1970s
1972
March
Upon the recommendation of its Committee on Goals and Priorities, the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) approved the development of a certifying examination for “the assistant to the primary care physician.” It was the first time that the NBME had engaged in examining any health professional other than physicians. An advisory committee was appointed, a “role delineation study” undertaken, and task forces created to refine components, and construct a blueprint for test committees that created the substance of the examination.
1973
December
The first certification examination is administered to 880 PA candidates.
1974
August
Recognizing a need for an independent, broad-based organization to attest to the qualifications of PAs, the AMA and the NBME convene a meeting in of 14 national organizations to form the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). While the NBME would continue to develop and administer a certifying examination, the NCCPA would assume the responsibility for the requirements for eligibility, the setting of a passing standard and other conditions for initial certification and periodic recertification. The NCCPA would issue certificates and become the conduit to state regulatory agencies.
December
Staff is recruited and NCCPA opens its first office in Atlanta.
1975
Those who had passed the initial Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) in 1973 and 1974 are issued certificates, designating the successful candidates as “Physician Assistant – Certified” (PA-C). Recipients are required to fulfill continuing education requirements every two years, and be recertified by examination every six years.
1990s
1996
May
The NCCPA Board of Directors approves the Pathway II as a take-at-home recertification alternative to the proctored PANRE.
1998
As part of the conversion to the computerized test administration, the clinical skills component and the extended core examinations is eliminated from the PANCE and the “stand-alone” voluntary Surgery Examination was introduced.
1999
PANCE is administered for the first time as a computerized-based test at multiple sites across the country.
2000s
2000
The PANRE and Surgery Examinations are administered for the first time by computer. Also, a new web-based CME logging system is launched to provide secure online access for PAs to their certification maintenance record.
2002
NCCPA initiates an effort with other PA organizations to establish a profession-wide definition of PA competencies throughout a PAs’ career.
2004
The stand-alone surgery examination is eliminated.
2005
Stemming from the effort to establish a profession-wide definition of PA competencies throughout a PA’s career, Competencies for the Physician Assistant Profession is published.
Subsequently, various NCCPA committees and staff evaluate NCCPA’s certification and certification maintenance processes to determine how those processes may be modified to assess, incorporate or foster a broader range of the identified PA competencies.
2009
The NCCPA Board of Directors approves a motion to allow the NCCPA to launch a Certificate of Added Qualifications (“CAQ”) program to recognize PAs’ experience and knowledge in certain specialty areas. Today CAQs are offered in cardiovascular/thoracic surgery, emergency medicine, hospital medicine, nephrology, orthopedic surgery, pediatrics and psychiatry.
2010
The Pathway II examination is administered for the last time.
2011
The NCCPA Board of Directors approves the addition of new directed CME requirements related to self-assessment (“SA-CME”) and performance improvement activities (“PI-CME”) and an extension of the recertification cycle from six to 10 years with a rolling implementation that began in 2014 and will be completely transitioned in 2020.
September
The first specialty CAQ exams are administered.
2012
NCCPA certifies its 100,000th PA.
2014
PAs begin transitioning to the new recertification process. The PI-CME and SA-CME requirements are later eliminated based on feedback from the PA community.
2015
NCCPA considers modifying the current PANRE model through the addition of a specialty section to test PAs in their specialty practice areas. The idea behind the model is to maintain the generalist PA-C credential and PA flexibility while providing the opportunity for PAs to select assessment content that more directly related to their individual practice areas. Based on feedback from the PA community, this model is not approved by the Board and a new model, the Alternative to PANRE: A Pilot Program (“Pilot Program”), is developed instead.
2016
The PA-C Emeritus designation becomes available to eligible PAs.
2017
The NCCPA Board of Directors approves the Alternative to PANRE Pilot Program. The Pilot allows PAs to answer 25 test questions each quarter for two years.
Later that year, the NCCPA Board of Directors also approves the new PA-C Emeritus designation for PAs who have demonstrated longstanding commitment to the professionalism and standards required of Certified PAs, but who are no longer clinically practicing and do not have the need to be certified any longer.
2018
The NCCPA Board of Directors approves standard settings and the separation of the content blueprints for PANCE and PANRE.
2019
The two distinct content blueprints for PANCE and PANRE begin utilization.
January
PAs begin taking the Alternative to PANRE Pilot exam.
2020
December
The Alternative to PANRE Pilot program closes.
