Customer Reviews

A Comprehensive Review for the Certification and Recertification Examinations for Physician Assistants: Published in Collaboration with AAPA and PAEA (formerly APAP), 3e

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
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Probably everyone preparing for the PANCE should get this book. But that doesn't mean I think it's a great book. I think it's valuable because it is the "official" AAPA/PAEA review book, and I think the topics covered and the sample questions probably reflect the exam content well. I bought it mostly for access to the advertised 600 questions (300 in the book and 300 on the CD or online). And that's my biggest complaint about the book: on the cover, it says "Questions are all new to this edition," and that's blatantly untrue. I have the CD from the 2nd edition of this book, and at least half of the questions are duplicated on the 3rd edition CD. Since the "new" questions are the main reason I bought the book, that really angers me.

Other problems: "Fully searchable online text" is advertised on the cover. This feature doesn't exist as of this writing (June 22, 2007). The question database (same questions as on the CD) is accessible, but try to access the text, and the message "Online full-text book content is currently not available for this title" appears. This "feature" was another reason I bought the book: I thought it would be handy to be able to quickly look up topics by keyword while I was studying. Perhaps they plan to add this feature later, but I'm annoyed because I need it now.

As for the content, it's largely clear and well-presented. There is considerable fluctuation from chapter to chapter in the amount of detail given. Some chapters have many tables and figures and others few, probably reflecting the different contributing authors' work. I would have appreciated more of an overarching approach to how much information is given and how it is presented. I endorse the "less is more" approach when it comes to review books, so I appreciate that much of the book is in brief outline form. I noticed a few errors in which old accepted treatments are recommended rather than new guidelines. For instance, the OB chapter advises suctioning the infant at the perineum, while current practice is to deliver the entire infant prior to suctioning, unless there is evidence of meconium in the amniotic fluid. I noticed two other out-of-date treatments, but both recommendations were changed in the past year, and I'm not sure how up-to-date I should expect a review book to be. I just happened to notice these few errors and it made me wonder if there are a lot more I'm not noticing. I suspect not, since it largely seems to be a solid work.

In general, I suspect that this book was rushed to publication in order to be "ready" for spring graduation. It looks like there was a lot of effort put into having good review chapters, but they ran out of time at the end and didn't get around to writing all the new questions. To me, much of the value is the questions, so that's the great weakness to this book. There is a generous scattering of typos, most of which don't effect understanding, but a few of which are serious--the publisher needs a better copy editor.

This is all I used to study for the PANCE and it was worth every penny. I read several reviews that were not recommending this book but I strongly disagree. I paid a lot of money and attended a course in Chicago and I actually got more from reading this book. To be honest I read the book before I attended the review and learned nothing new at the review. Save your money on the course and buy this book.

I started my review 3 months ahead of time, read the entire book and took the pretest and scored 71%. Somewhat concerned, I bought the two Appleton and Lang study guides and specifically focused on areas of the pretest I was weakest in. I passed the PANRE with a score of 637/700. If you are in a subspecialty and want a comprehensive review, get all three books. That's around $200. The one thing about this study guide that is useful is the pretest. It will tell you where you need to focus your attention and study time.

As a new grad, I'm studying for PANCE exam. After reading review i decided to get this book. Many of my classmates got this book a long time ago and told me that this book is really good. Book is nicely outlined, but the only thing that i don't like, is that key words are not HIGHLIGHTED! Vs in previous editions, they were highlighted. CD is also helpful, but many questions where taken from other books and previous editions. Not that many mistakes so far in the book! However, you will definitely need additional material to study for the boards!!!

I thought this was a great review book for the PANRE. I've been a PA for 16 years, and I've always used Appleton & Lange, but the inaccurate information it contains now makes it a poor review book. This book has a great layout - it begins with a pretest to help identify your weak points. The next part is a thorough review, broken down by topic: i.e. Cardiology, Pulmonology, OB/GYN, etc. Also, the CD included with this edition (which is Mac-compatible) contains both a review and a post-test. The review portion on the CD gives you immediate feedback about incorrect answers, which is particularly helpful.

I just received my board results and I did great - passed in upper quarter of the pack! I'm sticking with this book's future editions for the recert exams down the road.

FYI: In addition to this book, I also bought Davis's Physician Assistant Exam Review: Focused Review for the Pance and Panre by Morton Diamond. It is 100% question-formatted, which I found to be tedious and frustrating. There is not much information in that book to help with your review - it's basically a "test" and nothing more. Don't waste your money on it.

Bottom line - if you're a practicing PA, trust your clinical knowledge and just get this book to review and you'll be fine.

Best of luck to all of you!!!!

This book is a basic (Very basic) refresher of some of the common diseases you may be tested on. The book does not have any in depth treatment and everything is very vague and general. This is good for the questions and will give you a good idea of what you need to review more thoroughly for the exam. Not a bad book, but not fantastic either.

If you MUST take the ridiculous,irrelevant,insulting and zebrafied PANRE, then this book along with the two Lange books (questions and review) is all you need. Having been a PA for 20 years and in a specialty field for 6, I find taking the PANRE to be a complete waste of time and money. But hey, I guess if you're a desk jockey for NCCPA somebody has to pay your salary since you're not actually practicing medicine. Maybe somebody should consider folks being certified for life after having passed 4 exams and seeing thousands of patients. Anyway, I guess this is supposed to be a book review. This one is good, appropriate depth for the exam, and also a good reference to have on the shelf. The Lange review book is a little shallow, but the book of questions gives great explanations. Spend the money to get all 3, plan on moderate study for about 2 months prior, and you'll pass.

For a graduate of 6years, this was a great review book. It could have gone a little more in detail, so I also read CURRENT medical diagnosis along with it. But very concise, and questions very similar style to the PANRE. I got a 92%! Great buy, and I will buy the next up to date version for my PANRE in 6years.

Having graduated in 1973, there some areas of knowledge that have slipped away. Like pediatrics; I don't remember if I even took a rotation in peds. I have even gone back to look at my transcript and checked. I really don't even like children! In any case, I have no existing memory of those clinical experiences, in fact the 70's have many gaps. Come to think of it, the 70's may be the cause of those gaps? So much for experience learning - thanks a lot Dr Leary!
In any case, this book creates the quick kind of pseudo-knowledge, short-term mind-rush needed to take these idiotic re-certs. The CD test is very handy as you can leave it in your disc drive and take it in little bites. This avoids the need to take more Provigil.
I did very little prep for the 2008 re-cert other than this book & CD. Ten hours of this was enough to pass in the middle of the pack and that's all that counts. Like the tin man in The Wizard of OZ, if I only had a brain - I probably wouldn't need anything like this. When you spend time in specialty practices, it's easy to lose some basic knowledge and things do change (like every other day!) Use this book (even better; buy my used one - it's BARELY USED), and stop worrying,

this is a great book and I should have had it earlier. It presents information in a very concise manner so that review is made easier.