Before they choose who to interview, Utah’s program makes all applicants take the CASPer online test and the Snapshot from CASPer, which is an online tool for recorded interviews. The school looks specifically for candidates who possess three or more of the following:
You should have completed a bachelor’s degree in the US or Canada. Foreign degrees can be accepted, assuming that they are evaluated and are deemed to have US equivalency.
Only applicants who have a GPA above 3. 0 are considered competitive. You should look to offer at least 1500 hours of healthcare experience.
The University of Utah Health hospital system is known for its advanced medical care, research, and teaching programs With multiple hospitals, specialty clinics, and primary care centers, it is one of the premier health systems in the region
Landing a job with University of Utah Health can be highly competitive given the system’s strong reputation. The interview process aims to thoroughly assess your clinical expertise patient focus teamwork abilities, and alignment with their mission of delivering exceptional care.
To help you prepare for an interview at any of the University of Utah Hospitals & Clinics facilities, here are some of the most commonly asked questions and tips to craft winning responses:
Patient Care & Bedside Manner
Delivering compassionate, patient-centered care is a top priority for University of Utah Health. Expect interview questions that evaluate your bedside manner philosophy and approach.
Q: How do you show empathy and compassion when interacting with patients and their families?
This broad question allows you to convey your patient-first mindset. Share examples of how you display empathy through active listening validating emotions explaining treatment plans with compassion, and ensuring patients feel heard and understood. Highlight going the extra mile to comfort anxious patients.
Q: What strategies do you employ to develop rapport and trust with patients from diverse backgrounds?
Here the focus is on cultural awareness and tailoring interactions to be inclusive. Discuss things like using open-ended questions to learn the patient’s values and needs, avoiding assumptions, and adjusting communication styles accordingly. Share a time you successfully connected with a patient from a different background than yours.
Q: Tell me about a time you educated a patient or family member about a complex diagnosis or treatment plan. How did you ensure they understood?
This assesses how you simplify complex medical information for the layperson. Share your approach to using layman terms, visual aids, teach-back method, and verifying their comprehension. Emphasize ensuring patients feel empowered to make informed decisions.
Q: How do you balance answering patient questions thoroughly while also managing your time effectively?
Demonstrate your ability to multitask and employ strategies like grouping care activities, educating on the go, setting expectations on time constraints, and follow-up communication to fully address all patient inquiries without falling behind on responsibilities.
Q: What steps do you take to safeguard patient privacy and maintain confidentiality?
Highlight your meticulousness regarding privacy best practices like verifying identity before sharing information, being discreet when discussing patient cases, securing records, and only accessing essential patient details for your role. Underscore the importance of building trust through confidentiality.
Clinical Expertise
Your clinical skills and diagnostic judgement will be thoroughly assessed during the interview through situational questions. Be prepared to talk through your approach.
Q: Walk me through your process when developing a treatment plan for a patient presenting with complex comorbidities. How do you prioritize interventions?
Demonstrate your systematic clinical reasoning, like synthesizing assessment findings, diagnostic testing, and patient history to uncover primary vs secondary issues. Explain prioritizing interventions that stabilize acute issues first, followed by a holistic plan to manage comorbidities.
Q: What protocols do you follow if a pediatric patient under your care begins to suddenly deteriorate? How do you escalate the situation quickly?
Showcase your clinical judgement and vigilance by discussing order of interventions like thorough reassessment, notifying code team, administering oxygen/fluids, checking recent labs, and communicating key details for rapid response mobilization.
Q: A patient insists on a treatment approach that you do not clinically recommend. How would you handle this situation?
Highlight your patients counseling skills by explaining how you would listen to their concerns, educate them on your clinical rationale, involve other providers for second opinions if needed, and ultimately respect the patient’s preferences while ensuring informed consent.
**Q: How do you stay updated on the latest evidence-based protocols, clinical research, and new technologies in your specialty? **
This demonstrates your commitment to continuous learning. Discuss reading medical journals, attending conferences, taking CME courses relevant to your specialty, participating in professional organizations, and proactively seeking mentorship opportunities with leaders in your field.
Q: What quality improvement initiatives have you participated in or led at your hospital? What results did you see?
Share examples like creating discharge checklists to reduce readmissions, implementing evidence based fall prevention protocols, spearheading better hand hygiene practices, or automating workflow processes – emphasizing their impact on improving patient outcomes.
