Questions for Physical Therapy Interviews (With Example Answers)

Questions for Physical Therapy Interviews (With Example Answers)

For many patients, physical therapy is a crucial component of their recovery. Physical therapy job interviews seek to understand your patient-treatment strategies as well as your educational and professional background. You can examine interview questions in advance and craft strong responses to ensure you have the best possible chance of succeeding in your physical therapy job interview. This article explores typical physical therapy interview questions and offers model responses to aid in your preparation.

Typical physical therapy interview inquiries

Standard inquiries about your background and experience will probably be followed by more incisive inquiries regarding particular circumstances, such as:

1. You want to become a physical therapist, why?
2. What aspect of being a physical therapist do you find most enjoyable?
3. What diseases have you effectively treated?
4. What is the hardest part of your job?
5. How many customers have you served so far in your career?
6. Tell us about your favourite client interaction.
7. In ten years, where do you see yourself?

detailed queries

In a physical therapy interview, you could be asked questions that gradually ask for more specifics about your prior experience. To provide thorough and instructional answers, think about employing the STAR approach. With this approach, you can describe a particular circumstance, a task, the steps you did, and the outcomes you got.

You might be asked the following probing inquiries in a physical therapy interview:

1. What kind of damage does the majority of your patient population have?
2. What format do you use for the physical therapy sessions with the patients?
3. Which of your patients had the biggest impact on you, and why?
4. How do you stay current on best practises? Do you employ training or education?
5. Do you feel comfortable using physical therapy to treat any conditions?
6. What are the most crucial components of your physical therapy education, and how do you apply them in daily practise?

examples of interview inquiries and responses

Use the STAR technique to help you formulate thorough and considerate responses wherever it is practical. Typical physical therapy interview questions are illustrated below along with some responses:

1. In order to keep your patient motivated during a lengthy physical therapy plan, how do you create objectives and manage patient expectations?

The interviewer might probe you on your therapeutic approach and patient management techniques. Describe the usual techniques you use with patients, any exceptions you make, and your justifications in response to this question. Employers may gain insight into patient sessions with you through this portion of the interview.

For example, “When I work with patients who have intensive physical therapy programmes, I focus on creating brief, achievable goals.”. These objectives assist patients maintain focus by making it simpler for them to see their progress. I work with them to construct time-free physical success goals while also assisting them in setting daily, weekly, and monthly objectives. Since they don’t anticipate achieving those goals anytime soon and feel a significant boost of motivation when they do, this helps patients stay motivated.

2. How do you manage challenging patients whose progress in physical therapy stagnates?

When working in physical therapy, it’s also crucial to be able to manage disputes with patients. Your response should shed light on the practical and successful ways in which you handle challenging patients. To guarantee that every patient receives quality care from you, concentrate on identifying the tactics you’ve used in the past and the ones you’d like to employ in the future.

Example: “They can be tough because they’re frustrated with their stagnation. I try to find strategies to get over the plateau by modifying the patient’s expectations and setting new, realistic objectives. The patient can take baby steps toward rehabilitation in this way, observe their progress, regain some desire, and refocus on moving forward.

3. Describe the toughest situation you have ever dealt with and how you handled it.

Physical therapy poses a variety of particular difficulties that you may probably experience in the course of your work. This inquiry seeks to ascertain any difficulties you may have had in the past and how you overcame them using tenacity and problem-solving abilities. Concentrate on the answer to the issue and the process you used to solve it.

The hardest case I have handled included a patient who was seriously injured in a car accident and had both of his legs amputated. She needed to go through a lot of psychological baggage, but she couldn’t wait until after physical therapy. I was able to help the patient by helping her stay positive and by helping her create realistic goals for each session. We changed her goals as she improved, making each session challenging while also demonstrating development.

When she was on the verge of making progress, I also made an effort to involve her family. They provided a chance for her to experience both physical and psychological recovery by being there for her life’s milestones. We managed to keep on course by dealing with both problems at once. She managed to stay motivated as a result throughout her physical therapy.

4. If a patient had [insert damage here], how would you assist them?

Some illnesses and injuries could call for particular care or approaches. Apply the methods and abilities you learned in class, during clinicals, and in other professional and training settings to this question. Give an example of a specific injury you have dealt with in the past, and describe the method you used to the patient’s treatment.

For instance, “I once witnessed a patient whose wrist fracture was healing after six weeks. She was eager to get back to work because it required a lot of time. on a computer. Her hands and wrists needed to be able to move through their full range of motion as well as make little, swift movements.

I initially asked the patient what her most frequent duties at work were, and then we worked on exercises that focused on the mechanisms needed to carry out those jobs. I would then ask her to try to duplicate those motions to help her body get back into rhythm.