Trevecca Nazarene University’s physician assistant program has continued a trend in outstanding graduate certification pass rates, achieving a 100 percent first-time taker pass rate in its 2021 class, school officials announced recently.
With all 44 of its 2021 graduates passing the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination® (PANCE) on the first attempt, Trevecca’s PA program is carrying forward an academic reputation for exceeding national benchmarks. Trevecca has a 99 percent first-time taker PANCE pass rate over the last five years and a 98 percent rate over 10 years, compared with a national average of 96 percent for both periods.
This year’s achievement marks Trevecca’s third class in six years to earn a perfect PANCE pass rate. The 100 percent mark was previously reached in 2017 and 2016.
“These results are a great indicator of the hard work and preparation our students and faculty put into the PA program,” Trevecca PA Program Director Bret Reeves said. “We’re very proud of our graduates and the impact they’ll have in the medical field, and we’re also extremely pleased with the direction of this program as part of Trevecca’s new School of STEM.”
Trevecca’s PA program is the longest-tenured in Tennessee, established in 1976. The program will soon move into a brand new facility, thanks to a 33,000-square-foot health sciences expansion of the school’s STEM building that’s currently in progress. Construction on the additional wing is scheduled to be completed in spring 2022, and the PA program will occupy a large portion of the new four-story space.
The program is also growing in other ways. Earlier this year, Trevecca instituted a Pre-PA Pathway that allows TNU undergraduate students, after their sophomore year, to work toward a limited number of guaranteed seats in the physician assistant program.
More information about Trevecca’s physician assistant program is available at trevecca.edu/programs/physician-assistant.
Physician assistant graduates who pass the PANCE are certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).
Media Contact: Brian Bennett