Physical Therapist Mock Interview

Practice 34 Physical Therapist interview questions covering clinical reasoning, patient care, and rehabilitation techniques.

Question 10 of 34

How would you work differently with an older patient?

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Ryan Brunner

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

"Through my training and internship as a Physical Therapist, I had the chance to work with a few older patients that were rehabbing from injuries. As a young therapist, I found it very helpful to talk to the patients to get to know them better to help build a trusting bond between us. Once the patients felt comfortable with me, they were able to see that the care I provided to them was worth while in their rehab process."

Ryan Brunner

Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.

"Through my years of being a Physical Therapist, I have grown to really enjoy working with older patients. I have found that they require a friendly approach where I can help them relate to me and get to know me better to help build trust between us. One particular gentleman was very hesitant to open up to me and was very bitter when we began rehabbing together. Over time, with my careful and open approach to him, he really opened up to me and became very receptive to the therapy he was receiving. This surely helped enable a full recovery on his end."

Heather Douglass

Heather Douglass has over 20 years of experience as a Career Coach, Recruiter, and HR Specialist. Much of her experience is as a Technical Recruiter in the healthcare industry.

As a Physical Therapist, you have to adjust your style of therapy quite often. Working with older patients require a softer approach than a man in his 30's in good health. Tell the interviewer about a time you successfully rehabilitated an older patient. What steps did you take and how did you adjust your regular style of treatment?

Heather Douglass

Heather Douglass has over 20 years of experience as a Career Coach, Recruiter, and HR Specialist. Much of her experience is as a Technical Recruiter in the healthcare industry.

"Last week I started working with a patient that is recovering from a hip replacement. Treatment may be running slower than some but we are still making progress. I have found with this patient, and with other geriatric patients, that taking a slower approach and talking through each step of the rehabilitation process is important to the patients success."

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Anonymous Answer

Working with elderly patients wouldn't be much different in terms of the steps that you'll have to go through to give them information about their condition, the steps of the rehabilitation process that you have to follow, and the manners you will treat them to gain their trust. Still, it would definitely be different the timescale of your plan when you take into consideration their decreased motive and desire to get better in a specific time compared to an average younger patient who's more hungry and enthusiastic in getting healthy as soon as possible and most importantly the maximal heart rate that an older patient's cardiovascular system can handle during the exercises. So by having an understanding of the patients' background, you'll be able to create a personalized plan tailored to his goals and capabilities.

Rachelle's Feedback

You make some excellent points here! Try to work on being more concise. Avoid "you" statements and keep your answers personal. Use shorter sentences so that your responses are simpler and easy to follow.

"Working with elderly patients is no different, in terms of the steps that I go through to give them information about their condition, the stages of the rehabilitation process, and my patient approach. The treatment plan differs when it comes to the timescale as often there is decreased motive and desire to fast-track treatment; compared to an average younger patient who's more hungry and enthusiastic for a full recovery. Most importantly, I note the maximal heart rate that an older patient's cardiovascular system can handle during the exercises. By understanding the patients' background, I can create a personalized plan tailored to their goals and capabilities."

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34Physical Therapist Interview Questions & Answers

1.What is your style of leadership?

2.Are you comfortable delegating work?

3.What excites you the most about being a Physical Therapist?

4.Being a Physical Therapist allows you to see progress in your patients, does this motivate you? Why?

5.Tell me about a situation where you showed a great deal of patience?

6.Being with a single patient for an hour can be tiring, how can you overcome that?

7.Describe the steps you take when reviewing a patients medication.

8. Talk about a recent problem that you faced as a Physical Therapist. How did you go about solving the problem?

9.What work setting do you prefer?

10.How would you work differently with an older patient?

11.How do you educate your patients?

12.What classes or professors had the most impact on you?

13.How would your co-workers describe you?

14.What experiences have you had that made you a better person?

15.What is your greatest strength as a Physical Therapist?

16.Discuss a patient plan that you designed and implemented.

17.How would you rehabilitate or strengthen the tibialis anterior muscle?

18.Have you ever been interested in treating sports injuries?

19.What made you choose physical therapy over other health professions?

20.Tell me about a time you gave excellent patient care.

21.Are you physically fit and do you exercise?

22.Which population are you excited to work with?

23.Describe your typical work week.

24.Give me an example of a tough patient you had to deal with.

25.How do you stay organized?

26.How would you handle a situation where a patient you had been working with requested another therapist or a move to another therapy clinic?

27.Are there any unique skills or techniques that you would bring to our group?

28.In what capacity have you worked with PT Assistants? What role do you feel they play in the rehabilitation of a patient?

29.Are you available to do outreach to other clinics or make in-home visits?

30.Talk about a time there was miscommunication in the treatment of a patient. How did you handle that situation?

31.What brings stress to your world as a Physical Therapist? How do you handle stressful situations in the workplace?

32.How do you motivate your patients in their rehabilitation process?

33.Talk about a time where you had to involve the family or caregivers of a patient you were working with? In what capacity did you have to involve them?