CAQ-Peds study guide
CAQ-Peds · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) is a specialty credential offered through NCCPA, the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. NCCPA describes the CAQ as a way for PAs to "show your advanced expertise in your specialty," and it lists "Earn Specialty Certificates" as a distinct path alongside becoming certified and maintaining certification. The credential is aimed at PAs who are already Board Certified and who want documented recognition of focused, advanced practice in a specialty area such as pediatrics. NCCPA states that its certification programs reflect standards for clinical knowledge, clinical reasoning, other medical skills, and professional behaviors required both at entry into practice and throughout PAs' careers. Because this page could not confirm the Pediatrics-specific blueprint at retrieval, candidates should treat the exam as a specialty-focused, multiple-choice assessment of pediatric clinical knowledge and reasoning, and should verify the current content blueprint, eligibility rules, item count, time limit, fee, and passing standard directly with NCCPA before scheduling. For preparation, build a study plan around the published specialty blueprint, review core pediatric primary and acute care topics, work through applied clinical-reasoning cases rather than isolated facts, and use NCCPA's Specialty CAQ Resources and Specialty CAQ FAQs pages as the authoritative source for logistics. Topics on this exam: Pediatrics. The CAQ-Peds study guide has 1 section and about 404 words.
01Pediatrics
The Pediatrics domain tests whether a practicing clinician can deliver primary care to infants, children, and adolescents at a level beyond entry to practice: growth and development, preventive care, common acute and chronic illness, and family-centered communication. Items are usually case vignettes, so what is measured is applying a rule to a specific age, weight, and history - not reciting the rule back. Everything is age-banded. Vital signs, milestones, screening intervals, and many drug doses change with age.
404 words, about 2 minMore study resources for CAQ-Peds
- Practice questionsA 4-year-old child is brought to the clinic with a 3-day history of low-grade fever, runny nose, and a new harsh barking cough that worsens at night.
- FlashcardsAPGAR score components. Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration.
- Cheat sheetNormal pediatric vital signs vary by age: newborn HR 100–160, RR 30–60; infant HR 100–150, RR 25–40; toddler HR 90–140, RR 20–30; preschool HR 80–120, RR 20–25; school-age HR 70–110, RR 18–25; adolescent HR 60–100, RR 12–20.
- Key termsNeonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) algorithm. A stepwise approach to the newborn who does not breathe or has low tone at birth: warm, dry, stimulate, position the airway, and give positive pressure ventilation if apnea or heart rate below 100 persists.
- Study planMap the full CAQ-Peds content outline into a personal checklist and mark every subtopic as known, shaky, or unknown before studying anything.
- Common mistakesCandidates anchor on the well-appearing child and skip the age stratification that actually drives the decision; the youngest infants have subtle presentations and the highest risk of serious bacterial illness, so the exam deliberately makes the general appearance reassuring.
- Exam-day guideBring the exact form of identification named in your admission notice.