Physician Assistant Exam For Dummies -- About the Authors -- Dedications -- Authors' Acknowledgments -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- About This Book -- Conventions Used in This Book -- What You're Not to Read -- Foolish Assumptions -- How This Book Is Organized -- Icons Used in This Book -- Where to Go from Here -- Part I: Scratching the Surface of the PANCE and PANRE -- Chapter 1: Becoming a Physician Assistant -- Knowing What to Expect as a PA -- Introducing the Tests -- Chapter 2: Presenting the PANCE and PANRE -- Beyond Studying: Preparing to Take the PANCE or PANRE -- Making It through Test Day -- Understanding How the Exam Is Scored -- Familiarizing Yourself with the Test Format -- Part II: Getting to the Heart of the Test: Four Foundational Systems -- Chapter 3: Tending to the Heart and the Great Vessels -- Keeping Blood Pressure in Line -- Analyzing Acute Coronary Syndrome -- Clarifying Congestive Heart Failure -- Muscling In on the Cardiomyopathies -- Vexing Over Valvular Disorders -- Diagnosing Congenital Heart Disease -- Going Ga-Ga Over Conduction Disorders -- Probing the Pericardium -- Evaluating Endocarditis -- Worrying about the Vascular System -- Practice Cardiovascular System Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 4: Taking a Deep Breath: The Lungs -- Evaluating Obstructive Lung Disease -- Reviewing Restrictive Lung Disease -- Blanketing the Lungs: The Pleura -- Investigating Infectious Processes -- Addressing Childhood Lung Conditions -- Sizing Up Lung Malignancy -- Probing the Pulmonary Vasculature -- Practice Pulmonary Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 5: Hungering for the Digestive System -- Going Down the Esophagus -- Stomaching the Gastric Area -- Can I Buy a Bowel? -- Putting Up with the Pancreas -- Looking at the Liver -- Fixing a Wrecked Rectum.

Practice Questions about the Digestive System -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 6: Knowing the Hard Facts about Bones and Joints -- Reviewing the Rheumatologic Conditions -- Obsessing about Three Amigos: The Osteos -- We Got Your Back: Conditions of the Spine -- Shouldering the Pain from Fractures -- Forewarned, Forearmed: Advancing to the Elbow and Wrist -- Thumbing through Hand Injuries -- Getting Hip to the Jive -- Mending a Wounded Knee -- Assessing Ankle Injuries -- Figuring Out the Foot -- Practice Questions about Bones and Joints -- Answers and Explanations -- Part III: Reviewing Surgical Topics and Other Organ Systems -- Chapter 7: Checking Out Common Surgical Topics -- Reviewing Surgical Signs and Symptoms -- Evaluating the Pre-Op Patient -- Caring for the Post-Op Patient -- Getting on with the Gallbladder -- Investigating Common Intestinal Surgeries -- Practice Questions on Surgical Topics -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 8: Exploring Problems of the Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat -- Knowing Facts about the Nose -- Looking at the Mouth and Throat -- Managing Malignancies of the Head and Neck -- Examining the Ear -- Eye, Eye, Captain: Looking at Eye Conditions -- Practice Questions on the Eyes, Ears, Nose, and Throat -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 9: Reviewing Reproductive Medicine -- Managing Menstrual Disorders -- Homing in on Problems of the Breast -- Understanding the Uterus -- Examining the Ovaries -- Surveying the Cervix -- Reviewing Vulvas and Vaginas -- Managing the Normal Pregnancy -- Dealing with Pregnancy Complications -- Avoiding Unwanted Pregnancy -- Understanding Spontaneous and Elective Abortions -- Practice Reproductive Medicine Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 10: Understanding the Genitourinary System -- Analyzing Urinary Abnormalities -- Exploring Acute Kidney Failure: It Isn't Cute.

