of our role.

All this to say, as the job continues to grow we’ll likely see less and less of this. Patients may begin to know and understand a PA’s scope of practice and gain respect for their role in the healthcare setting.

2. Increased Responsibility

The standard PA school curriculum thoroughly prepares students to be competent clinicians. In addition, post-graduate on-the-job training and fellowship opportunities further prepare PAs for their clinical roles. This allows PAs to truly extend the reach of physicians and help reduce the overall cost of healthcare.

With continued shortages of physicians nationwide, I anticipate that PAs will continue to have increased autonomy. There are already pushes for continued legislative changes that reduce the amount of physician collaboration necessary in the position across many states. PAs are also being seen in more leadership positions across organizations and some are even finding their role in public health positions.

Did you know that the AAPA House of Delegates voted to change the title of “physician assistant” to “physician associate” in 2021 to reflect the autonomy of the profession? Learn more about it in this blog post!

3. Higher Compensation

With growing respect and increased responsibility, the future of the PA profession looks bright when it comes to wages. The 2025 AAPA salary report showed a 5.5% increase in median salary over the past year (2023 to 2024) for PAs. Of course, with continued increased cost of living, some increased compensation is expected. However, these same increases have been consistent over the past few years on the AAPA report and are expected to continue. 

PAs also are finding even more roles in specialty positions, such as subsurgical specialties, dermatology, and orthopedics. These specialty positions often have increased compensation opportunities due to higher levels of reimbursement. Therefore, with more PAs pursuing these roles, the overall median compensation may continue to rise.

4. Telework Opportunities

The COVID pandemic had a huge impact on the way people in almost every field do their jobs. It influenced the medical profession significantly, and healthcare providers began scheduling telehealth appointments when possible. According to the AAPA, almost half of PAs endorse using telemedicine in their clinical practice, which is up from 9.6% prior to COVID.

Looking ahead, I think the future of the PA profession will trend even more heavily towards telehealth. Specialities like primary care are reported to utilize it the most. It’s a great way to encourage routine healthcare and health maintenance in patients with ease of appointments, and also reduce exposure to pathogens for our high risk populations by not having them come into the office.

5. Inclusion of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is slowly, but surely, becoming more integrated into our everyday lives. Whether you’re studying for a test, looking for recipe ideas, or even planning a trip, I’m sure you’ve turned to ChatGPT for advice in the past few weeks. 

Everything is being impacted by the AI boom, and the healthcare industry is no exception. For example, new software allows providers to record their office visits and use AI to outline their note for the encounter, which speeds up the documentation process.

In addition to electronic medical records, AI is starting to aid in clinical decision-making as well. While it’s unlikely to replace clinicians anytime soon, it’ll inevitably play a bigger role in our profession in the years to come.

Final Thoughts

The bottom line is, the future of the PA profession looks bright! If you’re looking for a career that’s only projected to become more and more amazing over the next few years, pursuing the PA path is a great opportunity.

You’re unlikely to be without a job at any time in your career, and you have the ability to work in a variety of clinical and academic settings. If you decide to go into this exciting field of the future, be sure to take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way. Best of luck on your journey, whatever path you choose!

In April 2019, the NCCPA announced that PANCE pass rate had dropped from 98% to 93% after the release of the newest PANCE blueprint. After trending upward to 95% in 2020, the PANCE pass rate has been declining, with PANCE pass rates down to 92% for the past three years.

While a 92% PANCE pass rate is nothing to scoff at, it does indicate a downward trend in PANCE performances that test-takers need to understand to strengthen their exam strategies. We want you to be a part of the percentage that pass (of course!), thus changing the trends toward showing the improvement that it needs!

Keep reading for a breakdown of this data, tips to pass the PANCE, and tools to create a more effective strategy for the PANCE and beyond.

Where is this PANCE pass rate data coming from?

The national first-time pass rate was down to 92% in 2022, 2023, and 2024. This usually correlates with a change in the PANCE blueprint from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Historically, these updates cause a brief drop in pass rates before performances gradually trend up again as test-takers adjust to the new certification exam.

Unfortunately, there’s a problem that muddies up the waters with this data: COVID. The pandemic posed so many unique challenges to PA education programs, and PA students that the usual data correlation is abnormal and likely not a fair comparison to the true trends expected.

Of note, the recent changes to the PANCE blueprint in 2025 may continue to affect future pass rates.

What do lower PANCE pass rates mean for you?

So, what do these “slightly ominous” statistics mean for students like you and for your success on the PANCE?

At the end of the day, the most important thing is to stay calm—trust me, we are all very capable of the creation of the dreaded “worst case scenario” and ultimately none of the terrible things we think of ever come to fruition.

However, a lower pass rate isn’t an immediate indication to overhaul your study plan! The best thing you can do is give yourself plenty of time to prepare for the PANCE, both mentally and physically. By building your confidence steadily over time, you’ll feel prepared to pass with flying colors.

If you’re taking the PANCE in 2026 and find yourself worrying about the drop in PANCE pass rates, here are a few best practices to make sure you pass the exam—on the first try!

Struggling to remember key topics during your PANCE prep? Download our FREE study sheet with mnemonics that our PA instructors use during our Live PANCE Review Course!

Best Practices to Pass the PANCE in 2026

Core Step #1: Regularly study with high-yield practice questions

Personally, among many mantras that guide my professional practice, one that comes to mind is “practice how you play.” In regard to the actual PANCE, why wouldn’t we use practice questions that mimic the style you’ll see on the actual exam?

When you study with the Blueprint PA (formerly Rosh Review) PANCE Qbank, you get 3,800 NCCPA-formatted questions that follow the PANCE content blueprint, all authored and peer-reviewed by PA-Cs who excelled on the PANCE. You’ll also find detailed explanations, images, and references to reinforce your knowledge—plus, 300 new questions with five multiple-choice answer choices, just like you’ll see on the actual PANCE.

Core Step #2: Create a study plan to schedule your practice questions

Building a PANCE study plan isn’t just a “nice to have”—it’ll keep you from feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of content you’ll need to review. A clear plan shows you what to study and when, so you’re not guessing, cramming, or jumping between topics without structure.

Creating your plan starts with the PANCE blueprint. Break the exam into chunks and map out a timeline that fits the weeks or months you have left. Put the high-yield systems first, pair your content review with steady practice questions, and build in lighter days or catch-up blocks so your schedule feels doable. The key is making a plan that feels realistic, not aspirational—aka, one you can actually stick to.

You may choose to mix up your study methods so you stay engaged: quick sessions for specific topics, reviewing previously missed questions, and full-length practice exams all play a role. Check in with yourself periodically about working, what’s not, and what needs adjusting. A good plan evolves with you, and that flexibility is what keeps you on track all the way to exam day.

💡 For more info about how to create a PANCE study plan: How to Create a PANCE Study Schedule and Pass on the First Try 

Core Step #3: Identify your knowledge gaps with a performance dashboard

This goes right along with completing daily PANCE practice questions—if you use a Qbank like Blueprint for your PANCE prep, you’ll have access to a personal analytics dashboard to track your performance by category and view your projected PANCE passing score (which many Blueprint learners have stated is “scarily accurate” to your actual exam score).

