Physician Assistant Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Physician Assistant facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which finding best distinguishes Crohn's disease from ulcerative colitis? → Skip lesions with transmural inflammation
2. A PA student must read a 180-page textbook chapter in 3 hours. At what rate must they read? → 60 pages/hour
3. Which of the following best describes 'incident-to' billing for PAs? → PA services are billed under the physician's NPI at 100% of the fee schedule
4. The PANRE (Physician Assistant National Recertifying Examination) must be taken every how many years? → 10 years
5. What position does PA have among US News and World Report's "top 100 jobs"? → 3
6. Preload in cardiac physiology refers to which hemodynamic parameter? → End-diastolic ventricular volume (or pressure)
7. A 58-year-old man presents with exertional chest pain relieved by rest. ECG at rest is normal. What is the most appropriate next diagnostic step? → Exercise stress test
8. Which dietary modification is the first-line treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)? → Low-fat, low-calorie diet with weight loss of 7–10%
9. A 15-year-old presents with fever, migratory polyarthritis, and a new heart murmur 3 weeks after untreated strep pharyngitis. What is the most likely diagnosis? → Acute rheumatic fever
10. A PA student elicits Murphy's sign during an abdominal exam. The correct technique is to: → Hook fingers under the right costal margin and ask the patient to inhale deeply
11. Which sentence contains a dangling modifier? → Running quickly, the bus was missed by the student.
12. Phenomenon in which one or more fingers or toes are completely or partially joined, either naturally (as in web-footed animals) or as a deformity. → sydactyl
13. Which medication is contraindicated in a patient with decompensated heart failure and an ejection fraction of 20%? → Carvedilol initiated at low dose
14. Which electrolyte abnormality is most commonly associated with prolonged nasogastric suctioning? → Hypokalemic hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis
15. If x² = 49, which of the following gives ALL possible values of x? → x = 7 or x = −7
16. In a patient with polyarthritis, which additional finding shifts the differential strongly toward systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)? → Malar rash, photosensitivity, and oral ulcers
17. A patient presents with pain and swelling over the lateral epicondyle of the elbow, worsened by wrist extension and gripping. What is the most likely diagnosis? → Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
18. Which of the following findings on spirometry is most consistent with obstructive lung disease such as COPD? → FEV1 decreased, FVC normal or decreased, FEV1/FVC ratio < 0.70
19. Which finding is MOST characteristic of constrictive pericarditis on physical exam? → Kussmaul's sign (JVD increasing with inspiration)
20. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is activated primarily by which stimulus? → Decreased renal perfusion pressure
21. A patient taking lisinopril develops a dry, nonproductive cough. What is the most appropriate alternative antihypertensive? → Losartan
22. Which finding most strongly supports a diagnosis of acute appendicitis in a 25-year-old man with right lower quadrant pain? → Migration of pain from periumbilical region to the RLQ with rebound tenderness and fever
23. In critical reading, 'inferring' means: → Drawing a conclusion based on evidence not directly stated
24. Which federal law prohibits PA programs from discriminating against applicants based on disability? → Both B and C
25. A physical examination finding of weakness when shrugging the shoulders against resistance would indicate a deficit in which cranial nerve? → CN XI (Accessory)
26. A 28-year-old woman presents with pleuritic chest pain, hemoptysis, and recent long-haul flight. Which diagnosis should be immediately considered? → Pulmonary embolism
27. A newborn is noted to have a continuous 'machine-like' murmur at the left upper sternal border. What is the most likely congenital heart defect? → Patent ductus arteriosus
28. A patient taking an MAO inhibitor for depression eats aged cheese and develops a hypertensive crisis. What is the mechanism? → Tyramine displaces norepinephrine from nerve terminals causing massive release
29. A 67-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis presents with acute monoarthritis of the right knee. Which diagnosis must be excluded emergently? → Septic arthritis
30. What is the time window for administration of IV alteplase (tPA) in acute ischemic stroke? → Within 3–4.5 hours of symptom onset