PA Class of 2021 receives above average 100% first-time PANCE Pass Rate
Posted on: February 2, 2022
Tigerville, SC (February 2, 2022) North Greenville University (NGU) PA Medicine Program’s most recent graduating Class received high marks from the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). All 30 members of the Class of 2021 received their ‘PA-C’ designation on their first PANCE attempt, above the national average of 93% first-time PANCE pass rate.
NGU Associate Dean for the School of Allied Health Professions and Physician Assistant (PA) Program Director Dr. Jordan Hairr said he looks forward to witnessing these graduates’ positive impacts on their patients, healthcare systems, and communities.
“The NGU PA program is extremely proud of our Class of 2021. These students experienced one of the most unique didactic years for any PA student as they had to transition to online learning at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said NGU PA Program Director Dr. Jordan Hairr. “Through their hard work and dedication, they were able to overcome the effects of COVID-19 on their educational experience and demonstrate everything they learned through passing the PANCE and receiving their PA-C.”
Repeatedly voted one of the best and most needed healthcare professions in the future, being a PA has so many benefits that it’s hard to argue against wanting to pursue this career.
If you graduate from a PA program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), you can take the PANCE for certification. The multiple-choice exam assesses minimum competency to determine whether examinees have the knowledge and skills needed for entry-level practice.
After passing PANCE, PAs are issued NCCPA certification and can use the PA-C designation until the certification expiration date in approximately two years.
Kaylee Adams (’18, MMSPA’ 21), a member of the PA Class of 2021, said the Class is grateful for the faculty’s investment and doesn’t think they would have had the same results without them.
“I think it’s notable that we didn’t just have a 100% PANCE pass rate on all of our first attempts, but that we also did this during a pandemic. I think the circumstances we faced brought us much closer as a Class, showed us what we were capable of, and showed us how much the faculty really care about us and our success,” said Adams. “They [faculty] not only rose to the challenge of teaching a large portion of our didactic material virtually but took time out of their schedule to bring small groups of us in (so that social distancing was possible) to make sure we still had the hands-on instruction to go into our clinical rotations well-prepared and ready to practice medicine.”
The Class of 2021 President Ross LeClair from Clifton, IL, agrees with Adams that the Class was able to adapt and succeed even with the challenges associated with the pandemic.
“When I reminisce over the last two years, there are three words that come to mind, and those are ‘trust the process.’ Dr. Hairr said these words to us on the first day of the didactic year and then continued to say them to us over the program’s entirety,” said LeClair.
LeClair said as obstacles, including late nights and countless tests, presented themselves, these words were sometimes easier said than done. As a result of attending PA school in the middle of a pandemic; challenged in ways many PA students never will be. The NGU PA Program challenged them in a way that led us to discover our true potential, and for this, he said, “we will forever be grateful.”
“The NGU PA Program brought 30 strangers together and taught us to work to achieve a common goal and become a certified Physician Assistant. Today, I can officially say that all 30 of us can write PA-C after our names and that I definitely ‘trust the process.'”
NGU offers more than 115 areas of study across certificate, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and early college opportunities. Online. In-person. At our main campus in Tigerville, SC, the Tim Brashier Campus in Greer, SC, or several educational centers around the U.S. One university, many locations. Every day. Epic. Learn more.