While working through your PANCE study schedule and PA program, it’s a good idea to check your performance data regularly to identify any areas of weakness. You can address these knowledge gaps by creating practice exams that focus on those specific categories (or even searching for specific terms that need additional review)!

Core Step #4: Don’t be afraid to get a tutor and ask for help!

For anyone to overcome difficulty, it does “take a village.” As I have mentioned in previous posts regarding mentoring, this can be the advantage that will tip the needle in your favor. Learn from those that have embarked on the journey before you and consider taking advice directly from a seasoned and experienced PA.

🤝 If you find yourself in need of more individualized support while preparing for the PANCE, consider looking into personalized tutoring that matches your learning preferences and meets you where you are in your PANCE prep.

On top of these PANCE strategies, don’t forget that I am available by email if you have any other questions! You’re not alone, and I hope that these resources and insights put you on the path to excellence for all your future exams.

Here’s to looking forward to the continued PANCE data—and to your success!

All the best,

Frank Ritz, PA-C, DScPAS, MPAS

Interested in joining a live course for accelerated review? Look no further—the 4-day Blueprint PA (formerly Rosh Review) PANCE Review Course is now open for enrollment to help you pass the exam on the first take!

Originally published February 2023 / Updated December 2025

As a tutor, one of the most common questions students ask me is “Do you think I’m ready to register for the PANCE?” While there’s no infallible way to determine this, there are some steps you can take to assess your preparedness. In this article I’ll share them with you, so you can get a better sense of where you stand. 

Here’s five things you can do to see if you’re ready for the exam!

5 Ways to See if You’re Ready to Register for the PANCE

1. Print out the NCCPA blueprint.

The PANCE blueprint is the topic list provided by the NCCPA for the exam. This is a must-have resource. Ideally, I recommend printing it out in the beginning of the clinical year and using it to guide your studying throughout the year. 

If you are coming up on your exam and want to assess your preparedness, make sure you look this through. Of course, there are always some rogue topics that find their way onto the test, but I can guarantee that if you know the blueprint well, you’ll pass your exam. If, during your review, there are a lot of topics you feel uncomfortable with, that may be a sign you aren’t ready to register for your PANCE. 

2. Assess your PACKRAT score.

The PACKRAT is a comprehensive, 225-question test that students usually take twice during PA school. The first time is following the didactic year prior to clinicals and the second attempt is often made shortly before graduation. Though a useful assessment tool, the test isn’t a curriculum requirement for PA schools, so yours may administer the exam differently or not at all. 

This exam is given to thousands of PA students each year and following its completion, students get a comprehensive score that can be compared to the national mean, along with a breakdown of missed content areas and keywords. This feedback makes the PACKRAT one of the best ways to guide your PANCE studying and assess your risk.

Your score tells you a lot about your progress towards passing the PANCE. For example, PACKRAT scores of over 150 on the second attempt are strongly associated with PANCE success and can boost your confidence going forward. 

While the exam gives you great data to assess your readiness, it’s often given at inconvenient times when students are desperate for a break, such as right before graduation. Many students have told me they were feeling burnt out prior to taking the PACKRAT, which influenced their efforts on the day of the test. 

Further compounding student motivational issues is the fact the test isn’t administered for an actual grade, which influences the effort many put into it. 

I empathize with students who don’t feel particularly motivated to put their full effort into the PACKRAT, but my advice is to do your best on this exam as it’s a great way to assess whether you’re ready to register for the PANCE. Give it your all! Putting the effort in now can save you a lot of work later. 

3. Reflect on the past year.

While a great tool, the PACKRAT is not a foolproof way of assessing your readiness. Many students fall just shy of that 150-or-greater goal score and still do well on their PANCE. A lot of this may have to do with how they have spent their last year preparing.

Only you can know if you’ve been putting your best foot forward when it comes to studying throughout clinical year. Unlike didactic year, there are minimal exams to keep you accountable during this time. 

To assess your degree of preparedness, ask yourself the following: 

• Have I been performing well on my end of rotation exams, or just skating by? 
• Have I spent time outside of clinical hours studying? 
• Has my studying been of a high quality? 
• Have I been following a plan, or have I just been winging it? 

Reflect on these questions to determine if you’re ready to take the test.

4. Take a board review course.

 If you can afford it, taking a board review course is a great way to assess your preparedness. These courses go over high-yield topics across all content areas in a concise and organized manner. They’re a great way to review material and be reminded of topics you may need to study further.

As to what the best courses are out there, I can highly recommend the board review courses offered by Blueprint PA. These courses are virtual, which relieves the financial burden of traveling.

The PANCE Live Review Course offers four days (30 hours) of live content, with many short breaks included of course! The material is presented by two PA instructors and students can ask any questions they have in a live Q&A environment. There are many practice questions thrown in to keep students involved, and additional resources you can use outside of live instruction time.

The board review course also provides you with a unique opportunity to assess your readiness. As you’re taking it, you should be seeing familiar concepts and remembering tips and tricks for how to identify them on a test. If you find that you’re relearning the material during the course, that may be a sign you have some work to do before taking the PANCE. While there’s always a handful of topics you’ll need to go back and relearn, you shouldn’t have to do that for the majority of topics in the review course. 

5. Use a reliable PANCE question bank.

Question banks are one of the best resources available for students looking to assess their PANCE readiness. There’s no better way to test yourself than by doing practice questions. Blueprint PA offers a comprehensive question bank that presents questions in PANCE format. (You can take the Blueprint PANCE Qbank for a free test run!) 

While you’re doing questions, keep track of your performance. Make sure towards the end of your studying you’re using a cumulative question bank to truly test your knowledge and pinpoint areas of weakness. If you’re consistently scoring 70% or above on these questions, you’re likely setting yourself up for success on the PANCE. However, if you’re struggling with the question banks, use the analysis provided to help determine where to focus your studying. 

So…are you ready to register for the PANCE? 

If you’re not sure whether you’re ready to take the PANCE, I strongly recommend going through these five steps. Print the blueprint and master its contents, give the PACKRAT your all, and honestly reflect on your study habits over the past year.

Doing all of that will give you a great sense of where things stand. Good luck with your prep and be sure to reach out to Blueprint tutors for additional support!

“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it”-Albert Einstein

Let’s dive into two easy strategies to help increase your PANCE or PANRE score by 100 points. There is no magic wand that will increase your score, but these two techniques are useful, easy to implement, and only require a little of your time.

Originally published February 2019, Updated December 2025

The first strategy is to identify what you don’t know. Sounds easy, right? The key is to go through a curriculum and identify what you don’t know-not what you are weak at, but what you don’t know. The second strategy is to take advantage of human error. Tests are written by humans, and humans make errors. By paying attention to five types of flaws that question writers make, you can narrow down an answer choice to either the correct answer or to a 50/50 probability, even without knowing anything about the topic. When you combine these two strategies, you’ll be able to increase your PANCE or PANRE score by 100 points, which could be the difference between passing or failing. Let’s get started.

Struggling to remember key topics during your PANCE/PANRE prep? Download our FREE study sheet with mnemonics that our PA instructors use during our live review course!

