A Review of Smarty PANCE

I started All Things PA-C in 2018 after noticing a lack of quality and affordable resources for PA students. One of the few exceptions to this was Smarty PANCE. As a result, I have enthusiastically recommended it for PA students as a core study guide.

I’m not the only one. Smarty PANCE is repeatedly the most recommended resource from PA students on my platform.

The program is versatile and serves PA students in both the didactic and clinical year as well as those preparing to take the PANCE. It somehow manages to meet the needs of everyone at once.

For those not familiar with Smarty PANCE, it’s a PANCE and PANRE review course designed specifically with the needs of PA students in mind. This isn’t a program designed for medical students and repackaged for PAs. It was created by a PA versed in the unique needs of PA students. It’s a helpful resource for PA students any time during their education, particularly through the latter didactic and entire clinical year. 

The Features

The best features of Smarty PANCE are

• It follows NCCPA and PAEA Blueprints
• It is heavily focused on practice questions.

You all know how I feel about practice questions and their value. Quality questions are extremely important for PANCE preparation and the foundation of my resources as well.  

Depending on where you are in school, you can choose to focus on EOR exams, the PAEA End of Curriculum Exam, or the PANCE/PANRE.

The Layout

The program format is divided so you can choose  a “course” in any of the 14 PANCE blueprint medical content categories (system, dermatologic system, system, EENT, GI/nutrition, genitourinary, hematologic, infectious disease, musculoskeletal, neurologic, psychiatry/behavioral science, pulmonary, renal, and reproductive systems). 

Within each course, you can chose to study by one of several options:

• Read through a clinical summary of every disease and disorder for that system
• Practice flashcards
• Review case presentations (each disease state is presented as a patient presentation followed by key pearls, diagnosis, and treatment) 
• Study interactive practice questions with answers and explanation 
• Take a comprehensive system exam

You basically get to choose the method of study that works best for you or best fits your schedule, or do them all as a comprehensive review. In addition, there are audio and visual lectures for each system. It literally covers every method of study. 

For those in early didactic coursework, reading through disease states as you learn them and reviewing flashcards may be the most meaningful. Those in late didactic courses may prefer case presentations and practice questions. For those in their clinical year, exams are also categorized by EOR (end of rotation) with both EOR study guides and EOR practice exams. There is also a PAEA End of Curriculum exam review.

Why Chose Smarty PANCE?

Study resources are outrageously expensive. If your program doesn’t cover Rosh, Kaplan, or any other big name review course, you will spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars for board review prep. Smarty PANCE includes everything for an unbeatable price and is specifically designed with PAs in mind. The creator and I share the vision of offering quality and affordable resources for PA students, which is why I recommend and support his product. 

I recommend the one-year all access pass for $75, but there are several purchasing options available. 

You can use this link and the code ALLTHINGSPAC for 10% off your purchase. 

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click the link and purchase the item, I receive a small commission. All opinions are my own. Thank you for trusting me to share quality products I use and love.