After graduating PA school, you are likely very eager to start your new career and begin making your mark on the medical world. With that excitement comes the thrill of the job hunt. You’re ready to put your education to use, and you want to make sure you do so at a place where you are valued, where you will continue to learn and grow, and where you will gain new experience. So, it’s essential that you ask the right questions when interviewing with a potential employer.
Whether you are new to the career or an experienced physician assistant, here are the top questions you should ask a potential employer during your interview.
Orthopedic Assistant Interview Questions with Answer Examples
To help you prepare for your Orthopedic Physician Assistant interview, here are 35 interview questions and answer examples.
Orthopedic Physician Assistant was written by Krista Wenz and updated on October 26th, 2021. Learn more here.
What is your number one pet peeve?
Interviewers ask this question to evaluate your personality and how you respond to things that annoy you. The interviewer is looking to see if you will be a good fit with the company and how well you work with others. When responding to this question, describe your number one pet peeve related to the workplace and how you effectively deal with the annoyance. Make sure your pet peeve is turned into a positive outcome.
Written by Krista Wenz on October 26th, 2021
“My number one pet peeve is when I am interrupted while speaking. I had a coworker who would always interrupt me during office meetings or while I was speaking with patients. I found it very rude and frustrating, and eventually, I asked to have a private conversation with him. I explained how he had a habit of interrupting me while speaking and how it affected me. He explained that he was not aware he was interrupting me, and my coworker made a point of not interrupting me again.”
Written by Krista Wenz on October 26th, 2021
Does your office use a shared schedule model?
Shared scheduling means just that – the schedule is shared between the physicians and the PAs, and it may not be determined who will be seeing which patients ahead of time. According to Lutter, the shared scheduling model is a recipe for disaster for a number of reasons, especially if the patient is unaware that they are seeing a PA instead of their surgeon or physicianr.
It can lead to a lot of ambiguity and frustration for both patients and physician assistants. Patients may be confused or upset if they don’t understand the role of a PA and why their normal physcian isn’t treating them. For a PA, this can make them feel uncomfortable, undervalued, and undermined. Look for a practice that clearly communicates with their patients which provider they have an appointment with, as well as the role and benefits of a physician assistant should they have you as their clinician.
Periodicity of performance reviews and compensation.
You need to know exactly what your role and patient load will look like in the practice before you accept any offer, especially if your compensation is tied closely to the number of patients you treat. And speaking of compensation, “Income is important, but everybody is going to lowball a new grad salary,” says Lutter. Knowing that one day you won’t be a new graduate eligible for an increase in salary can be the light at the end of the tunnel.
So, it’s important to ask follow-up questions; such as when your performance/income is up for review regarding a raise or potential increase in responsibility. Is there a bonus structure in place, and what are the details of how the bonus is calculated?
“An administrator could say, ‘Here is a spreadsheet of all the revenue that you brought in. You didn’t even pay for your own salary, but you saw 400 follow-up surgical guests last month.’ That’s where the PA should recognize that they bring value because the while the surgeon was in the OR, in the procedure suite, meeting with a new patient, or taking call, they freed them up to be able to generate that revenue. And without that, the surgeon would have been in this room generating no revenue,” Lutter says. So, every last detail of compensation is important.
Have you utilized PAs here previously?
Many physicians do not have firsthand experience working with physician assistants or are unaware of how to best utilize them in their practice. You need to know if the practice in which you’re interviewing understands the legality of PA practice, as well as all of the benefits of a physician assistant.
“You should be looking for someone that is a PA supporter,” says Paul Lutter, DMSc, PA-C and Director of the PA Residency Program at Direct Orthopedic Care (DOC). “There are physicians out there that support our profession, much like the physicians at DOC, where they know and understand the training and what we bring to the table.”
Just as there are physicians who support PAs, there are some who don’t, so you want to be sure that you go where you will be properly utilized. Unfortunately, PAs can end up as overpaid medical assistants or scribes, when they are trained to be a much more valuable asset to the patient care team.
FAQ
What questions do they ask in PA interview?
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why do you want to work in our hospital?
- Why are you leaving your last job?
- Why do you want to be a PA?
- Why should we hire you as our newest PA?
- What are some of your strengths as a PA?
- What are some of your weaknesses as a PA?
How do I prepare for a PA interview?
- LEARN ALL YOU CAN ABOUT THEM. …
- KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT. …
- PREPARE FOR THE MOST ASKED QUESTIONS. …
- EAT. …
- DRESS PROFESSIONALLY. …
- FOR INTERVIEWS, ON TIME IS LATE. …
- BUT I’M TERRIBLE AT INTERVIEWS! …
- DEMONSTRATE THAT YOU CARE.
What questions will I be asked in an interview for healthcare assistant?
- ‘What are your long-term career goals? …
- ‘What experience do you hope to gain from this role? …
- ‘Can you describe what you consider to be your weaknesses? …
- ‘What are your strengths? …
- ‘Why do you want to work in this position? …
- ‘How does this role fit into your career path?