Strategy 1: Determining your unknown unknowns

As you begin to study for your exam, you’ll find that there are areas you are comfortable with. Maybe you have a special interest in orthopedics and feel confident with any question that might be asked on interpreting the X-ray of a child with slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE). Therefore, you spend less time reviewing it. This is one of your known knowns. There is little utility in spending too much time on your known knowns when preparing for your exam.

During medical training, my understanding of liver disease was poor. Hepatic encephalopathy was just a term to me. I did not understand how or why it occurred and I had a poor grasp on managing the condition. Liver disease was a known unknown. Because I recognized this specific deficiency, I was able to target my learning to diseases of the liver.

Once I started to focus my learning, I came across many concepts and ideas that I knew nothing about…never even heard about some of them. These were the unknown unknowns, a concept created by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham. It is part of their “Johari window,” a tool that helps users identify blind spots about themselves and others.

Known unknowns are things you’re aware that you don’t know, such as hepatic encephalopathy-you can recognize that you don’t understand them. Unknown unknowns, however, are unexpected because you don’t know they exist.

The way to supercharge your PANCE or PANRE exam score is to identify your unknown unknowns. It takes a little effort, but the steps are rather easy. All you need are two things:

The system works like this:

Step 1: Answer a question from a question bank. If you get the answer wrong, read the explanation. Then write down in your notebook the part of the explanation that describes why the correct answer is correct. This process helps to identify your unknown unknowns. Subsequently, if there is any other information that you did not know or somewhat knew, record it as well in your notebook under the same topic.

You should do this for every question you get incorrect. I also encourage it for questions you may have answered correctly but discovered new information in the explanation that you previously did not know.

Step 2: Start each study session by reviewing your notebook that contains your unknown unknowns. As you do more questions, you will get questions wrong on topics already recorded in your notebook. For example, if you answer a question incorrectly on which age group most commonly gets de Quervain tendinopathy, you’ll record in your notebook something like “de Quervain tendinopathy: Epidemiology includes women between 30–50 yrs old and postpartum.”

Two weeks later, if you can’t name the diagnostic test characterized by thumb flexion and ulnar deviation of the wrist, you should go back through your notebook to find your first entry on de Quervain tendinopathy and add the Finkelstein test as the way to diagnose the condition. While we are on the topic, here is a cheat sheet for de Quervain tendinopathy.

After a month or two of recording your incorrect answer explanations, you will have a filled notebook of your unknown unknowns and maybe many of your known unknowns. If you do this on a consistent basis and get through 1,000 to 2,000 question bank questions for a 300-question standardized exam, you’ll identify most of your blind spots that questions can be asked about. You will convert your unknown unknowns to known knowns.

Here is an example of what your notebook might look like:

This is a composition notebook. All 100 pages (front and back) are filled with explanations from question bank questions I answered incorrectly.

I use the same system and process to prepare for all standardized exams. You can even use it to learn how to read ECGs better than a cardiologist.

With the PANCE/PANRE and rotation exams around the corner, now is the perfect time to begin this system. It leaves time for adjustment and plenty of time to accumulate your unknown unknowns.

Strategy 2: Taking advantage of human error

Earlier in this post, I mentioned you’ll need two things to supercharge your standardized exam score: a notebook and time. The notebook you can buy anytime. However, time disappears.

Taking the time to identify your unknown unknowns will prepare you for the exam. However, we know five ways you can improve your score simply by showing up to your exam.

You can use the errors made by question writers to boost your score.

The Anatomy of a Question

First, let’s understand the anatomy of a question.

Question
A 67-year-old woman who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer presents with increasing confusion over the past three days. Additionally, over the past week she has been complaining of fatigue, diffuse body aches, poorly localized abdominal pain, and constipation. Which of the following electrolyte abnormalities is the most likely explanation for her symptoms?

A question is made up of the stem and the lead-in. The stem contains the details of the question such as the clinical presentation, past medical history, and laboratory results. But, the critical part of the question is the lead-in. The question writer uses the lead-in to find out what you know or don’t know about the topic in the stem, and it is also where question writers make errors. By applying basic grammatical analysis, you will be able to identify the correct answer or at least narrow down the answer choices without knowing anything about the topic. Here are the first two tips:

1. Pay attention to grammatical cues.

Grammatical cues: one or more answer choices (distractors) don’t follow grammatically from the lead-in.

A 60-year-old man is brought to the emergency department by the police, who found him lying unconscious on the sidewalk. After ascertaining that his airway is patent, the first step in management should be intravenous administration of which of the following?

A. CT scan of the head
B. Diazepam
C. Examination of CSF
D. Glucose with thiamine

A and C do not follow grammatically from the lead-in. A good test taker can eliminate these.

2. Focus on logical cues.

Logical cues: one or more answer choices don’t logically fit in with the other choices.

A 22-year-old man is concerned he has appendicitis. Which of the following signs is most sensitive for the diagnosis of appendicitis?

A. Nausea
B. Pain with extension of the hip joint
C. Rebound tenderness
D. Right lower quadrant tenderness

Nausea is not a “sign” and can be eliminated by a good test taker.

Let’s now focus on answer choices to identify a few more areas where we can gain an edge.

The Anatomy of Answer Choices

QUESTION: A 67-year-old woman who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer presents with increasing confusion over the past three days. Additionally, over the past week she has been complaining of fatigue, diffuse body aches, poorly localized abdominal pain, and constipation. Which of the following electrolyte abnormalities is the most likely explanation for her symptoms?

A. Hypercalcemia
B. Hyperkalemia
C. Hypocalcemia
D. Hypokalemia

The lead-in asks about the most likely explanation, so think carefully through each answer option. Here are the distractors:

Once you understand the goal of the question writer to create answer choices that are supposed to discriminate knowledge, it is easier to exploit technical flaws and improve the odds of getting a question correct. The following three pointers round out our five tips that can help you answer a question correctly:

3. Look for answer choices containing absolute terms.

Absolute terms: terms such as “always” or “never.” When used in the answer options, these terms usually indicate an incorrect answer because they cannot hold up to scrutiny in all situations.

In patients with advanced Alzheimer disease, which of the following best characterizes the memory defect?

A. Can be treated adequately with phosphatidylcholine
B. Could be a sequela of early parkinsonism
C. Is always severe
D. Is never seen in patients with neurofibrillary tangles at autopsy

C and D contain absolute terms “always” and “never.” These should be avoided in answer choices because they are less likely to be true statements.

4. Keep an eye out for a long correct answer.

Long correct answer: the correct answer is longer, more specific, or more complete than the other options.

Secondary gain is which of the following?

A. A complication of a variety of illnesses and tends to prolong many of them
B. A frequent problem in obsessive-compulsive disorder
C. Commonly seen in organic brain damage
D. Synonymous with malingering

Option A is longer than the other options, and it is also the only double option. Item writers tend to pay more attention to the correct answer than to the distractors and write long correct answers that include additional instructional material, parenthetical information, and caveats.

5. Notice when a word repeats.

Word repeats: a word or phrase is included in the stem and in the correct answer.

A 58-year-old man with a history of major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder is hospitalized in the context of increased difficulty caring for himself. He speaks of experiencing the world as unreal. What is the term for this symptom?

