PANRE-LA

Each quarter you receive 25 questions in an online format you can take anywhere, anytime, on any compatible device. Every question has a five-minute limit, and online or printed references are allowed while you answer. Before a question opens you see the content category and can open it or defer it until later in the quarter. Feedback is immediate, with a rationale and references.

You apply in year six of your certification maintenance cycle, and questions are administered in years seven through nine. You have 12 quarters available, must complete eight, and may skip up to four. PAs who complete the first eight quarters may finish in two years if they reach the passing standard.

There is no single-sitting failure. You may continue in the program, and scores are recalculated at the end of each subsequent quarter using your best eight quarters, giving you a chance to improve before the 12-quarter process ends. If you still do not meet the standard, you retain up to three opportunities to take and pass PANRE in year ten before certification expires.

Yes. Online or printed references may be used to help inform your answer selection. The constraint is the five-minute limit per question, so decide in advance which resources you trust and how you will navigate them quickly. Because the content category is disclosed before the question opens, you can pull up the relevant material first.

Yes. Across the 12 available quarters you must complete eight and may skip up to four, which lets you participate in the quarters that fit your schedule best. There are benefits to starting immediately and working straight through: finishing the first eight quarters may let you complete the process in two years if you meet the passing standard.

It draws on NCCPA's recertification content blueprint, which focuses on core medical knowledge - the specific diseases, disorders, and knowledge levels listed in the PANRE/PANRE-LA blueprint - rather than the broader blueprint used for PANCE. Because the content category is shown before each question opens, you can review the matching blueprint topics or reference material first.

NCCPA designed it to reduce test-day stress and to help PAs identify and close core medical knowledge gaps. In the 2019-2020 Pilot Alternative to PANRE, more than 18,000 PAs participated, over 98% continued for the full two-year period, and 97.5% of them passed. Those are pilot figures, not a guarantee for your own performance.

Yes. NCCPA states that PAs will be able to earn CME for participating in the process. Beyond the credit, the immediate rationale and references after each question make the assessment itself a structured way to review core content and correct gaps while you work through the quarters.

The five-minute limit, not the content, is usually the binding constraint. Candidates who open a question and only then start hunting through references burn the clock. Use the disclosed content category to prepare material beforehand, defer questions when you genuinely need to review, and read each rationale so repeated weak areas get fixed early.

No. NCCPA announced that beginning in 2023 PAs have two recertification assessment options: the traditional PANRE administered at Pearson VUE test centers and the longitudinal, take-at-home PANRE-LA process. The first block of PANRE-LA questions became available in January 2023. Review both formats against how you test and study before choosing.