r/PAstudent

Question for PA-S or PA-C’s.

Im genuinely curious what kind of background checks schools do for matriculation and for clinical.

The school I’m looking into does something called a “level-1 criminal background check” … I have no idea what that even means.

Anyone who has experience with these can you just give some insight? What to expect? Did you just run your SSN or was it finger print (DOJ/FBI)? Is the check for pre-matriculation the same as for clinicals/rotation?

Ps. I don’t have any criminal offenses just curious 🧐

I definitely need advice on what prompts to tell AI websites like ChatGPT or notebookLM when making practice tests to aid in studying for certain exams. I’ve tried a couple variations but am left with tests that seem more superficial/ too simple. If anyone could share what prompts they use that’d be great!

Hey! Did anyone else take their PANCE on Saturday, October 3rd and has not gotten results yet?! All of my classmates got theirs within 5 business days, and I was expecting a score to be released this morning (per other reddit users who took theirs on Saturday, as well), but I never got an email. I’m so anxious! Do we think it’s because of the holiday on Monday?

Did anyone take it last Saturday and get a score already?! I think I passed, but the waiting period is difficult!

TIA ❤️ — An anxious PA Mom

The title sums it up pretty well. I have 3 exams next week and then 2 the week after. The volume of info just feels unbearable. I have a physio exam on Tuesday. First two lectures went great, then we got into cardiology and muscular physiology and I just feel so lost, especially on the cardio. So many equations and outputs and valves…literally making my head spin. I’ve been making Anki cards but I don’t even think they will be helpful if I don’t understand the concepts but I’ve rewatched the lecture ad nauseam and feel stuck.

Please tell me it gets better

If you have other options for programs, please choose them. I am just trying to save other people from stress and lack of an education. 

ICPA has a high staff turnover rate. No one stays working in that program for long. The 1st director left the program and an interim was appointed in 2024 and she left in summer 2025. Their clinical director just recently left in summer 2026 as well. They overwork the few teachers they have and they can't do everything as much as they have tried. Students throughout many cohorts raised concerns about lack of teachers, issues learning, and lack of preparation for clinicals and were shot down by the previous director anytime it was brought up. They have hired a couple more teachers in the last year but still struggle to fully staff the program. 

As far as curriculum goes, they will bring in PAs from different specialties to teach blocks like Nephrology, Dermatology, and other units when they don’t have regular staff, but there isn’t much structure. Slides aren’t that helpful as there is less structure, 100s of slides, and don’t necessarily have all points you need to know about diseases from the PANCE Blueprint. Be prepared to teach yourself! Look up the NCCPA 1st time PANCE pass rates because they just keep getting lower. 

They were just placed on probation by ARC-PA so look that up on their website for the report. ICPA did just get a new director and she may turn the program around but everyone has to wait and see. She is making lots of changes but more to benefit how the school looks and scoring, not how students are learning or how to receive support from the program which is what they should be focused on. They constantly talk about professionalism and flexibility but don’t convey or be an example of that themselves. They expect students to be professional and flexible but never give them that in return. They have chronically not updated students on progress or announcements of the program, have so many last minute changes and basically tell us to deal with it and that being a PA is about adapting to justify their actions. They constantly move the goal post and blame students for poor performance or scores when their curriculum is lacking. If you have other options for school, go elsewhere if you want structure and support, at least until this program gets it together. If this program can keep staff and have good teachers that actually want to teach, it could improve. 

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hi, i unfortunately will probably get dismissed from school. we are at the end of didactic year. barley made the cut off. i find out for sure though in a few weeks. i can rejoin the next year's cohort, which starts in a few months.

my question is, should i restart or do something else? tuition in total is 100k, so starting over would put me in 150k debt. an additional 50k for failing.

ik most people in this situation go to nursing, but to be clear, i do NOT want to be a nurse. nothing personal, i just do not align with nursing. please do not convince me of that or comment on this topic.

another thing is it was not my study methods. the class i failed was due to personal reasons, not my lack of intelligence or study methods. it is just one portion, but regards came to bite me back. don't want to give too much info on here, if you have questions u can DM me, but my main question is if it is worth to restart a whole year later financially. i know i will pass everything next year, especially already having learned the material, even if life happens again.