A. Depersonalization
B. Derailment
C. Derealization
D. Focal memory deficit

This question uses the term “unreal” in the question stem, and “derealization” is the correct answer.

Whether you are taking your rotation exam, PANCE, or PANRE, there is so much at stake. Taking the time to identify your unknown unknowns will not only help you prepare for and excel on your exam, it will help you expand your core knowledge. Then, on test day, use the five simple techniques to identify common flaws in questions, which will increase your chances of getting a question correct.

Give these methods a try and let me know how it goes. Moreover, I’d love to hear about techniques you use that I did not write about.

And if you are looking for a PANCE review Qbank or PANRE review Qbank…you know where to find one.

Best,
Dawn Miller, PA-C

Was I the only one who thought, “School is finally over!” after finishing PA school? Once I officially became a PA-C, I was under the impression that my learning would only continue as I gained experience in practice.

I quickly realized that this profession is all about lifelong learning—for both didactic and clinical knowledge. I had to face a steep learning curve to understand how to keep my hard-earned certification, including my continuing medical education (CME) requirements. If you are like me, here are a few helpful answers to the top questions about CME for physician assistants.

Updated December 2025

What is CME?

CME is a form of continuing education that attempts to “keep the iron sharp” and maintain competence by learning new and developing capacities for improving patient care. This can range from in-person conferences to academic journals, audio, video, online webinars, and other media. 

Ultimately, CME must be created and approved by professionals in the medical field. Moreover, it must be free of financial bias (or revealed by the presenter before the CME is discussed) in order to qualify for your certification requirements.

What are the CME requirements for PAs?

As a PA, we must maintain our certification by passing a recertification exam (either the PANRE or PANRE-LA) every 10 years. Furthermore, we must pay a certification maintenance fee and earn CME credits in two-year iterations, totaling five certification “cycles.”

The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) requirement for maintaining certification is 100 CME credits total for every two-year cycle, consisting of at least 50 Category 1 credits (more on the different types of CME credits later).

The remaining 50 credits may be either additional Category 1 CME credits or Category 2 CME credits, or a combination of the two.

What are the different types of CME?

Category 1 CME

Category 1 CME is an educational activity that has been certified or approved by an accreditation agency for use. You can find a list of the agencies approved for Category 1 CME on the NCCPA website.

Examples of Category 1 CME include the following:

1. Regular CME

This type of CME is approved by one of the agencies listed above. Ensure those agencies have approved the activity for Category 1 credit before you proceed!

2. Certification Programs

But what about if I take Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), or other Certification Programs? NCCPA has you covered! Check out this PDF for a list of the Preapproved Certification Programs and their CME Category 1 credits!

3. Performance Improvement CME (PI-CME)

These CME activities are geared toward evaluating patients and improving the quality of your clinical practice. Interestingly, if you need a boost to your CME credit requirement, the NCCPA will double your credits for the first 20 PI-CME earned! If you would like more info, check out this NCCPA search tool.

4. Self-Assessment

If you are a scholar provider like myself, this type of CME may be of interest, as you can take a scholarly retrospective review of your own performance to improve your quality of care. The search tool linked above can also help you find which activities qualify for self-assessment.**

**If you are recertifying and opted to take the PANRE-LA, you can earn Category 1 Self-Assessment CME credits by completing 25 questions each quarter! Find more information on the NCCPA website.

Category 2 CME

Category 2 CME is as an educational activity that relates to the practice of medicine, betterment of patient quality of care, and improvement of the PA. However, this is an elective activity that does not qualify for Category 1 CME criteria above. You can earn Category 2 CME on an hour-by-hour basis by logging activities such as reading medical journals, doing online clinical research, or precepting students.

How do I log my CME credits?

To log your CME credits, sign into your NCCPA portal for your certification cycle. You must provide the title of the program, provider, number of credits, and sponsor for your CME activity. You can also upload any certificate obtained from the activity. (Note that NCCPA does conduct periodic audits and may request documentation if it was not already provided. More information on audits can be found here.)

For more information about logging CME credits, check out this NCCPA step-by-step instruction guide.

How can I find CME opportunities as a PA?

This all brings us to a few final questions: How can I easily earn CME credits? Can I earn CME credits on a budget? Can I earn CME online?

Here are a few of my own “pro tips” for finding CME opportunities:

Pro tip #1: Speak with your employer

Many employers are willing to give you a CME stipend (a business trip that covers your expenses, including conference fees) for your conference. A word to the wise: give plenty of lead time for the conference, a detailed itinerary for your travel, the conference schedule, and other financial details to your employer to maximize your coverage.

If you receive an annual stipend to use for any CME opportunities, you’ll have more flexibility for how to use this money—however, you will still want to plan out your credits well in advance before your CME money expires at the end of the year!

Pro tip #2: Become a member of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA)

Depending on the AAPA membership level you chose , you will have access to free or discounted recorded sessions of the AAPA conference for that particular year. Additionally, you can save money on AAPA’s CME On Demand library with 150+ credits of Category 1 CME available.

Because these activities are asynchronous, your employer can provide the finances to keep you certified while you watch from the comfort of your own home!

Pro tip #3: Earn CME credits while studying for recertification using a Qbank

Qbanks are incredible options for earning CME as a PA, considering you can study for your recertification exam while also earning CME credits. I recommend the Blueprint PA (formerly Rosh Review) PANRE/PANRE-LA Qbank with 2,000 NCCPA-formatted questions following the updated PANRE/PANRE-LA guidelines, including detailed explanations, teaching images, and a performance dashboard. After completing all 2,000 questions, you’ll be eligible to earn 100 Category 1 CME credits.

Why is CME important?

Here’s an adage that was told to me by a PA that I hold in the highest regard:

“Once you know everything there is to know as a PA, that is the time to retire.” 

While I did not understand this as a student, being a lifelong learner now holds a profound place in my heart. There is no better practice (it is called clinical “practice” for a reason) than to constantly achieve improved knowledge, because our patients deserve it, always!

One of the biggest struggles of PA school is getting yourself organized and, even more so, staying organized. We’ve all been there—getting a planner in the beginning of the school year, and forgetting about it by November.

From the whirlwind of information you receive in the didactic year, to balancing PANCE prep with work during clinical year, it can be easy to fall behind schedule. With 2026 on the horizon, this is a great time to reset if you find yourself drowning in unorganized notes!

Here are 10 tips for staying organized this year, no matter where you are in your PA journey. 🤓

📚 Didactic Year

Whether you’re coming straight from undergrad or returning for your master’s degree after taking some time off from school, the demands of your didactic year will likely catch you by surprise.

Your schedule will be made for you with classes throughout each weekday, mandatory labs, and multiple exams per week. Students often find this hard to balance, and wonder how to optimize their time.

These tips can help you stay organized during your didactic year:

1. Use a laptop to take notes. 

I recommend coming prepared with a laptop for taking notes in class. Some schools may provide you with one, but otherwise it’s definitely worth the investment. Keeping up with the speed of lectures is nearly impossible with handwritten notes.

2. Make notes on the PowerPoints.

To take notes in class, I would download the PowerPoints (which are hopefully provided to you beforehand), and from there, take notes on each individual slide.

