Jurisprudence Exam Update - January 2008

Jurisprudence Exam Update - October 2007

Due to technical difficulties that arose in the last phases of implementation of the Physician Assistant Jurisprudence Exam, the requirement that PA applicants pass the exam has been postponed as follows:

All applicants who apply for licensure on or after 1/1/2008 are required to pass the Texas Physician Assistant Jurisprudence Examination (JP). Study materials will be available on our website in early December. The JP exam will be administered by Pearson VUE at locations throughout the United States. You may schedule your exam once you have filed an application for licensure (forms and fees) and have received a scheduling permit from board staff. Pearson VUE may be contacted at www.pearsonvue.com/texasmedicalboard <http://www.pearsonvue.com/texasmedicalboard> or at 888-300-6228.  The examination fee is $63, payable directly to Pearson VUE.

Amanda Bloodgood
Assistant to the Director of Customer Affairs

Texas Medical Board
P.O. Box 2029
Austin, TX  78768-2029
(512) 305-7121
http://www.tmb.state.tx.us/

Jurisprudence Exam Update August 2007

The 2005 Texas Legislative Session mandated a jurisprudence exam (JP exam) for all new PA license applicants who apply for a license on or after September 1, 2007.  Since that time the Texas Physician Assistant Board (TPAB) has been developing the administration process and examination.  The implementation has been delayed by one month.  All applicants who submit licensure applications on or after October 1, 2007 will be required to pass the Physician Assistant JP examination.

The following is an excerpt from Texas Medical Board Rules, Chapter 185.4 Procedural Rules for Licensure Applicants:

“The jurisprudence examination shall be developed and administered as follows:

(A) The staff of the Medical Board shall prepare questions for the JP exam and provide a facility by which applicants can take the examination.

            (B) Applicants must pass the JP exam with a score of 75 or better within three attempts.

(C) An examinee shall not be permitted to bring medical books, compends, notes, medical journals, calculators or other help into the examination room, nor be allowed to communicate by word or sign with another examinee while the examination is in progress without permission of the presiding examiner, nor be allowed to leave the examination room except when so permitted by the presiding examiner.

(D) Irregularities during an examination such as giving or obtaining unauthorized information or aid as evidenced by observation or subsequent statistical analysis of answer sheets, shall be sufficient cause to terminate an applicant's participation in an examination, invalidate the applicant's examination results, or take other appropriate action.

(E) An applicant who is unable to pass the JP exam within three attempts must appear before a committee of the board to address the applicant's inability to pass the examination and to re-evaluate the applicant's eligibility for licensure. It is at the discretion of the committee to allow an applicant additional attempts to take the JP exam.”

There have been some changes made since TAPA’s last update.  The 50 question JP exam will now be administered by Pearson VUE ( http://www.pearsonvue.com/ ) at their test centers located throughout the country.  Registration for the JP exam will begin on October 1, 2007 and the JP exam will be given on or after October 15, 2007.   

Because the TPAB has decided to place the JP exam question bank on the TPAB website, (http://www.tmb.state.tx.us/ ) TAPA has decided not to pursue publication of a JP Exam Study Guide at this time.  The TPAB hopes to have the approximately 100 question exam bank online around September 1, 2007.  The examination will cost $63, which the applicant will pay directly to Pearson VUE.  As more information is available, TAPA will place it on the TAPA website.