Soft Skills/ Personal Traits

A loud, complaining patient asks the dental assistant, “Am I being a baby?” The assistant

replies “Oh no. Some people have very sensitive teeth.” This response is an example of:

• competence

• enthusiasm

• patience

• tact

What statement by an athletic trainer would be an empathetic response to an injured athlete

who says “I am killing my team by sitting here!”

• “Don’t worry. They understand why you can’t play.”

• “It must be frustrating to not be able to help your team.”

• "No, you are not.”

• “You need to understand that you would not be much help to them with an injury.”

Barbara is a medical assistant who is always doing little things to keep all areas of the

medical practice neat and clean. What personal trait does her behavior represent?

• patience

• willingness to learn

• enthusiasm

• self-motivation

A nursing home hires a nursing assistant whose previous employer describes as “very

competent.” You would expect the new assistant to be:

• Highly skilled.

• On time to work.

• Helpful to other assistants.

• The first to get her work done.

An interviewer says, “Give us an example of your dependability.” A good response would be:

• “I am never late or absent from school.”

• “I am willing to listen to suggestions to improve my work.”

• “I never talk about my patients outside the hospital.”

Betty is caring for a celebrity who has a drug

addiction problem, but she does not tell her

friends or family about her famous client.

• team player

• discretion

• competence

• acceptance of criticism

Mao is never late for work and never leaves

early. She turns in her schedule request

before the deadline, and has only called in

sick once in the past 6 months.

• honesty

• competence

• dependability

• enthusiasm

Chase is an Athletic Trainer who reads his

professional magazine for new ideas, and

regularly attends educational workshops for

Athletic Trainers.

• self-motivation

• democratic

• tact

• willingness to learn

Kara is training a new medical assistant and

knows that it takes a little longer to do things

when a person is new at something. Kara is

willing to allow the new person to start slowly

and pick up speed as she becomes confident

with the new job.

• patience

• willingness to learn

• empathy

• autocratic

A nurse tells the office receptionist “You need

to smile at the patients and be a little

friendlier.” The receptionist replies, “Oh, OK.

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll try to work on

that.”

• dependability

• team player

• acceptance of criticism

• empathy