PARA (formerly PANE): question practice and revision.

Choose a topic for focused revision and check your plan against the official specification.

• Cardiovascular medicine
• Respiratory medicine
• Gastroenterology
• Endocrinology and diabetes
• Renal and urology
• Neurology
• Mental health
• Women's health
• Paediatrics (basic)
• Musculoskeletal and rheumatology
• Dermatology
• Cancer and palliative care
• Acute care and resuscitation
• Pharmacology and prescribing safety (PA-relevant)
• Ethics, professional practice, scope of practice as a PA

Drawn from the GMC PA Curriculum and Assessment Framework, RCP PARA content and the FY1-equivalent clinical scope of UK Physician Associate practice.

• Scope of practice as a PA — supervisory arrangements, escalation to physicians, areas outside PA scope (e.g. prescribing controlled drugs without prior arrangement), professional limits, scope adaptation in different settings (primary care, ED, surgery)
• Acute medicine bundles — sepsis recognition (SSC bundles, NEWS2 triggers), ACS recognition pathway, asthma severity ladder, DKA management, anaphylaxis treatment
• Cardiovascular — ACS recognition, HFrEF four-pillar therapy per NICE NG106, AF anticoagulation pathway, hypertension stepped care per NICE NG136
• Mental health — depression and anxiety NICE pathways, recognising suicide risk, sectioning under the Mental Health Act in escalation context, capacity assessment
• Women's health — contraceptive options (UKMEC categories), HRT in menopause, antenatal screening pathways, postnatal depression recognition
• Pharmacology and prescribing — common interactions, recognising and reporting ADRs (Yellow Card scheme), prescribing limits under PA supervision arrangements, anticoagulation review
• GMC Good Medical Practice 2024 — capacity, consent, confidentiality, candour, raising concerns, intimate examinations. The new edition introduced changes.
• Diabetes — Type 2 diabetes algorithm per NICE NG28, recognising DKA and HHS, foot screening, retinal screening pathway, sick day rules

Observations from UK Physician Associate students and recent PARA / PANE candidates. Verify against current GMC, NICE and RCP guidance.

Candidate-reported observations — not official guidance.

1. Using "PANE" materials — the rebrand to PARA in September 2025 means recent revision sources may still use the old name. The content is essentially continuous, but the assessment framework is now formally aligned with GMC PA regulation from December 2026.
2. Confusing PA scope with doctor scope — the PARA tests knowledge that aligns with the UK PA scope of practice. Items often involve escalation to physicians, recognising the boundary of PA decision-making, and supervisory arrangements.
3. Outdated NICE guidance — NICE pathways evolve. Key updates: diabetes (NG28), hypertension (NG136), heart failure (NG106), atrial fibrillation (NG196 with CHA₂DS₂-VA), depression (NG222), eating disorders (NG69).
4. GMC Good Medical Practice 2024 — the new edition introduced changes to wording on raising concerns, social media use, intimate examinations and candour. Older revision sources lag.
5. Mental health and capacity — recognising when capacity is in question, distinguishing depression vs delirium vs dementia, sectioning under MHA, when to involve psychiatry urgently.
6. GMC regulation transition — from 13 December 2026 PAs must be GMC-registered to practise. The transition involves grandparenting routes for currently registered PAs as well as the standard PARA route for new graduates. Items may test understanding of the regulation framework.
7. Statistics — sensitivity/specificity of common screening tools (PHQ-9, GAD-7, AUDIT-C), NNT for common interventions. Small but consistently tested block.
8. Time pressure — 200 items in 4 hours (across 4 × 1-hour sessions) = approximately 72 seconds per item. Pacing matters but the inter-session breaks help stamina.

A pragmatic phased approach used by recent UK PA students preparing for the KBA component.

1. Weeks 1–4

   Foundation pass across all 15 blueprint topics. 30-40 items/day with the iatroX adaptive engine. After 500 attempts, the diagnostic dashboard surfaces your bottom three areas. Review current authoritative clinical pathways for the highest-yield topics alongside.

2. Weeks 5–8

   Targeted weak-area drilling using spaced repetition. Map GMC Good Medical Practice 2024 and the GMC PA Curriculum and Assessment Framework. Daily ECG and clinical decision practice.

3. Weeks 9–10

   Two timed 50-item session mocks per week (matching the actual KBA 1-hour session structure). Then full 200-item, 4-hour mock examinations. Review every incorrect answer in detail against current authoritative guidance.

4. Weeks 11–12

   Bookmark review only. Targeted reading on PA scope of practice, GMC regulation transition framework, mental health capacity scenarios. Confirm RCP booking. Sleep, hydrate, do not learn new material.

Dedicated PARA (formerly PANE) question practice with answer explanations, guided Tutor review and study planning.

• Focused question practice — Choose the relevant bank and use your answers to identify what to study next.
• Guided reasoning — Explore a difficult answer with Tutor, then apply the distinction independently.
• Review and timed practice — Return to important mistakes and choose a timed practice set where available.

Choose the relevant bank and use the official exam guidance to plan your preparation.

They are the same assessment under different names. The Physician Associate National Examination (PANE) was rebranded to the Physician Associate Registration Assessment (PARA) in September 2025. The rebrand reflects its new role as the GMC-mandated qualifying assessment under the regulation framework that becomes mandatory from 13 December 2026. Content is essentially continuous.

The KBA component has multiple sittings per year through the RCP. The OSCE is held at The Spine in Liverpool. With GMC regulation becoming mandatory from 13 December 2026, assessment volumes are expected to rise. Confirm 2026 dates and application windows on the RCP PARA page early.

Two components: (1) KBA — 200 single-best-answer items across four 1-hour sessions (50 items each session), total 4 hours of testing; (2) OSCE — 14 stations held at The Spine, Liverpool. Both components must be passed for the PARA award.

From 13 December 2026 all UK Physician Associates (and Anaesthesia Associates) must be GMC-registered to practise. This was introduced by Parliament through statutory instrument. The PARA is the standard qualifying assessment route to registration; grandparenting pathways apply to PAs already in practice on the regulation date.

You may attempt the PARA up to 4 times maximum. Both KBA and OSCE components have their own attempt limits within the overall 4-attempt framework. Failed attempts within the timeframe count toward the limit.

The full PARA (formerly PANE) question bank is free. The daily sample allowance for paid banks does not limit this free bank. A verified free account includes one guided Tutor session; continued Tutor use is included in all-access.

The iatroX PARA bank supports written knowledge practice. Prepare observed examination and communication skills through appropriate station practice and feedback, using the RCP requirements for your assessment route.