Daily CME Tips: Three Mistakes PAs Make When Reviewing Question Rationales, and How a PANRE Review Course Worth 100 Category 1 AAPA Credits Rewards Doing It Right

Course price: $499.99 for 30 months of access
Includes: 2,500+ board-style practice questions
Credit: Up to 100 AAPA Category 1 CME credits through the PANRE Review Course
Important: Amazon and Apple gift cards are PAID add-ons, not free gifts. Add-on prices are added to the course price at checkout.

Question review is where practice becomes preparation. Completing a block gives you a score; analyzing the rationale helps you recognize the same clinical decision in a new question. Three habits can weaken that process: ignoring why distractors are wrong, flagging questions without returning to them, and reviewing only incorrect answers.

1. Reading the correct-answer explanation but skipping the distractors

A rationale should explain more than why one choice is best. It should show why the other options are less appropriate in the scenario. That distinction matters because exam distractors are designed to sound plausible. If you review only the correct answer, you may remember a fact without learning how to rule out competing actions.

For each question, ask:

• What finding points to the correct answer?
• Why is the best alternative tempting?
• What makes that alternative wrong in this particular case?

The PANRE Review Course provides per-question rationales with cited sources; answer explanations have been rewritten to current 2023–2025 clinical guidelines. Use the explanation to compare the options, not just confirm the answer you chose.

This is especially useful when the question tests a management decision rather than simple recall. A familiar diagnosis may not be enough: you still need to identify whether the next step is additional testing, treatment, or definitive intervention.

2. Flagging questions but never building a mistake log

Flagging a question is useful, but it is triage, not review. If you mark a question and move on without returning to it, the flag does not turn into a study plan.

After a practice block, use your flags and missed-question list to make a simple running log. Record the topic, the decision you missed, and one sentence explaining what you will look for next time. For example: “Ascending cholangitis: fever, RUQ pain, and jaundice should shift my focus from more diagnostic workup to biliary drainage.”

The course’s PANRE Readiness Dashboard supports that follow-through with attempted-versus-correct tracking, a per-topic breakdown, and question flagging. Review the topic pattern, then choose what to revisit. A series of errors in one area calls for focused review; scattered errors may point to a need for broader practice.

The dashboard also includes unlimited retakes and an “on track to pass” indicator at 75%+. Treat that indicator as feedback about your practice performance, not a substitute for reviewing the questions you flagged.

3. Reviewing only the questions you got wrong

A correct answer is not always evidence of a secure understanding. You may have reached it by eliminating options or making an uncertain guess. Those “lucky guesses” can lift a mock score while leaving a knowledge gap hidden.

When reviewing a block, check answers you guessed on, even if they were correct. Ask yourself whether you could explain why the answer is best and why the leading distractor is wrong. If not, add the question to your log. This helps you separate dependable knowledge from an answer you happened to select correctly.

PAs who have used pance prep courses may already be familiar with question practice. For PANRE review, make sure each answer reflects a sound clinical decision, not simply recognition of a familiar phrase.

Practice question: Ascending cholangitis

This vignette draws on the course’s GI/Nutrition module, which contains 137 questions.

You are the PA in the ED. A 68-year-old woman presents with fever, right upper quadrant pain, and new jaundice. She has a history of gallstones on prior imaging. Labs show a WBC of 15, total bilirubin 4.2 mg/dL, and alkaline phosphatase of 320 U/L. What is the most appropriate next step in management?

Correct answer: Emergent biliary drainage via ERCP.

A) Emergent biliary drainage via ERCP
B) HIDA scan
C) CT abdomen with contrast
D) IV antibiotics alone and observation

Why the other choices are wrong:

• B) HIDA scan: HIDA is used to evaluate suspected cholecystitis. It is neither needed to recognize this presentation nor therapeutic for an obstructed bile duct.
• C) CT abdomen with contrast: CT may show ductal dilation, but it does not relieve the obstruction.
• D) IV antibiotics alone and observation: Antibiotics should be started, but they are insufficient without drainage of the obstructed duct.

Real-world exam note: On board exams, jaundice in a febrile patient with RUQ pain should push you from “workup” answers toward “drainage” answers.

Make question review part of your CME plan

The PANRE Review Course includes 2,500+ board-style practice questions across 15 body-system question modules mapped to the NCCPA PANRE blueprint. It also includes five full-length 240-question mock exams, for 1,200 mock-exam questions. Each question’s rationale and cited sources give you material to review whether your answer was wrong, right, or a lucky guess.

The PANRE Review Course offers up to 100 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. Earning credit requires you to review all module content, score 70% or higher on the post-test, and complete the activity evaluation. Missed questions may be retaken. The same discipline (reviewing content, checking your understanding, and correcting gaps) supports both credit completion and exam readiness.

The course is the PANRE Clinical Review Module within Comprehensive Clinical Review for Practicing PAs: 2026–27 Enduring CME Activity. Its AAPA reference number is CME-2016187, with approval valid from 8/26/2026 to 8/26/2027. Claim only credit commensurate with your participation. These credits apply to the PANRE Review Course only, not the Pharmacology course.

CME gift cards: know what the add-on includes

The course can be purchased with a paid Amazon or Apple gift card add-on in $100–$1,500 tiers. The selected add-on is added to the purchase price at checkout, so the full package price is processed in one transaction. Gift cards are emailed within 2–3 business days; you do not need to finish the course first. Gift card packages are nonrefundable, and CME Review Courses is not affiliated with Amazon or Apple. Check your employer’s CME policy before purchasing.

If you buy two or more CME courses, 20% is automatically taken off each course; the discount does not apply to gift card add-ons. Nurse practitioners should confirm AAPA Category 1 acceptance with their state board of nursing, as acceptance varies by state. For physicians, the activity counts as Category 2 for their own reporting.

Start with a test drive

Use the free PANRE Review test drive to explore the course experience. For course details, access terms, and purchase options, visit the PANRE Review Course page. You can also check NCCPA key dates.

About the author

Jeremy Boroff, MPAS, PA-C is an Emergency Medicine PA with 24 years of clinical experience, a PA educator, author, and CME developer. He is the sole faculty for this activity and has no relevant financial relationships to disclose.