The Challenge Bowl is an exhilarating competition between PA schools across Texas! Teams of 3 will race against the clock to answer didactic, clinical-based and TAPA organization-related questions! This is one of the highlights of the annual TAPA conference and something everyone likes to watch!
The competition is tentatively scheduled for Saturday evening, September 13, 2025 at 6 PM.
Challenge Bowl Sign-up Rules Please note that these rules are subject to change, and participants will be notified of these changes prior to the start of the tournament.
If you register your team for Challenge Bowl and there is a team member who has not registered for the conference, your team will unable to compete.
The last day to register your team is 9/5/2025!
Participants All participants of the Student Challenge Bowl must meet all of the following criteria:
Current student at a Texas Physician Assistant program
Active Student Member of TAPA
Registered attendee at 51st Annual Meeting & CME Conference
Judges
Three judges, appointed by TAPA's President and/or the SAC chair, will serve on a panel of judges.
The judging panel's duty is to rule on any answer that is not the exact answer sought in the question bank.
The judging panel's determination is final.
No questions/answers or judge's determinations are open to challenges
Structure
The Challenge Bowl is a ‘knock out’ style tournament – single elimination
During each round, three teams will face each other at a time in a ‘bracket’. The winner of that bracket will move on to the next round.
In the event of a tie, one additional question will be asked to break the tie between the tied teams.
Questions
All questions and answers for the Challenge Bowl are compiled at the discretion of the Student Affairs Committee Chair and/or those appointed by the SAC chair
Each question will be phrased to seek one unequivocal answer
If the answer provided is not the exact answer sought in the question bank, the event emcee will submit to the judging panel's determination to provide a final ruling.
Answering
The buzzer device of each team will be tested at the start of each bracket
To answer a question, the team must press the buzzer button, wait for the emcee to acknowledge them, and then answer the question.
A team may buzz in at any point as a question is being read; when a team buzzes in, the emcee immediately stops reading the question, even if it is not read in its entirety, and acknowledges the team, who will then answer the question.
When a team buzzes to answer a question, they will have up to five seconds to confer as a team and provide an answer.
Scoring
When a team answers a question, the initial answer provided is their final answer.
A correct answer will earn the team one point.
Teams may have negative scores.
The scores will be kept on a live scoreboard, updated by a score keeper and monitored by the SAC chair.
The team with the highest score at the end of the seven-question bracket, will advance to the next round
Conduct
All participants and attendees of the annual student Challenge Bowl must conduct themselves in a collegial and respectful manner at all times.
Anyone not abiding by the rules above may be asked to leave by the SAC chair or any member of TAPA’s Board.
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