3. Review what you missed. 

Note any content areas you miss during the lecture. Be sure to review those topics further in your book, discuss what you missed with a friend, or review a lecture recording. If you plan on recording the lecture, always seek your professor’s permission beforehand.

4. Pay attention during class!

With that being said, it’s crucial that you remain attentive in lectures. While you may be tempted by your phone or internet, place yourself on “do not disturb” and remain undistracted to the best of your ability. During class, professors will often highlight the most important points and help to guide your studying.

(As a side note, many advisors will suggest you read about topics before going over them in class. I do think this is an excellent way to prepare for a lecture, but honestly, you won’t usually have time for this. You’ll more likely spend time reviewing other subjects than preparing for what you’ll already be discussing in class!)

5. Organize your notes by category.

You should organize your notes initially under the main category and further by lecture topic and exam. For example, if you’re reviewing cardiology content, it would be: Cardiology—Arrhythmias—Exam 2. 

This is a good approach because when you’re initially studying, you may organize the material by exam, but when you need to review for cumulative exams, you can easily find the section you are looking for. 

6. Have another go-to resource.

I think it’s important to have at least one other resource book for reviewing didactic material to make sure you understand what you’re discussing in class. While some things may click instantly, certain topics may require more attention outside of lecture. 

Most of the time, textbooks for purchase are recommended by your institution. Remember you’re not only learning this to pass a test, you’re learning topics you’ll refer back to throughout your career as a PA. Therefore, we want to make sure you’re fully comprehending them when you’re initially learning, so additional discussions of the material are just a review.

🌪️ Tame the whirlwind of PA-1 year with Blueprint PA (formerly Rosh Review)’s Didactic Year Exams Qbank with 1,600 questions for your Subject Exams and End of Didactic Year Exam!

🩺 Clinical Year

Once you get to clinical year and don’t have weekly exams or lectures to worry about, it can feel daunting “only” having to prepare for that cumulative end of rotation exam (EOR). And remember, while you’re doing your EOR prep, you also have to get ready for the PANCE. This is on top of trying to become the best clinician you can be. So needless to say, you’re going to be busy. 

The good news is that studying for your EOR exams often helps the overall goal of PANCE studying, but it’s still important to plan your study schedule accordingly so you hit all necessary topics.

Here are some tips for staying organized during your clinical year: 

1. Follow the blueprints. 

The Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) provides EOR exam blueprints and the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) provides PANCE blueprints. These are set up to help ensure you’re prepared for any testable material and are an excellent resource for guiding your studying. I highly recommend using these to your advantage.

2. Create a good study schedule. 

Sometimes people will waste a lot of time deciding where to start with studying. They may also miss material if it’s not organized well. The answer to this is to create a study schedule. While making one can be a time-consuming task, it’s very important. It holds you accountable and helps you meet your study goals.

3. Pick up some review books. 

I recommend getting one or two good reference books during your clinical year, as it’s hard to filter through all of your prior didactic notes and material. Your didactic year is for the fundamental learning of each individual disease process, while your clinical year should be focusing on review after the fundamentals are understood. 

I utilized PANCE Prep Pearls and A Comprehensive Review for the Certification and Recertification of Physician Assistants, but there are many great review books out there.

4. Be sure to do practice questions. 

I also encourage you to utilize a question bank as a way to test your knowledge. Test-taking is a skill in itself and it needs to be developed.

A word of caution: the resources available to clinical year students are abundant. Try not to get overwhelmed by this. Instead, pick one or two and stick to them. You don’t need to buy every question bank or every review book available to you, as you won’t have the time to utilize all those resources anyway.

I utilized Blueprint PA (formerly Rosh Review) during my clinical year to prepare for both EORs and the PANCE!

If you’re searching for clinical year Qbanks, check out this bundle deal for clinical students:

👩‍💻 PANCE Qbank – 3,800 NCCPA-formatted questions with explanations
🩺 Rotation Qbank bundle – 1,750 questions with explanations
💪 PANCE Power Packs – 600 “must know” high-yield questions for the PANCE
📈 Plus personal analytics, extra support, Rapid Reviews, and more!

Final Thoughts

While staying organized can be a challenge, if you follow these PA school hacks you’ll undoubtedly be successful in 2026! The benefits of staying organized can last throughout your career—after you complete PA school and take the PANCE, you may refer back to the material you organized in a concise way when dealing with a clinical situation you haven’t seen in a while, or even when preparing for the PANRE. 

While medicine is always evolving and the first-line treatments or recommendations will change, some topics will always be relevant and worth referencing. Personally, I’m glad to have been organized throughout school, as it’s helped me in many ways as a PANCE tutor to have that information readily available. You never know when you may be thanking your past self for staying organized during PA school!

Looking for more (free!) content to help you thrive as a PA student? Check out these other posts on the blog:

• Taming the Whirlwind: How to Actually Remember What You Learn in PA School
• Would You Benefit From a PA School Tutor?
• Reducing Test Anxiety in PA School: A Tutor’s Guide

Are you a future physician assistant wondering how to pay for PA school in 2026? Or maybe a recent grad trying to figure out how to pay off your PA student loans? 

If you’re in either camp, you’ve got plenty of company. For many future PAs and recent grads, finances are a huge concern. It’s easy to see why—the average amount of student loan debt for graduates of PA school is $112,000! Whether you’re a borrower taking on new debt or a grad trying to pay off your loan, a number that big is bound to make you just a bit nervous. 

An obvious solution would be to avoid going into debt, but for many of us, the loans are necessary. We’re told not to work during PA school, so we rely on them not only for tuition and fees, but housing and food as well. Given all that in combination is far from affordable for most students, many practicing PAs wouldn’t be where they are if they hadn’t been able to obtain student loans.

If you’re wondering how to pay for PA school in 2026, or a working PA dreading having to set aside money for your monthly payments, we can help. This post is for future PAs who have to go into debt to achieve their dream, and those who’ve graduated and are wondering how to pay off their loans. In the first half, we’ll discuss some recent changes that will impact how borrowers finance their education in 2026. Then, we’ll review some tips when it comes to refinancing, loan forgiveness, and the repayment options that are out there. 

Let’s begin. 

How to Pay for PA School in 2026: What New Borrowers Need to Know 

The past few months have been full of change in the US Department of Education—and this has caused a lot of stress and confusion for borrowers. This is an especially trying time for students actively pursuing their Master’s of Physician Assistant studies. This section will detail some of the key changes that will impact new borrowers after July 1, 2026.

1. Grad PLUS loans are ending. 

One of the recent changes that’ll affect students pursuing their PA degree the most is the elimination of Grad PLUS loans. These loans were beneficial to students pursuing graduate degrees for several reasons:

1. They allowed students to borrow the total cost of their education
2. Students didn’t have to begin repaying Grad PLUS loans until they’d been out of school for six months

With the elimination of this program, students will need to find other ways to fund their education.

What are your options?

One option is to take out direct unsubsidized loans, which are loans students can apply for regardless of their financial need. While you still don’t have to start paying back direct unsubsidized loans until six months after graduation, they’ll start accruing interest immediately upon disbursement.