also, if i did restart, i probably would get a part time job for some extra money for my rent. ik this is a bad idea to anyone else, but i passed every other course with flying colors with cramming on the weekends. i typically take the week off and passively look at things, but i normally didn't do much 5-10pm on the weekdays. ofc i don't want to cram again, but my point is i already know a lot and know it's something i am able to do, just wanted to mention for the financial aspect. also i don't listen in class and study instead, so that's 8h of studying daily right there.

i truly don't know what else i would do. i like healthcare admin, but i would always have a failure in my heart as i have wanted this career since i was in high school. networking also sucks in corporate lol but i also have thought about it before, the thought of starting over is scary tho

Hi everyone! I’m graduating PA school in December and plan to take the PANCE in January. I received an offer from a dermatology practice in Texas where I’m currently doing my clinical rotation and would love some feedback.

Offer:

- $30/hr during pre-license/training period

- $100k starting salary once licensed/credentialed

- Dermatology training with gradual increase in patient responsibility

- Medical, surgical/procedural, and cosmetic dermatology

- Clinical research/Sub-Investigator responsibilities and training

- Practice covers/reimburses licensing, credentialing, DEA, required research training, and malpractice

- M-F 7:45-5pm + 1-2 Saturdays a month.

- Approximately 1–2 Saturdays/month expected

10–15 PTO days/year

- $1,000 CME allowance + 3 paid CME days

- Health insurance and retirement benefits

- Compensation may eventually transition to base + productivity/incentive bonus

- 4-year anticipated employment commitment

- Final employment agreement will outline termination and any potential repayment obligations

The practice is investing heavily in training me in dermatology, which is appealing as a new grad, but I’m unsure how this compares to other new-grad derm offers.

Questions:

Is $110k reasonable for a new-grad derm PA in Texas?

Is a 4-year commitment concerning/unusual?

How does the PTO/CME package look?

What should I negotiate or make sure is clearly defined in the final contract, especially regarding the bonus and repayment obligations?

Would love to hear from derm PAs or other new grads!

Just curious how this works at different PA programs!

I’m interested in doing as many IHS/Tribal Health rotations as I can, plus rotations at/near home, and I’ve started making a list of places I’d be really interested in before I start school (both for rotation suggestions and job search).

Figured I might as well do the research now rather than during didactic when I’m already drowning lol

If you gave your program a list of clinics/preceptors you were interested in, did they actually reach out to them? Or do they mostly stick with sites they already have relationships with?

Like, how many places were you able to suggest/request?

First of all, I can’t believe I can finally write this 😭 I passed my retake today!!!
I came out of that exam crying my eyes out because I was so convinced I had failed again. Everyone kept telling me not to be so sure, but in my head, I just knew. This attempt felt much harder to me, especially because the vignettes were longer, which made my anxiety even worse.

What I did differently this time:
Remediated all of my missed topics.
I went back through the areas I struggled with and made sure I actually understood them instead of just memorizing answers.

I basically made ChatGPT my tutor.
Anytime I got a question wrong, I would tell ChatGPT what my thought process was and why I chose the answer I did. Then it would break down what I missed in the vignette, where my reasoning went wrong, and how I should approach a similar question next time.
It also helped me create a system for approaching questions: What is the diagnosis first? What exactly are they asking me? Is the patient stable or unstable? Are they in the ER or outpatient clinic? What demographics or risk factors matter? Etc.
I also spoke with a few other students on here who were using a similar approach, which reassured me that I was moving in the right direction.

Resources I used:
I used UWorld again, mainly focusing on my marked and missed questions. I also bought the PANCE Prep Pearls 600 Question Book from Amazon and really liked it because the questions felt very PANCE-directed.
I bought Blueprint as well, but for me personally, it ended up being a waste because I only completed about 300 out of the 3,000+ questions.
I also used NCCPA Practice Exams A, B, and C, and of course PPP.

Stats:
I’m actually not going to share my stats, and there’s a reason for that. The first time I was preparing, I spent way too much time on Reddit comparing my scores to everyone else’s. This time, whenever I saw someone post their stats, I wished them well and kept scrolling.
Their stats were not going to change my score.
If you’re currently studying for a retake or PANCE in general, please don’t let somebody else’s percentages convince you that you’re going to pass or fail. Focus on identifying why you’re missing questions and fixing your thought process.
I’m still in disbelief, but I’m so grateful this chapter is finally over. 😭