Confronting Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) -- Eliminating Kidney Stones: Pass/Fail -- Getting Excited about Electrolytes -- Touching Base with Acid-Base -- Putting Up with the Problematic Prostate -- Investigating Urinary Incontinence -- Testing the Testes and Surrounding Anatomy -- Considering Kidney and Bladder Cancer -- Practice Genitourinary System Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Part IV: Pursuing Primary Care, Pharmacology, and Behavioral Health -- Chapter 11: Prepping for Pediatrics -- Performing a Newborn Examination -- Reviewing Childhood Milestones -- Vaccinating the Infant -- Reviewing Some Pediatric Medical Conditions -- Keeping an Infant or Child Safe -- Practice Questions for Pediatrics -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 12: Managing Health Maintenance and Medical Ethics -- Recalling Preventive Medicine Guidelines -- Population Patterns: Reviewing Epidemiology -- Dealing with Domestic Violence -- Meeting Up with Medical Ethics -- Practice Health Maintenance and Medical Ethics Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 13: Tending to Behavioral Health -- Getting Specific about Anxiety Disorders -- Scrutinizing Schizophrenia -- Probing Personality Disorders -- Meeting the Mood Disorders -- Understanding Substance Abuse -- Evaluating Eating Disorders -- Practice Behavioral Health Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 14: Focusing on Pharmacology and Toxicology -- Reviewing Basic Pharmacological Principles -- Examining Common Medication Side Effects -- Recognizing Common Drug Interactions -- Managing the Toxic Ingestions -- Practice Pharmacology/Toxicology Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Part V: The Brain, Blood, Bugs, Skin, and Glands -- Chapter 15: Evaluating the Endocrine System -- Dealing with Diabetes and Other Glucose Problems -- Discerning Calcium and Magnesium Problems.

Pursuing Those Pesky Adrenals -- Thinking about the Thyroid -- Looking Over Lipids -- Practice Endocrine System Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 16: Keeping Neurology in Mind -- Changes in Mental Status: When It's Not Okay to Change Your Mind -- Reviewing Movement Disorders -- Getting the Upper Hand on Peripheral Nerve Problems -- Identifying Brain Infections -- Handling Headaches -- Losing Consciousness -- Viewing the Brain's Vascular System -- Reviewing Other Neurological Disorders -- Practice Neurology Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 17: Touching on Dermatology -- Mastering Skin Malignancies -- Inflammation: Examining Eczematous Eruptions -- Surveying Skin Infections -- Looking at Pigmentation, Bumps, and Sores -- Inspecting the Body for Insects and Arachnids -- Remaining Sensitive to the Loss of Skin or Hair -- Practice Dermatology Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 18: Handling Hematology and Oncology -- Analyzing Anemia -- Probing Polycythemia Vera: The Opposite of Anemia -- Getting the Lowdown on Platelets: Testing for Thrombocytopenia -- Confronting Coagulation Disorders -- Clamoring Over Clotting Problems -- Understanding Hematologic Malignancies -- Practice Hematology and Oncology Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Chapter 19: Dealing with Bugs and Drugs: Infectious Diseases -- Keeping Spirochetes and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from Spiraling Out of Control -- Beating Bacterial Infections -- Figuring Out the Fungus among Us -- Viewing the Viral Syndromes -- Handling HIV -- Looking at Parasites That Worm Their Way In -- Practice Infectious Disease Questions -- Answers and Explanations -- Part VI: Tackling a PANCE Practice Test -- Chapter 20: PANCE Practice Test -- Answer Sheet for PANCE Practice Test -- Block 1 -- Block 2 -- Block 3 -- Block 4 -- Block 5.

Chapter 21: PANCE Practice Test Answers and Explanations -- Block 1 -- Block 2 -- Block 3 -- Block 4 -- Block 5 -- Answer Key -- Part VII: The Part of Tens -- Chapter 22: The Top Ten (Plus a Bonus) Medical Triads -- Virchow's Triad: Thrombosis -- Charcot's Two Triads: Ascending Cholangitis or Multiple Sclerosis -- Beck's Triad: Cardiac Tamponade -- Saint's Triad: Gallstones, Hiatal Hernia, Diverticular Disease -- Whipple's Triad: Insulinoma -- Dieulafoy's Triad: Acute Appendicitis -- Sampter's Triad: Aspirin Sensitivity -- Waddell's Triad: High-Impact Childhood Trauma -- Cushing's Triad: Head Trauma -- Bergmann's Triad: Fat Embolism -- Chapter 23: Ten Important Medical Abbreviations -- Delineating DIC from TTP in Thrombocytopenia -- Figuring Out Fever of Unknown Origin (FUO) -- Treating Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) -- Understanding the Differential Diagnosis (DDx) of Really High Blood Pressure (HBP) -- Minding Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) -- Learning the Lumbar Puncture (LP) -- Treating Tuberculosis (TB) -- Controlling Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) -- Identifying Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) -- Confronting Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ( COPD) -- Chapter 24: Ten Mistakes that Test-Takers Make -- Taking Too Much Time on One Question -- Passing on an Answer -- Approaching Questions Randomly -- Reading the Part and Not the Whole -- Not Eliminating the Question's Excess -- Not Knowing Common Traps in Questions -- Misunderstanding the Question's Essence -- Not Knowing Key Relationships -- Not Going with Your Gut -- Not Memorizing Key Points -- Appendix A: About the CD -- System Requirements -- Using the CD -- What You'll Find on the CD -- Troubleshooting and Customer Care -- Index.