title: Early Predictors of Students at Risk of Poor PANCE Performance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to identify early predictors in the physician assistant (PA) program curriculum that could be used to identify students "at risk" of failing the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE), allowing for early intervention. Previous literature implicates grades on foundational coursework as promising early predictors of PANCE performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary data analyses were performed using student data from 2003 to 2014 school years in the PA program at a large university.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Path analysis indicated that grades from foundational coursework were the strongest early predictors of PANCE performance, accounting for over half of the variance in PANCE performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although admission criteria provide some indication of how a student might perform on the PANCE, foundational coursework is the best early predictor of PANCE performance based on this research. Remediation strategies may be most successful when targeting students who have difficulty in these classes during their first year.
authors.affiliation: Michelle Butina, PhD, is an associate professor and program director for Medical Laboratory Science at the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences in Lexington, Kentucky. Andrew R. Wyant, MD, is an assistant professor for the Physician Assistant Program at the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences in Lexington, Kentucky. Randa Remer, PhD, is the assistant dean of Student Affairs at the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences in Lexington, Kentucky. Robert Cardom, MS, Office of Student Affairs at the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences in Lexington, Kentucky.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Butina
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Wyant
authors.forename: Randa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Remer
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cardom
mesh_terms: D002568:Certification / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010823:Physician Assistants / Q000193:education*; D012570:School Admission Criteria; D014481:United States