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Screening Interview Questions

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Below are the core questions that physiotherapists are asked during the College’s virtual screening interviews.

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

You will be given a score of yes or partial or no or not applicable for each question. 



Download Interview Questions

Important:

 

  • Think about specific examples from your practice that have taken place over the last one to two years for each question below. This is an essential part of preparing for the screening interview. 

  • Before your screening interview make notes about these examples so you can easily remember the key details when you are answering the questions. 

  • You will be asked a maximum of seven questions.  

  • Each question should only take five to seven minutes to complete.  Your answer should focus on the main question. If the assessor needs more details, they will ask extra questions. 
  • The interview should only take 60 minutes.  If you start providing details that are not relevant to the question or you have already answered the question, the assessor will politely interrupt and redirect you to the question or a new question.  The assessor is doing this to ensure the interview can be completed within the 60-75 minute limit.  

  • Use the first names of the patients or people involved in your examples to keep you grounded in the specific case. You can make up names if you prefer.

  • If you talk about what you generally do in practice, the assessor will ask you to focus on the one specific example. For example, if you use words such as, “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 briefly summarizing a story. Try to stick to the key elements that relate to the question being asked. 
     
 

#1 – Informed Consent

Competency — Employ a patient-centered approach.

Question

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

Describe a time when you had to take extra care to obtain informed consent. This could be consent to conduct the assessment or consent to start treatment. First, give me a little information about the patient. Then describe the situation.


#2 – Patient Safety

This question is skipped if question #7 or #8 applies to your practice.

Competency — Ensure physical and emotional safety of the patient.

Question

When physiotherapists identify risks to their patients, they are expected to take action to help. A risk may have to do with:

the type of treatment or some other interaction with the physiotherapist

the context in which you are providing care; or

•other healthcare needs the patient has.

Tell me about a time when you identified a risk of harm to one of your patients, and how you handled the situation.


#3 —Patient Assessment

Competency—Conduct patient assessment.

Question

Physiotherapists are expected to conduct a comprehensive assessment to determine a clinical impression and to guide their decisions.

Now we are going to discuss a recent time when you conducted an assessment for a patient.

Think about one specific patient. Tell me the reason for the assessment and the patient’s diagnosis or issue. For this specific patient, tell me the steps you took to assess this patient.

#4 — Professional Boundaries

Competency —Act with professional integrity.

Question

Physiotherapists are expected to set and maintain professional boundaries.

Have you ever been in a situation when you felt that there was a risk that your therapeutic relationship with a patient was going beyond professional boundaries? It could be because of your actions or your patient’s actions.

[If yes]: Tell me about the situation.

[If no]: Describe a situation that would go beyond the professional boundaries of a patient-therapist relationship?


#5 — Ethical Dilemma

Competency — Behave ethically

Question

Physiotherapists are expected to take action to manage ethical dilemmas. These are situations where you have to make a moral choice for the best and most honest way to handle a situation. Ethical decisions include conflict of interest. It could be any situation when the physiotherapist has to make a moral choice between two or more possible actions.

Describe a situation when you had to manage an ethical dilemma. In this situation, you had an option to choose one direction or course of action over another.


#6 — External Feedback

Competency — Integrate self-reflection and external feedback to improve personal practice.

Question

Physiotherapists are expected to ask for feedback from others to improve their professional practice.

Describe a time when you asked for feedback or advice on your performance from another professional or a group (other than during a performance review).


#7 — Rostered Activities

You will only be asked this question if you currently perform any rostered activities.

Competency—Act with professional integrity.

Question

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

Have you performed an activity that you are rostered for?

[If yes] Tell me about a recent time when you performed a rostered activity on a patient and how you managed it.

[If no] Let’s discuss an activity that you are rostered to perform, even though you have not had a chance to do so yet.


#8 — Supervision of others (PTAs)

You will only be asked this question if you currently supervise physiotherapist assistants.

Competency—Supervise others

Question

A physiotherapist who assigns care to a physiotherapist assistant remains responsible for all of the patient's care.

Tell me about a recent time when you assigned a task to a physiotherapist assistant and the steps you took to ensure patient safety.

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