2. There are updated limits for new borrowers. 

Another recent change is a new cap on federal education loans of $100,000 for graduate school students and $200,000 for graduate students pursuing a professional degree. Unfortunately, the Department of Education has proposed that PAs do not fall under the “professional degree” category when it comes to federal loan borrowing. Thus, the cap for new borrowers seeking federal student loans for PA school after July 1, 2026 will be $20,500 annually, $100,000 total limit.

Compare this to the average cost of PA school which is between $10,000 and $20,000 per semester, or $20,000 to $40,000 per year on tuition alone. Of course, this doesn’t include the cost of housing and food during that time. 

Given all the expenses, the new caps in 2026 will likely have students dependent on loans for their education looking closer at public school programs (which cost less).

3. Private banks will take on an increased role. 

For any costs that exceed the new borrowing limits, students will need to turn to private loans. Unfortunately, they can be difficult to obtain for students with limited credit history and often require a cosigner. Banks rely on credit scores when deciding whether to let a student borrow. This can be a problem, as cosigning a loan is a huge commitment and borrowers may not be able to find someone with a good credit score who is willing to take on that burden for them.

The changes we’ve outlined here apply to both current and new students. However, students that are currently receiving graduate PLUS loans will be grandfathered in and allowed to continue this program.

PA Student Loans: Repayment Options for Graduates in Debt 

Regardless of the changes to the student loan borrowing programs, the process of repaying student loans can be daunting. I’m about four years out from PA school, and still in the process of figuring out exactly what strategy I should use to pay off my loans. Borrowers have many options, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF), refinancing their loans, or opting for one of the many government repayment options. . 

Let’s have a look at each. 

1. Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

The PSLF program affords the opportunity for borrowers who work for a nonprofit organization making payments towards their loans for 10 years to receive forgiveness of the remaining balance after that time. This program has been a hot topic lately, with some changes regarding qualifying organizations, but nonprofit hospitals have consistently qualified as public service.

If you want to pursue PSLF, ensure the healthcare system you work for is a nonprofit organization, as not all of them are. This can easily be determined with a quick Google search!

2. Refinancing 

Refinancing your loans may be a good strategy if you aren’t opting to pursue a forgiveness program and are offered a lower interest rate than what’s available through the government. However, refinancing your loans will usually mean a repayment term of 5-20 years.

For context, government programs usually have a repayment term of 10-30 years. This can mean lower monthly payments and possible forgiveness of remaining balances after 20-25 years. 

Should you refinance with a private lender? 

It’s important to remember that the state of student loans is a hot political issue. Therefore, as political winds change direction, the repayment and forgiveness options may change with them. If you opt to refinance with a private lender, you won’t have any ability to undo this and become eligible for government based loan forgiveness in the future.

Before refinancing with a private lender, I recommend looking on the federal student aid website and utilizing the loan stimulator tool. This allows you to put in your estimated income and see various repayment options. This tool even goes as far as to tell you the true price you’re paying over the life of the loan, including the interest, and the amount you could have forgiven through available programs. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, student loans are stressful for all of us. If you’re a new borrower, remember that Grad Plus loans have ended, and understand that any additional borrowing will have to be done from private banks. If you’re a grad trying to pay off your loan, it’s important to stay informed about your options. Repayment terms are constantly a topic of debate. This causes uncertainty in borrowers, but it’s a large amount of money you’re committed to paying off, so you owe it to yourself to stay informed as to what your options are. 

Remember, there are paths that allow you to pursue repayment in a way that best fits your ability. Whether you’re a new borrower or a grad in debt, we’re all in this boat together.

For more (free!) content to help you navigate the PA journey, check out these other posts on the blog:

• Understanding PA School Acceptance Rates & Admissions in 2025
• How to Ace Your Didactic Year: PA School Ultimate Guide
• PA Specialties: How to Decide Which is Right for You

The didactic year of PA school is no joke, especially when it comes to exams. You’ll go from taking one big test every few weeks (like in undergrad) to juggling several each week, all while trying to keep hundreds of new concepts straight in your head. There’s a reason this year is likened to “trying to drink from a firehose!”

Whether you came straight from undergrad or spent time gaining clinical experience, the pace of PA didactic year is unlike anything you’ve experienced before. You’ll quickly realize that staying afloat isn’t just about studying hard, but about studying smart and finding ways to retain information under constant pressure.

Feeling overwhelmed at first is completely normal. Balancing lecture material, lab work, and near-constant exams can make even the most organized students feel stretched thin. But with the right strategies, you can adapt quickly and keep your stress from spiraling.

To help you start strong (and stay sane), we’ve gathered practical tips for managing your workload, building efficient study systems, and staying confident through those back-to-back exams.

Here are some tricks to get you performing well from the start!

1. Study as you go.

Many students fall behind because they don’t review the material as soon as they get it. Yes, I mean as soon as that evening or the next day, you should review material from the lecture!

My best piece of advice is to at least try and review the material briefly before you go to that class again. If there’s something you couldn’t quite grasp in class, watch a video on it or reference your textbook. 

2. Don’t wait too long to ask for help. 

Be sure to seek out assistance from professors early if things aren’t making sense. If you wait until the exam review, it’ll be late in the game before you’re even grasping the material. Or worse yet, you’ll find yourself heading to the exam without a good understanding. 

3. Create a schedule.

A study schedule is crucial to success. Time is extremely valuable in your didactic year. You’re in lectures most weekdays, with many different topics to review each week. While the topics you’re reviewing will change week-by-week, I encourage you to block out designated study time in your weekly schedule.

In addition to scheduling designated study time, make sure you block out time for things you enjoy. Whether that’s going to the gym, making dinner at home, or talking on the phone with a friend, be sure to make time for it! That way, when you do something you enjoy, you don’t feel guilty or behind schedule. And you can confidently say you planned your study times around it. 

For example, my PA school friends and I blocked out Monday nights for “The Bachelor.” It was something we loved to do together, so every Monday we made it a priority! Because I planned for this, there was a lot less stress associated with taking a pause from studying to do something I enjoyed.

4. Ditch the flashcards.

I get it. In the past, you used flashcards and did very well. So did I!

While there are a few times in PA school when they might be useful, overall I highly encourage you to ditch them. Whether you’re handwriting the flashcards or using online platforms, you simply don’t have enough time to make them for all the material you need to review.

Furthermore, you can’t adequately test your grasp of pathophysiology and detailed disease processes with a flashcard. This is a habit I recommend breaking.

5. Incorporate active learning.

Active learning requires you to engage with and think critically about the material you’re studying. This is in contrast to passive learning, which involves things like watching videos or reviewing notes. 

A key part of active learning is that you’re forced to recall the material during the course of the study exercise. This type of effortful processing is crucial to testing your understanding of the topics you review. 

The good news is that while difficult, active learning pays off. Students that incorporate active learning into their studying often perform better on exams. 

6. Use question banks.

Practice questions are especially useful throughout your didactic year, because most students don’t have experience answering questions in a clinical vignette. Using Qbanks gives you an idea of what to expect on the exams and allows you to practice the kind of thinking you’ll use on test day. This is very beneficial, as test-taking is a skill in itself that needs to be learned and practiced.

