Master 40 Physician Assistant interview questions covering clinical scenarios, patient care, and medical decision-making.
Question 18 of 40
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Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Professional working relationships are essential as a healthcare provider who regularly works on a multidisciplinary team. You can be specific about your process or stay general by sharing some of your best practices around building trust. If possible, share an example of how you gain trust within the patient care team or how you relate to others.

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I find that being a great listener is important to gaining trust and respect, especially when working with busy physicians. Often, I only get a short amount of time to collaborate with the physician, so I like to come to meetings prepared with important questions and carefully listen to the answers. From there, I can create my patient care plan and report to the physician on progress or challenges I may face. This partnership and communication help me gain their trust and respect."

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I feel that the best way to earn the trust of the physicians is to be helpful, always do what I promise, and be honest with them at all times. Strong relationships have to be built on these principles."

Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"Trust is something you earn over time with people. I will lead by example and be transparent in my communications. Trust happens when people deliver on doing what they say they will do. I take the approach of under-promising and over-delivering to accelerate the trust process. With strong trust, teams can accomplish great things together."

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Anonymous Answer
I believe the best way to gain a physician's trust and respect is to display strong dedication and reliability. If a physician is confident that they can rely on you, then you gain their trust. Another way to build trust is to practice an open and honest communication method.

Rachelle's Feedback
These are terrific ways to build trust with the physicians around you. When it comes to your specific experience, it may be a nice touch to tell a brief story of a time when you used these approaches to gain the trust and respect of a physician.
Anonymous Answer
Trust can be gain over time, and it takes, in my opinion, regular commitment and involvement so that the person you are working with knows that they can rely on you.
Trust and respect are earned when you constantly show effort and initiative.
As a team having trust and respect in each other, you can accomplish a great deal.

Rachelle's Feedback
You make some terrific points! I suggest taking this answer from 'You' phrasing to 'I' phrasing. I have offered a suggestion for you below.
"I gain trust with physicians over time through regular commitment and involvement so that the person I am working with knows that they can rely on me. I earn trust and respect by showing constant effort and initiative. I understand that as a team, it is important to have trust and respect in each other because it allows us to accomplish our goals."
Anonymous Answer
The best way to gain a physician's trust is to show commitment, reliability, and the will to learn. I was once on a night shift and I was called on a patient who was not feeling ok. The attending physician wasn't able to answer for consultation. After history and investigations, I diagnosed the patient with MI and I transferred her for urgent PCR that saved her life. By making the right choice, I showed the attending physician that I'm a reliable person. The attending physician was very glad of my reaction.

Stephanie's Feedback
Excellent response! This shows that you've given careful thought to how to cultivate a relationship with physicians and how to gain trust. The specific answer you provided really helped your response come alive!
Anonymous Answer
I will make a plan ahead of time such as scheduling, and a treatment plan, and complete all work-related assignments in a timely manner.
Marcie's Feedback
Being prepared and completing all of your work in a timely manner are both great ways to earn the respect and trust of a physician. Mention as well that you are dependable, helpful, resourceful, and a strong communicator. If there's an example you can talk about here of a time when you gained the trust of a colleague, don't hesitate to include that too. Nice job!
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Written by Rachelle Enns
40 Questions & Answers • Physician Assistant

By Rachelle

By Rachelle