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100+ Physician Associate Interview Questions

Advice & Insight From PA Application Specialists

Insight and Motivation

  • What is the role of a Physician Associate?
  • How does a PA differ from a Nurse Practitioner?
  • How long has the role of PA been established?
  • Why are you interested in becoming a PA rather than an NP?
  • Why are you interested in becoming a PA rather than a doctor?
  • Can a PA work alone (independent of a physician)?
  • What do you think a typical day looks like?
  • What can you tell us about the history of the NHS?
  • How is the NHS run today?
  • What are the 6Cs? (Originally used in Nursing, they have since been adopted by the NHS as a whole.)
  • Talk us through your personal statement.
  • What area of care are you interested in working in as a PA?
  • Tell us about some current healthcare issues in the news.
  • What does the term consent mean?
  • What does the term capacity mean?
  • What are some of the most pressing challenges currently facing the NHS?
  • Tell us about COVID-19.
  • What are some of the biggest challenges to global healthcare at the moment?
  • Has technology changed healthcare?
  • What do you think healthcare will look like in 50 years?
  • What body is responsible for regulating physician associates?
  • What do you know about the GMC?

​Work Experience

  • Talk to me about your work experience.
  • Do you think that your work experience has been a fair reflection of what it is like being a PA?
  • Were you impressed by the healthcare professionals that you shadowed?
  • Tell me about something that surprised you during your work experience.
  • Tell me about something that impressed you during your work experience?
  • What challenging situations have you seen during your work experience?
  • Tell me about a charity role that you took on.
  • Tell me about the importance of volunteering.
  • Tell me how you found a wide range of work experience.
  • Why do you think that an experience of caring roles is crucial to working as a PA?

Empathy

  • Define the term empathy.
  • Explain the difference between empathy and sympathy.
  • Tell me about a time when you showed empathy.
  • What mentoring roles have you had?
  • Why is empathy important?
  • How would you deal with an aggressive and verbally abusive patient?

​Teamwork & Communication

  • Tell us about a team that you played for.
  • Do you work well in a team?
  • Why is teamwork so important to working as a PA?
  • What kind of team do physician associates work in?
  • Tell us about your leadership ability.
  • Tell us about a team or group activity that you organised.
  • Tell me about a time that you failed as a team.
  • Tell me about a time that you succeeded as a team.
  • What patients might be the toughest to communicate with?
  • Tell me how you would discuss a challenging topic with a patient.

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Resilience

  • Tell me about a time you overcame adversity.
  • How will you adapt to the pressure of working here?
  • How will you adapt to the pressure of working as a PA?
  • How do you relax?

Ethics

  • Is it right for healthcare workers to strike?
  • What is more important, quality of life or length of life?
  • Should the NHS offer treatment for self-inflicted problems?
  • Is it right for parents to smoke in front of their children?
  • Is the government’s drug policy working?
  • What is your stance on euthanasia?
  • Imagine you discover your supervisor drunk at work. What do you do?
  • Imagine another student encouraged you to cheat. What would you do?
  • What would you do if one of the doctors in your team shirked their responsibilities repeatedly, leaving them to you instead?
  • What would you say to a sexist patient?
  • What would you do if a doctor was repeatedly rude and condescending to you?
  • Should the NHS be privatised or otherwise altered?
  • What would you do if you caught a friend looking at confidential patient’s notes?
  • What would you do if you found two colleagues arguing over the correct treatment plan for a patient in front of them?

The Course

  • What do you think is unique about this course?
  • Why are you interested in studying at this university?
  • What do you think you will bring to our university?
  • Do you think that our course fits your learning style?
  • What do you think of this city?
  • How does your choice of A Level subjects suit our course?
  • How will you deal with the amount of independent studying on the course?
  • What attracts you about the range of placements and hospitals?
  • What differentiated our course from others that you were looking at?
  • How will you handle the stress of having both faraway placements and a heavy workload?

Your Personality

  • Tell me your five greatest strengths.
  • What would you like your impact to be in this field?
  • How would your friends describe you?
  • How do you manage your time?
  • How do you organise yourself?
  • Tell me your greatest ambition.
  • Tell me your five greatest weaknesses.
  • How would you like to be remembered in this field?

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100+ Physician Associate Interview Questions

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