MockQuestions

Physical Therapist Mock Interview

34 Questions Created By

To help you prepare for your Physical Therapist interview, here are 34 interview questions and answer examples.

First Question

34 Physical Therapist Interview Questions

15 Interview Questions With Sample Answers

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

How to Answer

For this question, think about a unique skill that you could bring to your potential new employer that may not be visible on your resume. Hiring managers are looking to have a complete group of physical therapists that have great general skills along with each person bringing their own unique specializations to the team.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"During my pursuit of my doctorate degree, I conducted extensive research and wrote my thesis on physical therapy in the treatment of vertigo. Being personally touched by the condition, I am passionate about helping future patients with vertigo in the treatment methods that I learned."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"During my career, I have taken great interest in patient education and have recently completed a CME course on health coaching. Since doing so, I have been the go-to person in my clinic for assising with patient education. This is a role that I thrive in and would like to continue with it moving forward."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"With my current employer, they asked if I would become a certified aquatic therapy trainer and I didn't hesitate to jump at the chance to do that. Through my training and since working with patients, aquatic therapy can play a huge role in helping with rehabilitating patients experiencing pain."

Written by Ryan Brunner

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

How to Answer

This question is similar to 'tell me about yourself.' This question will give you the opportunity to tell the interviewer more about why you chose to be a physical therapist. Did you decide to help people because it personally affected you as a child? Did a family member benefit from a physical therapist and you decided you wanted to help people as well?



Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"When I was in high school, I had a brief time where I was seeing a Physical Therapist due to a car accident I had been in where I suffered a back injury. Seeing how my therapy turned my injury around in a quick manner inspired me to want to help people in a similar predicament that I was in back then. After my schooling and internship, I am confident that I made the right career choice."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"I chose physical therapy over everything else because I feel it's important to stay healthy and keep your body healthy. I've found that as a physical therapist I have the opportunity to specialize down the road if I'd like to change it up a bit."

Written by Heather Douglass

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

How to Answer

What sets your customer service skills above the rest? How do you provide the best care to your patients? Tell the interviewer about a time that you provided excellent patient care. Were your efforts noticed by your boss? Did the patient submit a patient comment card to give kudos to you? End your story with a big impact so the interviewer won't be able to say no to you and your customer service skills.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"During my internship, I was working with my supervising therapist on a patient rehabbing an ACL tear in his knee. The patient was extremely overweight and was unable to utilize one of the pieces of exercise equipment that our space had. To help safely modify his exercise, I brought in a mat that he could use with some resistance bands while laying on his back."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"I was working with a patient recently that was experiencing some major spinal pain during her rehab process. Even she was on pain medication, there were times that her sessions with me were becoming painful. Looking to reassess her plan, we decided to limit her movements that were causing pain for the time being and this made her time in our clinic better for her. I recommended other exercises she could perform at home to build strength and she really appreciated the extra effort I took with her."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"As a Physical Therapist that prides herself on providing customized care to my patients, I can think of many great examples here. I recently was working with an elderly gentleman that was coming off of a double knee replacement. Knowing how hard his process would be for him physically, I asked if he would be willing to try out aquatic therapy for the first few weeks in our new aquatic therapy center. He agreed that it may be best and he loved it right from the start. His process is now running very smoothly."

Written by Ryan Brunner

4.   Are you physically fit and do you exercise?

How to Answer

As a Physical Therapist, it's important to 'practice what you preach.' Promoting a healthy lifestyle, eating habits, and exercise will only go so far if you aren't in shape yourself. Do you do yoga? Run marathons? Walk your dog each night? Do you stay away from sugar and starches? Are you a vegetarian? Tell the interviewer how you stay healthy and how you encourage your patients to do the same.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"Part of my motivation to become a Physical Therapist was my lifelong desire to stay physically fit myself. Outside of work, I am a dedicated long distance runner that participates in a couple of marathons each year. I also actively play volleyball as well."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"I find myself running, exercising and dancing alongside my patients. I love to be apart of my treatment with my patients. It motivates them, helps the time go by and keeps me in shape as well."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"As a career Physical Therapist, I've been very motivated to keep myself in shape and healthy to set a great example for my patients. I keep myself and my family on a pretty strict diet while not being overly strict. Yes, I still indulge in a treat once in a while. I also remain physically active by swimming laps three days a week at the YMCA and walking nine holes on the golf course a few times a week as well."