Teamwork & Work Ethic
The University of Utah Health system prides itself on collaborative teams focused on delivering exceptional care. You’ll need to demonstrate strong teamwork skills.
Q: Tell me about a time you faced a conflict with a colleague. How did you resolve it?
Discuss proactively addressing issues, listening without judgement, finding common ground, compromising when needed, and ultimately arriving at a resolution focused on the patient’s best interests. Emphasize maintaining professionalism.
**Q: How do you respond when a team member gives you constructive criticism or feedback on your work? **
Show that you are open to feedback by discussing how you listen actively, ask clarifying questions, express appreciation for their input, remain reflective rather than defensive, and implement suggestions to strengthen your practice and help the team excel.
Q: Describe a time when you stepped up as a leader within a healthcare team during a stressful situation. What actions did you take?
By sharing an example, demonstrate your initiative, focus under pressure, and ability to mobilize and motivate team members towards a common goal. Discuss how you coordinated efforts, allocated resources, supported struggling members, and maintained morale.
Q: Tell me about a time you made a medical error. How did you handle it?
Your response reveals your integrity and accountability. Discuss being forthcoming about the mistake, documenting appropriately, implementing processes to prevent future occurrences, and sharing the lesson learned constructively during morbidity and mortality conferences.
Q: Why do you want to work for University of Utah Health specifically? How does this role align with your career goals?
Express your enthusiasm for their reputation, values, expertise, and commitment to evidence based care. Show how the role builds your competencies and passion for excellence in your specific field, allowing you to grow professionally and make meaningful contributions.
Q: When tackling a large workload, how do you prioritize and stay energized?
This demonstrates your time management skills and resilience. Share how you create to-do lists, tackle most urgent tasks first, take breaks to recharge, request support when overloaded, and remind yourself of the positive impact of your work to maintain motivation.
Situational Judgment
Hypothetical scenarios and “what would you do” questions evaluating your judgement, safety awareness, and ethics are common in University of Utah Health interviews.
Q: A family member of a patient insists on entering the operating room during surgery. How would you handle this situation?
Highlight your ability to employ empathy, de-escalate tactfully yet firmly, and enforce appropriate policies – explaining that allowing them into the restricted surgical area would compromise the sterilized environment and patient safety during the delicate procedure. Offer to update them personally post-op.
Q: You witness a respected colleague speaking harshly to a patient. What would you do?
Demonstrate your ethics by explaining how you would privately address the situation with them directly to understand their perspective, express your concerns constructively, remind them of conduct policies, and notify your supervisor if the behavior persists and impacts patient care.
Q: If you noticed orders for your patient charted incorrectly by another provider, how would you respond?
Showcase safety awareness by stating that you would firstly verify your assessment, notify the ordering provider to have them immediately correct the orders, and if an urgent error, intervene to ensure the patient receives appropriate care until rectified.
Q: If faced with an unfamiliar procedure or medical emergency, how would you respond?
Convey being proactive by explaining you would admit unfamiliarity, consult protocols and resources, call for help from those with expertise (rather than attempt solo), ask for guidance, and ensure you understand fully before proceeding, prioritizing patient safety.
Q: A procedure is ordered that you feel unethical about performing based on personal views. What steps would you take?
Demonstrate integrity and good judgement by stating you would share your concerns constructively with the care team, verify medical necessity, ask to swap responsibilities if possible, and if not, ultimately follow through professionally despite personal views, making the patient’s needs paramount.
Preparing responses for the most frequently asked questions will help you craft a consistent narrative highlighting your patient advocacy abilities, clinical acumen, collaboration skills, work ethic, integrity and ethics. With some thoughtful practice, you’ll be equipped to have a confident and compelling interview for your desired role within the esteemed University of Utah Health system. Best of luck!
Interview Format for Physician Assistant Studies at The Health University of Utah
Interviews consist of an ‘interview session. The interviews will last for two days and include a group session, a test of medical terms, a test of anatomy, and a test of physiology. Offers are extended based on those who receive the highest interview scores. If you are invited to an interview, you must apply to and be accepted by the University of Utah Graduate School.
The last day on which you may submit your CASPA application is August 1st. Interview status notifications will be sent in Mid-October. Interview dates are typically in the middle weeks of November, with acceptance statuses provided in late November.
HEALTHCARE Interview Questions and TOP-SCORING ANSWERS!
FAQ
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