The following resources and spreadsheets are designed to help students interpret their scores and track their progress through the clinical year, helping them prepare for upcoming exams and the PANCE certification exam.*

*These resources are not endorsed or developed by PAEA and are only to be used as guides not for grading purposes. Furthermore, the spreadsheets may contain errors, which can be easily fixed by users. Please read all instructions carefully. 

Below you will find tools to enter your scores and easily interpret the results. Enjoy!

the PACKRAT Score Converter

Students take a PACKRAT during the first and second year. This is not a graded assignment. As such, your scores do not "count" towards graduation. Instead, you can look at PACKRAT 1 (taken > 10 months before graduation) as a baseline of your knowledge going into the clinical year. 

There are 2 tabs for each PACKRAT 1 & 2 with data slightly differing between the 2 versions of the exam (PACKRAT v27 & v28). Enter your data on the tab that correlates to the version of the exam that you took. Only enter 'Your Score' on the tab that corresponds to the version of the test that you took. The spreadsheet will then automatically calculate your 'Percentile Rank,' meaning where your score falls on a normal distribution. 

A percentile rank of 50% puts you at the exact mean score of all students who took the same exam > 10 months prior to graduation. Most students (~68%) will fall within 1 SD of the mean, listed on the Scale Score Converter. Remember, however, your percentile rank does not count toward any grading and is only for your reference. 

More important, are the percent scores listed on your scoring sheet next to the 'Content Area' and 'Tasks.' This lists the percentage of questions you answered correctly which you can compare to the appropriate cohort. Here, you can see how your knowledge in Cardiology, for example, stacks up against the national average. 

Because many students will fall close to the average in several categories, the most important information is this breakdown of your performance in the Content and Task areas can show you where you are significantly above or below average by highlighting the cells in the 5th column yellow, red, or green. 

• A yellow highlighted cell indicates that you are within a single standard deviation (1SD) of the national average.

• A red cell indicates a score > 1SD BELOW average.

• A green cell indicates your score is > 1SD points ABOVE average.

This score converter shows your STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES going into your clinical year, by highlighting them in red and green, so that you may adjust your study habits to emphasize these areas!!!

Bottom Line: Use the PACKRAT Scale Score Converter to see areas where you are significantly above or below average so that you may focus on your weaknesses when you study. 

Download a copy of the PACKRAT Score Converter to your Goole Drive by clicking HERE 

To get the most accurate results, be sure you ALWAYS...

• Check the version of your exam and enter on the appropriate spreadsheet tab. 

• Enter your scores for the first PACKRAT you took during your didactic year on the "PACKRAT 1" tab with the correct version.

• ONLY enter the NUMBER of "Your Performance" WITHOUT % ---> IF you enter a percentage - 59% instead of the number 59 - it will be calculated as 0.59, and your scores will be <1.   

• Double check the "Mean" and "SD" are the same as what is published on PACKRAT®: Statistics | PAEA (links to site). 

• Ensure that the "X Months to Graduation National Performance" column matches the National Performance Average column in the Feedback section of your score report.