Prepare for Launch: PAEA Assessment’s Newest Exam Is Ready for Takeoff
The PAEA End of Curriculum™ exam provides important information about a student’s medical knowledge as one component of their readiness for graduation. As of today, programs can officially add it to their assessment repertoire to complement the rest of the PAEA Assessment suite of exams. Please note that while the End of Curriculum exam is available for purchasing and scheduling as of today, the first administrations will take place on January 6, 2020.
The development of this exam has been both thoughtful and rigorous, following best practices in exam development. A diverse group of PA program faculty from across the country have been involved in the creation of the exam blueprint and content area lists, the writing and peer reviewing of all exam items, and the development of performance-level descriptors.
Need a quick refresher on what exactly the End of Curriculum exam is?
- WHAT: The End of Curriculum exam is an objective, standardized evaluation of a student’s medical knowledge as one component of their readiness for graduation.
- WHO: It may only be taken by students in their final four months of the PA program.
- WHEN: Programs can add the End of Curriculum exam to their line-up starting today, July 24. However, the first administrations of the exam won’t take place until January 2020.
- WHERE: Must be delivered on campus with a live proctor to ensure exam security and validity.
- HOW: The exam must be taken in PAEA’s designated lockdown browser, which will be released soon.
Important Details
Specific: This 300-question exam is built using a blueprint and content area list developed by PA educators and national exam experts, and is required to be delivered in the final four months of the PA program.
Standardized: All exam items are peer-reviewed and statistically validated for accuracy and consistency. The exam will be standardized by a panel of PA education experts.
Secure: Exams will be delivered through a secure, password-protected website that will use a lockdown browser to maintain content validity.
Anything Else?
Yes — we have one more announcement to share. Programs now have two purchasing options available. The first is to buy each End of Curriculum exam separately based on the number of students who need it.
The new second option provides the full suite of PAEA exams — now available as the Student Exam Box™, which contains:
- 2 PACKRAT® exams
- 10 End of Rotation™ exams
- 1 End of Curriculum exam
This option allows programs to purchase simultaneously all of the PAEA exams a student will need, saving money for programs that purchase the full suite of exams instead of buying each exam separately. Users can buy the Student Exam Box like any other exam, then assign selected exams to a full class or individual student in two easy clicks. These exams — with the exception of the End of Curriculum exam — can be administered immediately.
More information about the exam’s development, core tasks and objectives, content, and pricing are available at EndofCurriculum.org.
