Professional Practice, Ethics, and Patient Education
Scope and professional standards
Know the boundaries of practice: practicing within scope, appropriate referral, informed consent, confidentiality, and documentation. Understand the role of the APTA Code of Ethics and core values (accountability, altruism, compassion, excellence, integrity, professional duty, social responsibility). Questions test whether you would act within scope and refer when needed.
Ethical reasoning
Be able to apply principles: autonomy (patient choice), beneficence (do good), nonmaleficence (avoid harm), justice (fair access), and veracity (honesty). Recognize conflicts such as patient requests for unproven treatment, dual relationships, and conflicts of interest.
Patient education and communication
Effective education uses teach-back, plain language, and shared decision-making. Understand health literacy and motivational interviewing basics (open questions, affirmations, reflective listening, summarizing). Adherence improves with clear goals, realistic plans, and patient-centered framing.
Documentation and legal issues
Accurate, timely, objective documentation supports continuity and legal defensibility. Know the difference between negligence and malpractice and the importance of informed consent before interventions.
Traps
Questions may present an option that is clinically appealing but outside scope. Favor the ethical, in-scope, patient-centered choice, and refer when uncertain.
Rule of thumb
When an item pits convenience against ethics, choose the option that respects autonomy, scope, and honesty, and documents the reasoning.