Written by Ryan Brunner

5.   Which population are you excited to work with?

How to Answer

Are you interviewing for a position that works with a population you haven't worked with before? No worries, this could be your chance to provide input with a new set of eyes. Conversely, if you have a preferred population that you prefer to work with or have expertise with, let the interviewer know.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"My journey to become a Physical Therapist began when I was rehabbing a sports injury in high school. I'm most looking forward to working with athletes and other patients on orthopedic related rehabilitation issues."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"I'm excited to get the chance to work with children. In my past positions, I've only worked with adults. I'm excited to tap back into my internship days and work with kids again."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"My favorite population that I have had the chance to work with are geriatric patients. In watching my mother receive great care from her Physical Therapist while battling Alzheimer's Disease and Osteoporosis, I want to be able to provide that same great care to a generation that much deserves it."

Written by Ryan Brunner

6.   Describe your typical work week.

How to Answer

Before you answer, consider the position you are applying for and how your current or past positions relate to it. The more you can connect your past experience with the job opening, the more successful you will be in answering the questions. Keep your answers focused on work and show the interviewer that you're organized and efficient.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"During my internship, a typical work week involved 4-6 hours of direct patient contact every day. At the end of every workday, I utilized my Outlook calendar to make a plan for the next day and worked in time for my documentation duties as well. By staying organized each day, it ensured that the following day ran as smoothly as possible."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"The first thing I do on Monday morning is to check my voicemail and email, then I prioritize my activities for the week. Each morning, I also make a to do list for the day so I am prepared along the way in knowing my schedule. I hold evening hours on Wednesdays and early morning hours on Fridays for patients that prefer to be seen during those times as well. At the end of each day, I make time for any administrative tasks that I need to catch up on as well."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"In my current position, I hold hours at three different locations so staying organized is key for me. I start my week at our home office and see patients on Monday and Tuesday. During my afternoon on Tuesday, I prepare for my Wednesday patients at a small clinic in another city. On Thursday, I am back in my home space and then have to utilize that afternoon to plan for traveling to see patients on Friday. By planning out each day the day prior, I am able to alleviate as many potential problems as possible for the next day."

Written by Ryan Brunner

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

How to Answer

A tough patient might be someone who was angry or had a bad attitude. It could also be someone who had an impairment that made it difficult for you to communicate with them. In your example, focus on how you handled the situation, rather than the issue that made it difficult.



Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"During my internship, I was working with a patient that clearly wasn't invested in his rehabilitation process. I became frustrated when I realized that the patient wasn't following the physicians orders to keep full weight off of his injured leg and I could see that he wasn't obeying by his lack of progress each week. I was pretty direct with the patient and talked to him about the need to be non weight bearing on his leg while outside of our time together and talked about how the healing process could be seriously impeded. By explaining the effects of his actions, the patient was able to understand the harm he was doing to himself."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"I had a patient last week with a hearing impairment. I didn't have a lot of experience with this and I didn't know sign language. We figured out a solution together. I wrote him a message asking if we could communicate in writing, and we ended up writing messages back and forth. It was much easier to deal with than I expected! Sometimes you just have to get creative!"

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"The toughest patient that I ever worked with came very early in my career and gave me great perspective on how to work with similar patients in the future. He was a large man that became very vulgar when in pain and at times right away, I feared that he may become violent. I asked a co-worker to treat the patient with me at first and we moved our treatments to a more open area of the clinic. By doing this, the patient was less prone to cuss and had a much better attitude as he knew others were watching."

Written by Ryan Brunner

8.   How do you stay organized?

How to Answer

When you are required to complete routine tasks and procedures, you will need to be able to organize yourself. Tell the interviewer what tools you use to keep yourself organized. Do you use a calendar to keep yourself on track? Do you keep a to-do list? Do you spend time each morning planning out your day? Do you take notes during meetings? Share your favorite tools and tricks for staying organized!

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"I am a meticulous planner by nature so I keep close tabs on all of my patients that are scheduled by 15 minute blocks of time. By doing this, I am able to build in administrative time and also time for me to unwind in the midst of a busy day."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"I stay organized by using my organizer and prioritizing throughout the day. During my career, many great technological advances have occurred. Having always taken notes by hand and keeping a written to do list has evolved into me using an iPad to help keep my organized each day and week."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"As an experienced Physical Therapist in a very busy setting, our schedulers are my first line of defense to help keep me organized through the work days. I am in consistent communication with them on my availability for the coming weeks and my patient schedule is always coordinated well. For myself, I utilize my email calendar to schedule any tasks outside of patient care like the committees that I sit on with my employer."

