Idaho lawmakers split over naming PA national exam amid DEI concerns

The House Health and Welfare Committee approved pending rules for physician assistant licensure but removed a provision that would have named the national certifying exam, drawing a sharp, at-times partisan debate over diversity, equity and inclusion and the limits of legislative rulemaking.

Nikki Chopsky, bureau chief for the Health Professions Bureau at the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses and executive officer for the Idaho State Board of Medicine, told the committee the statute requires an exam be identified in rule and that the routinely used test is the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination, or PANCE.

The debate centered on whether naming PANCE in the rules implicitly endorsed the certifying organization — the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) — and whether…