Assessment Questions

Man wearing headset seated and listening while looking at laptop screen

Below are the core questions that physiotherapists are asked during the College’s assessment.

Please note that the assessor may ask additional probing questions that are not provided below.

You will be given a score of yes, partial, no or not applicable for each question. There are 14 questions, but all questions may not apply to your practice.



Important:

Case-based Questions: 

  • The assessor will select a patient record from the five patient records you provided for the chart review section of your assessment.

  • For the first eight questions, you will respond using the one patient record.

  • Question #8 is about controlled acts that you are rostered to perform. If you are not on a roster to perform any controlled acts, you will not be asked this question.

  • Refer to the patient record as needed, if you need help recalling details.

  • If you talk about what you generally do in practice, the assessor will ask you to focus on the specific example. For example, if you start using words like, “normally”, “usually”, “typically”, this may be a sign that you are no longer talking about the example you chose for the interview.

 

Situation-based Questions

  • The last six questions ask you to recall how you handled specific situations that you have encountered in your practice.

  • Think about specific examples from your practice over the last year or two for each question below. Please select examples that you did not use during your screening interview.

  • If you talk about what you generally do in practice, the assessor will ask you to focus on the specific example. For example, if you start using words like, “normally”, “usually”, “typically”, this may be a sign that you are no longer talking about the example you chose for the interview.

  • Answer the question like you are telling a story. Include the details about who, what, where, when and why. Tell the assessor about the issue, what you did and how it ended.

Case-based Questions

Item #1 — Accepting the patient

Competency — Act with professional integrity

Physiotherapists are expected to use judgement when they decide whether to provide services. They base their decision on what they are competent to perform and what is within their professional scope of practice.

For this case, describe how you determined the appropriateness of providing physiotherapy to this patient, before providing care.


Item #2 — Informed Consent

Competency — Employ a patient-centred approach

Physiotherapists are expected to obtain informed consent from patients before they conduct an assessment.

For this patient, describe the steps you took to get informed consent to conduct the assessment.


Item #3 — Assessment, clinical impression and referral to others

Competency — conduct patient assessment

PTs conduct a comprehensive assessment to determine a clinical impression and to guide decisions.

Tell me the steps you took to assess this patient.


Item #4 — Treatment plan and assigning care to PTAs

Competency — Develop, implement, monitor and evaluate an intervention plan.

Physiotherapists work with the patient and others to develop and implement the physiotherapy treatment plan/ intervention.

Tell me about the treatment plan/intervention for this patient.


Item #5 — Goal setting and patient collaboration

Competency — Develop, implement, monitor and evaluate an intervention plan

Physiotherapists work with their patients to develop goals.

Tell me about this patient’s goals and how you worked together to establish them.


Item #6 — Monitoring, reassessment and modify plan, self-management

Competency — develop, implement, monitor and evaluate an intervention plan.

Physiotherapists must evaluate their patient’s progress and goals often and make adjustments when needed.

For this patient, tell me what actions you took to review their progress.


Item #7 — Discharge planning and transitioning care

Competency — complete or transition care

Physiotherapists are expected to recognize when treatment may no longer be required. Or they may have to recognize when there are limitations to treatment, for example, when the number of sessions is restricted by benefits coverage. In these cases, they must make plans for how to end the therapy.

For this patient, have you started to discuss options for ending therapy or transitioning to another form of care?

[If yes] Tell me about your discussion with the patient / substitute decision maker about ending therapy or transitioning care.

[If no] If services were no longer needed or a transition of care was required, tell me how you would initiate communications with the patient/substitute decision maker.


Item # 8 — Rostered Activities

Competency — act with professional integrity

Physiotherapists must work within the physiotherapy scope of practice and within their own level of competence.

For this patient did you perform a rostered activity?

[If yes] Tell me about one time when you performed a rostered activity for this patient, and how you managed it.

[If no] Let’s talk about another patient when you performed a rostered activity and how you managed the activity.

[Never performed a rostered activity] Let’s talk about an activity you are rostered for but have not had the chance to do yet.

Situation-based Questions

Item #9 — Patient safety

Competency — Ensure physical and emotional safety of the patient

PTs monitor and respond to patient safety issues. These issues can be physical or emotional.

Describe a time when you were concerned about a patient’s physical or emotional safety.


Item #10 — Address discrepancies between professional and employer expectations

Competency — comply with legal and regulatory requirements

Physiotherapists are expected to know and follow the legal requirements and regulatory rules that govern their profession. They are also expected to follow the policies of their practice setting. These include, for example, policies on billing, fees, advertising, records, infection control, and rostered activities.

Tell me about a recent situation when you felt that a policy or practice in your workplace was in conflict with what the legal and regulatory rules require of you.


Item #11 — Continuing professional development

Competency — Maintain currency with developments relevant to the area of practice

Physiotherapists reflect on their own practice and integrate self-reflection and new learning into their practice.

Tell me about a learning activity you completed this year. This could be education or training or a work experience that presented as a learning opportunity.


Item #12 — Conflict resolution

Competency — contributes to conflict resolution

Physiotherapists are expected to help resolve conflicts and behaviour problems that could interfere with the delivery of safe, quality care. This includes problems that arise from the behaviour of the patient or other service providers, or from the physiotherapist’s own behaviour.

Describe a situation when you managed a challenging behaviour or conflict with a patient or another service provider.


Item #13 — Confidentiality

Competency — Manage practice information safely and effectively

Physiotherapists must protect the confidentiality of personal health information. This means maintaining security when gathering it, retaining it, storing it, transmitting it, and communicating it in written or oral form.

Describe a situation when you took steps to ensure a patient’s information was kept secure and not disclosed without the patient’s consent.


Item #14 — Infection Prevention and Control

Competency — Ensure a safe practice environment

Physiotherapists apply best practices to prevent and control infection.

Describe a time when a patient needed special attention for infection prevention and control, beyond what you would normally do in your practice.