Written by Ryan Brunner

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

How to Answer

During the career of any even great therapist, they may have experienced a time where a patient requested another therapist to work with them. The reasons for why the patient did so are important to find out. The interviewer is looking to see how you would handle this situation and how you would go about finding out why the change was requested. Learning from a situation like this is of critical importance. If it has happened to you in your career, don't hesitate to talk about a specific situation rather than a hypothetical situation.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"Having never been in this situation, I would want to know why the patient had requested another therapist and use that as a learning situation. If the reason was due to any interactions that I had with the patient, I would want to know. If it was for personal reasons from the patient, I have pretty thick skin and would be able to handle the news with ease."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"Fortunately, I've never had a patient request this at this point of my career. If it were to happen, I would first review all of my interactions with the patient to see if there was anything I could see that may have sent the patient to another therapist. If not, I wouldn't hesitate to talk to the source from who I found out the patient was leaving. If it was the patient directly, I would ask for their reason why they are leaving. If it was from my manager, I would if they knew the reasons why. This would be a great learning situation that I could use for future patient interactions."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"In my current position, my manager informed me that a patient I had been working with for a couple of months on a knee injury had requested another therapist in the clinic and my manager had granted the request. In talking to my manager, the patient had requested another therapist due to the fact that I had not granted her permission to rejoin her summer golf league that she participated due to the possibility of her impeding her progress in the healing process. To appease the patient, my manager granted her request to the patient but also let the patient know that the new therapist would be following the same protocol as I had in her treatment."

Written by Ryan Brunner

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

How to Answer

As a Physical Therapist, you have a handful of options of where you can work. Sports Physical Therapy may be a career field that interests you because you've dreamt of the opportunity to work with your favorite sports team. Be honest when answering this question. If you've had no desire to work within sports just relay that you enjoy working in a clinic.



Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"My initial drive to become a Physical Therapist started in the sports world when I was a high school athlete rehabbing an ACL injury. As I've progressed through my schooling, I've gained a larger appreciation of the field as a whole in being able to work with a larger population of patients."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"I've never considered working within sports physical therapy. I've been working within the healthcare center setting for 5 years and I enjoy the new challenges I face every day. Different patients and different injuries keep my job exciting and make me want to continue in a clinic setting."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"Through my career, I've found great pleasure in treating sports injuries. I've worked with local high school and collegiate level athletic programs and am greatly interested in getting athletes back on the field of play along with seeing other patients as well."

Written by Ryan Brunner

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

How to Answer

Working closely with your PT Assistants is an important part of your job. Your interviewer will be looking to assess how you effectively communicate and work as a team with your assistants. They also will try and assess how you manage your assistants and the work that they perform. Talk about great working relationships you've had with your assistants and possibly talk about a coaching situation you had to do with one of your assistants.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"As a new graduate, I was fortunate enough to experience hands on PT experience during my internship. Here, I was able to work with a number of PT assistants that spanned a wide range of experience levels. I was able to see the wide range of duties that PT assistants perform and was amazed at how much work they do to assist rehabilitating patients. I know that moving into my first job that I will be able to work well with my assistants to foster a great team atmosphere."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"With my current employer, I work one on one with a specific assistant throughout my workday. When our team switched to a one on one model, my assistant and I had a learning curve to be able to work effectively from each other. Being his direct leader, we held regular meetings to discuss our workflow as we moved forward together and this helped significantly. Now, we work as a cohesive team for each of the patients that we work with on a daily basis."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"In my current position, I work with a variety of assistants as most are employed on a part time basis. I have also worked in a clinic on a one on one basis with an assistant. In my current role, it is important for me to work closely with my assistants in educating them on my procedures and expectations for us to have a great working relationship. I keep the lines of communication open and meet regularly one on one with them. Their importance in the treatment of our patients is critical."

Written by Ryan Brunner

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

How to Answer

Many rehabilitation clinics/organizations have spread their wings over a large territory or provide in-home care to patients. For this question, it is important for you to have reviewed the expectations of the position prior to the interview. If travel was an expectation for the position, there should have been details in the job posting. Researching the organizations website will also tell you if they have multiple sites or make in-home visits. Be open and honest with your interviewer on your availability.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"Coming into my first position, I am willing to do whatever it takes to see patients that need my services. I don't have direct experience providing in-home care to patients, but with some job shadowing with an experienced therapist, I would be more than willing to make these types of visits if ever required."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"In getting to know the organization better, I am open to providing therapy outreach to any of the clinics in the territory. Are you able to tell me how scheduling works for outreach opportunities?"