A lot of question banks are geared towards PANCE prep students, but it’s important to focus on questions made for those in their didactic year. Blueprint Prep offers didactic year Qbanks specifically designed for your Subject Exams and End of Didactic Year Exam.

These questions go a bit more in-depth on pathophysiology of the disease processes, which more accurately matches what you can expect to see on your exams. In addition, the questions are designed to match your learning level and they won’t have any topics you didn’t yet learn!

7. Grab a friend or two!

Like I said before, PA school can be a trying time. It’s isolating for a lot of students because they are too busy to keep up with family and friends. Opening up to your classmates, who understand what you’re going through, is invaluable and may provide you with lifelong friendships. While PA school was exceptionally difficult, the friends I made along the way left me with such wonderful memories I can almost say I miss it sometimes.

In addition to building a community, I encourage you to form relationships with your classmates as study buddies. Working in small groups allows you to quiz each other, break down difficult information, and hold yourselves accountable for studying. 

Keep these groups small, I recommend no more than two or three people! If it gets too big, just split it in half when it’s time to study. This will cause fewer distractions and allow everyone to make the most of their time. 

8. Get enough sleep! 

This may sound impossible with your never-ending to-do list, but I can’t say enough about how important it is to prioritize your sleep. PA school is not the time for all-nighters! They won’t help you retain the material in the long run, and you’ll be right back where you started when the cumulative exam comes along. 

Don’t just take my word for it— multiple studies link academic performance to sleep hygiene. It’s important to prioritize your sleep and avoid things like blue light and caffeine before bed. 

I recommend trying to consistently get at least seven hours of sleep per night, especially before any exams.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re preparing to start your didactic year or you’re halfway through it and want to make some positive changes, it’s never too late to incorporate these strategies! After all, each day is something of a “refresh” point. You get to start fresh on your approach to PA school anytime you choose. 

Take a deep breath, incorporate these strategies into your daily routine, and believe in your ability to create positive change in your life and career. You’ve got this!

Although I have been a certified PA for almost 15 years, I remember those dreaded feelings of anxiety towards ECGs like it was yesterday. Sure, I understood the science, and even read a much-recommended resource on the topic by Dr. Dale Dubin, but putting that knowledge into practice was something else altogether. How did one read and interpret an ECG? I didn’t know how to tackle the problem. It seemed like an insurmountable mountain.

Unfortunately, it was a mountain I had to climb. In multiple clinical medicine courses like Cardiology and Emergency Medicine, the ECG was a major part of the coursework. And yet the more I worked at it, the more it seemed to elude me. This was a problem, because I needed to know the ECG to not only get through PA school, but also do well on my End of Rotation Exams and prepare for the PANCE!

Sound a little (or maybe a lot) like your own struggles? Take heart—there was a solution to be found! One of my mentors helped me TREMENDOUSLY by teaching me the five steps to reading and interpreting ECGs. And yes, I would be happy to pay the information forward to you as a virtual mentor!

The ABCs of ECGs

Let’s start by considering what an ECG is. Essentially, an ECG is a mechanical analysis of the dynamic physiology of the heart.

A bit of a history lesson for you: in 1887, Augustus Waller used a mercury capillary electrometer and observed deflections of the mercury that indicated electrical activity in the heart. Using Waller’s discovery, Willem Einthoven built a modified version of the mercury capillary electrometer and recorded the activity of the heart in an improved way. He developed a string galvanometer, which can be seen in this article from NCBI.

Of course, since Einthoven, there have been many changes to his design that have dramatically improved cardiac care. However, we still thank you, Einthoven!

Why Should PA Students Learn to Interpret ECGs?

As a PA student and future certified PA, your ability to successfully read and interpret ECGs is tantamount to effective practice as a clinician, especially if you work as a cardiology PA, emergency medicine PA, or even as a surgical PA (as they are obtained for preoperative consultations).

If you apply the following 5 Steps, it greatly improves your interpretation, but it really ensures you don’t miss anything on the ECG, as there are multiple “look-alikes” and otherwise hidden nuggets of valuable data that can be easily missed. However, if you follow the steps, you will be less likely to miss those important nuggets!

Alright, now that we’ve set things up, let’s move on to the how and why of the five steps to reading and interpreting ECGs like a cardiologist!

The 5 Steps to Reading and Interpreting EKGs

1. Is the rhythm regular or irregular?

Most ECGs indicate a regular heart rhythm. Observe the QRS complex; moreover, focus on the upward positive deflection, this is the “R” portion of the QRS. These are usually the easiest to identify on an ECG.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that well before I became a PA, I was a DJ! When examining an ECG, be like a DJ: look for the discernable “marching” of beats. If you can appreciate a regular beat—it is regular!

Pro tip: when starting out, consider using calipers to observe the distance between the “R” portion of the QRS. If you don’t have calipers, place a piece of paper just below the Rs and make a mark under subsequent ones. If they appear the same distance, you are regular!

For irregularities, you will not be able to march out Rs!

2. What’s the rate?

The normal rate is between 60 and 100 bpm. Always remember this!

With a regular rhythm, there are two methods to determine the heart rate using a given ECG (whether a 12-lead full ECG or a rhythm strip).

The first is the counting of large boxes. Starting with an R wave that best lines up with a solid (dark) red line, count the lines between until you reach the next R wave. The rates start at 300 bpm with line 1, then 150 bpm with line 2, 100 bpm with line 3, and so on. Here is a very helpful graphic to help you learn the rates:

I would commit them to memory. Do a couple of practice tracings to get this down pat!

For regular (or irregular) rhythms, there is another method. If you consider a typical 12-lead ECG or rhythm strip, the amount of time across the entire thing is usually 10 seconds. You can count the number of QRS complexes that you see in the strip, and multiply by 6. This will give you a 60-second timeframe of beats. For example: if you count 12 QRS complexes on the ECG, you have a rate of 72 bpm (12 x 6)! 

3. What do the P waves and the PR intervals look like?

After determining the rhythm and rate, look at the appearance of the P wave. This is referred to as the morphology (i.e., what does it look like). The P wave represents atrial depolarization (and contraction). It should appear like a small round mound. Here are some examples of abnormal appearing ones and their interpretations.

Additionally, are the PR intervals normal? The PR interval is measured leading from the beginning of the P wave to the first part of the QRS complex. It is normal if it’s between 0.12 and 0.20 seconds. This is equal to three to five smaller boxes.

If it is abnormal or there are specific changes, this may indicate a heart block or even a condition called WPW (if it appears short).

4. What do the QRS complexes, ST segment, and T waves Look Like?

The QRS complex represents the depolarization of the ventricles. It should be less than 0.12 seconds (3 small boxes or less).

Is it “tight,” which means the rhythm is being generated by the sinoatrial (SA) node? Or, does it appear wide, which is known as aberrancy? Aberrancy on an ECG is an abnormal conduction of a supraventricular impulse through the ventricles, causing a widened QRS complex that deviates from the normal heartbeat pattern. The ST segment is a subject for an entire blog post on its own!

Bottom line: a normal ST segment should be flat. If it is elevated, there may be myocardial infarction (heart attack) or if it is depressed there may be ischemia (a lack of normal blood flow).

