I’ve done two great interviews for PAER lately. I don’t say great because of anything I did. I say great because of the community members who shared their stories so everyone could hear.
I want you to appreciate some of the things they said.
Picture this.
You’ve been studying for three months to take your PANRE. No one that you practice with has taken it recently or is due up soon, so strangely, no one cares. They smile and say “Good luck. It sucks” And that’s it. It gets pretty lonely.
Then you get the email that you didn’t pass. Who do you tell? What do you do next? What if you waited too long and now you don’t have time to get in the second attempt before your 6th year is over? Who do you ask about it?
How about this one:
You and your classmates all have jobs lined up. You’ve been doing great studying together for the past 3 years. You take your exams within about a week of each other.
An email comes in from the NCCPA that says “sorry, you didn’t pass” Now what? Do you rush off and tell your classmates? Do you bite the bullet and tell your potential employer? Do you post it on Facebook?
Or do you hide it away as long as you can?
You don’t see how many people fail the exam. I do.
I get emails daily from people who haven’t passed. There are lots of them, but it is very, very lonely. No one talks about it. No one posts it Facebook. No one brings it up. I think that’s a major reason people reach out to me. They don’t even want to go to their friends.
The most helpful thing I do for these people is reassure them that they aren’t the only ones to have ever failed this thing.
So here’s the point.
This email is more for the people who pass the PANCE, or any test for that matter.
In the words of Taylor from the classic movie Major League (as they walk into the locker room at the end of spring training to see if the they made the majors or are being sent home):
TAYLOR – Whatever happens, keep it to yourself until you’re out of the locker room. Don’t celebrate in front of guys who just died.
Be considerate. You can be happy. You can tell people you passed, but don’t dance in front of them until you ask how they did and look into their eyes.
Be relieved, be happy, but be considerate.
Naturally, if you want to have the best chance of passing, you’ll want to get your dry, cracked fingers on this month’s issue of The Physician Assistant Exam Scholars Newsletter. I’m going to cover test questions. Pick them apart and show you just how to eat them for dinner.
Join here
Physician Assistant Exam Scholars
Brian
P.S. My kids are awful at this. We’ve been playing a ton of family board games lately. If they are winning, they are up taunting everyone and cheering for themselves. When they are losing, they are on the floor crying. I prefer the “pretend like you belong there” approach. When you get in the end zone, there’s no need to dance, no need to celebrate. You belong in the end zone. The end zone is your home.