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"Throughout my career, I have performed both in-home visits and took part in outreach opportunities as well. To better serve the needs of the patient, I am willing to take part in any of the opportunities that may come."

Written by Ryan Brunner

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

How to Answer

As a Physical Therapist, the patients that are referred to you can come from many different physicians. Miscommunications on patients can happen and the interview is looking to see how you handled a particular miscommunication between yourself and a physician. In your answer, make sure to point out the importance communication plays in the overall well-being of the patient and that you are not hesitant to follow-up on communication.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"While I haven't experienced this directly in patient care while interning as a Physical Therapist, I know that we work in a world where communication is extremely important. If I every learned that there was a miscommunication on a patient, I would do my best to get to the root of miscommunication to ensure that it doesn't happen again. If needed, I would talk with my manager as well to hopefully prevent it from happening again."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"In my current organization, I receive patient referrals from many physicians on patients that need PT on their knees. Without having direct access to the patients medical records through their physician, my administrative staff are great about obtaining records in a timely manner. Recently, I had a new patient come in that we hadn't received medical records for. Rather than relying solely on what the patient told me, I made a quick phone call over to the physicians office to have the records quickly faxed over. After verifying the release form was signed on their end, I had the medical record within ten minutes. I fully realize that since some patients don't fully understand their medical history so the call to expedite the process was vital."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"For some of the sports related patients that I treat, a fast turnaround time is often requested from the patient and the referring physician. Based on a simple clerical error, the patient became frustrated with me upon my initial consultation with them because I began working with the wrong shoulder. Based on the records I received, the left shoulder was the one that was injured. According to the patient, it was the right shoulder that needed rehabilitation. In following protocol, I contacted the referring physicians office right away to see if and where an error occurred. Within minutes, the referring physician called our office back and said that the record he input into their system was incorrect. Within a short period of time, I had the correct records in hand to treat the patient and it was because I was willing to reach out to the referring physician."

Written by Ryan Brunner

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

How to Answer

A career as a Physical Therapist can bring stress to your life in many different ways. For this question, it is okay to be open and honest about the parts of the job that cause you stress. The interviewer will be looking to gain insight on what causes you stress and how you handle those situations. If you've found a particular part of the job to be stressful but you've made personal strides to overcome the stress, make sure to let the interviewer know.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"As a new Physical Therapist, I may feel stressed at times when the patient schedule is full. Throughout college, I learned great techniques to help manage my time when my schedule if full and I see myself being able to utilize these same techniques with my patient load."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"Throughout my career, I've taken personal pride in the progress of my patients and I've found myself most stressed when a particular patient is rehabbing according to my plan. Over time, I've learned to analyze the progress of each patient individually and take into account personal pieces from each patient that may be impeding on their progress."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"The biggest stress that I face in my current position is dealing with the insurance coverage end of things for each individual person. With health plans having such a wide variety of coverages for each individual patient, it is important for me to know what their insurance will cover because most patients don't understand their own coverage. I have spent a lot of time reading and speaking with the insurance companies to get a better understanding of how they work to help alleviate this stress."

Written by Ryan Brunner

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

How to Answer

As a physical therapist, your success with a patient relies on their motivation throughout the rehabilitation process. Outside of your sessions with them, what the patient does can greatly effect their progress in the rehab process. For this question, talk about the importance of having a motivated patients and talk about some strategies you utilize to help motivate them.

Written by Heather Douglass

Entry Level

"As a new Physical Therapist, the number one tool that I will utilize with my patients to help motivate them is to build a trusting relationship with them. By listening to what is important to the patient and getting to know them better, the bond that we build will enable them to take my therapy with them to heart."

Written by Ryan Brunner

Answer Example

"To help keep my patients motivated through their rehab process, I've found it extremely helpful to set achievable goals for each patient. As the patient hits each goal and we celebrate it together, I find that they're even more driven to hit the next goal prior to the timeline that I set for them."

Written by Heather Douglass

Experienced

"Throughout my career as a Physical Therapist, I have taken great pride in my ability to stay positive with each and every patient and I know that this helps motivate them. I have worked with some patients that have long, hard roads to recovery. By being a positive light for them and sharing success stories of other patients, I can help them stay the course through their rehab process."

Written by Ryan Brunner

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