As for the T wave, it represents the repolarization of the ventricles. It should have a gradual hump appearance, not a flipped one. If it is, this may be another sign of ischemia. If it is peaked, the patient may have hyperkalemia (too much potassium in the blood).

5. Interpretation

Here is where all of the data you’ve obtained leads to your diagnosis. Pro tip: if everything is normal, you are looking at a normal sinus rhythm!

Final Thoughts

If you’re interested in learning ECG interpretation based on both single-concept and case-based questions from an online Qbank, take a look at Blueprint PA’s Clinical ECG Qbanks!

Please do not hesitate to reach out to the fabulous, experienced PA tutors at Blueprint Prep for all of the mentoring you need to become an expert on ECGs!

To your success,

Frank Ritz, PA-C, DScPAS, MPAS

Blueprint Test Prep Tutor

Originally published April 2023 / Updated November 2025

For many pre-PA students, the first step of the application process is deciding your top programs. As you start to explore PA schools, you feel your chest tighten and pulse quicken as you examine the statistics. How do you know if your application is competitive for your top programs? Should you factor in PA school acceptance rates and rankings when deciding where to apply? This leads you to another question: “How many PA schools should I apply to?”

Here is everything you need to know about PA school acceptance rates, what to consider when applying to different schools, and how to tell if your application has a good chance of acceptance into your program of choice.

Prepping for PA school? Try out Blueprint’s Pre-PA Qbanks designed to get you up to speed before day 1!

🩺 Pre-PA Preparation Qbank: Get a leg up for your PA program with questions on anatomy, physiology, and more!

😺 PA-CAT Qbank: The only PA-CAT prep endorsed by the exam creators!

🎒 PA-CAT Qbank Bundle: PA-CAT Qbank + mock exam

Are PA school acceptance rates a good indication of a program’s quality?

According to the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA), the average PA school acceptance rate is approximately 20%, meaning that about 20% of all applicants across the nation gain acceptance to a PA program in any admissions cycle. This number is based on thousands of PA applicants applying to several schools in the hopes of being selected for an interview and eventually receiving an offer of admission.

Programs such as Duke University, long held as one of the top-ranked PA programs**, have acceptance rates as low as 2.3%. Likewise, Baylor College of Medicine and Emory University have acceptance rates of around 3%. There are great PA schools with much higher acceptance rates as well. Marquette University—which was #27 on the U.S. News ranking of top PA programs last year—has an acceptance rate of about 8%, while George Washington University—#6 on the same list—has an acceptance rate of about 6%.

What does a program’s acceptance rate actually mean?

These acceptance rates may not seem like large percentages, but it’s important to remember that acceptance rates are based on the number of total applicants versus the number that is eventually admitted into the program. When you have a large number of applicants competing for a fixed number of spots, then the percentage of accepted students is bound to be lower.

It is also important to remember that the number of students that each program is allowed to admit is inflexible and set by the program’s application to the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). To increase class size, a program must submit an application to ARC-PA with proof that they are able to accommodate and support a greater number of students. It makes sense then that the “top-ranked” programs would have more applicants and therefore, have lower acceptance rates because the ratio of applicants to the number of seats available would be greater.

**A note about PA school rankings

It is worth noting the U.S. News methodology for ranking PA programs. This list is based upon a survey sent to 170 out of 300 programs asking PA program administrators and deans to rank accredited programs on a scale of 1–5. They also have the option of selecting “don’t know” if they are not knowledgeable about the program.

Generally, this ranking is then based on subjective peer assessment rather than objective data. While peer assessment is important and noteworthy, it doesn’t give applicants a holistic evaluation of a program’s quality.

Overall, when considering which program(s) to apply to, there may be qualities that are more important to you than PA school rankings. These may include PANCE pass rates, affordability, location, clinical affiliations, student support and attrition rates, and job placement rates. 

How do you know if your application is competitive?

If there is one piece of advice you take away from this article, it is to apply early! Most PA schools have a rolling admission process, so the earlier you apply in the cycle, the fewer applicants you have to compete with.

Make sure you pay attention to the minimum requirements and, if possible, start planning to exceed those requirements early on to set yourself up for pre-PA success. If you wait until you’re about to apply to PA school to start looking at the requirements, you’re going to find yourself in the tricky position of figuring out if what you’ve taken meets the standards for your top choices. It’s best to figure out your pathway early in your career so that you don’t apply to programs based on which requirements you can meet, instead of picking schools that are a good fit for you.

What are PA schools looking for?

According to the 2020 PAEA Student Report, the overall average GPA of PA matriculants is 3.6 (with a 3.5 average science GPA). GRE scores for the most competitive programs are around 153 and 157 for average quantitative and verbal scores. The average PA student has a baccalaureate degree in one of the natural sciences and typically, has had at least three years of hands-on clinical experience usually as a certified nursing assistant or medical assistant.

Meeting these averages will, of course, place you in a good position for acceptance. But that’s not all PA schools are looking for. 

PA schools are interested in a well-rounded student who has a commitment to serving others, demonstrated through volunteer work, reaching out of their comfort zone, and retaining a passion for helping communities. The abilities to multitask, handle stress, and overcome adversity are all important factors in gaining acceptance. Even if you don’t have the average GRE or GPA scores, going above and beyond in your personal life to demonstrate these soft skills and characteristics will help you gain acceptance. Make sure this is a genuine effort—most admissions committees can tell if you’re checking off the boxes or if your actions reflect your drive to enter a field of service.

How many PA schools should I apply to?

According to the 2020 PAEA Student Report, the average PA school applicant applies to eight PA programs. Applying to one PA program gives you about a 25% chance of acceptance, while applying to 12 PA programs increases those chances to 49%.

To specifically answer how many PA schools to apply to, I personally don’t recommend applying to more than 12 programs, as there is no data that proves this will increase your chances of acceptance.

Should you apply to a program even if your application doesn’t match the average criteria?

Short answer: YES! If you worry about a lower-than-average GRE score but have a great application otherwise, please apply!

Remember that PA programs expect applicants to have done reasonably well in their undergraduate education and on standardized testing, but there are thousands of applicants that meet those criteria.

What makes your application stand out is the amount of time you’ve spent outside of the classroom gaining experience and maturity. PA programs know that they can teach you medicine, but it’s much harder to teach someone compassion. Working with diverse and underserved populations, volunteering your time, and demonstrating empathy and compassion are desirable skills that every PA program is looking for in a candidate.

Tip: Your CASPA personal statement and/or supplemental essays are great places to highlight these qualities!

How important are acceptance rates and rankings when deciding which programs to apply to?

Overall, program rankings do not include all of the existing PA programs and rely on peer evaluations rather than objective data. This isn’t to say that the rankings aren’t one of the valuable tools in deciding what program to apply to—however, the top-ranked, highly desirable programs will have lower acceptance rates just based on the ratio of the number of applicants to the number of seats available.

Use a holistic approach in deciding which programs to apply to and focus more on the programs that fit your personal priorities. Make sure your plan is to identify several programs where you’ll feel you’ll succeed, exceed the minimum requirements, apply early, and back up your words with actions that demonstrate your passion for the profession. If you use that strategy, acceptance rates won’t be a worry at all.