Pharmacy University Interview Questions
Your Pharmacy University Interview
There is a great deal more to the role of the pharmacist than just the maths and chemistry of dispensing medicines. The role is a key link in the healthcare chain and requires a number of skills, including social skills, to ensure that treatments are as effective as possible.
Pharmacy university interview questions are designed to test whether you have the right skills and attitudes needed to make a successful career as a pharmacist, especially in the current climate where budgets are stretched and drug resistance is becoming a major problem.
Subject specific pharmacy university interview questions
Pharmacy is part exact science, with serious consequences for mistakes, and part social interaction, where your advice and guidance can make a big difference. Your university will therefore ask a range of questions to test your understanding of these two sides of the subject.
- What is the role of the pharmacist in the treatment chain?
- What challenges do you think a modern pharmacist faces?
- What experience do you have of pharmacy, and how did this affect your choice?
- Why do you want to be a pharmacist?
- Describe a typical day for a pharmacist
- What have you read about pharmacy or drugs in the news?
- How do you think the role of the pharmacist could be improved?
- Should pharmacists be able to prescribe drugs?
- How can a pharmacist work to improve community health?
Personal pharmacy university interview questions
Pharmacy involves a great deal of working with the public, as well as liaising with other health professionals such as doctors and GPs. You will need to have the inter-personal skills required to communicate well with all of these groups, as well as the distinct set of skills required for precise and consistent work under pressure. To find out more about your personality, you may be asked:
- What skills do you think make a good pharmacist?
- What can you bring to a career as a pharmacist?
- How well can you manage your time when working under pressure?
- How would you deal with a nervous customer who didn’t trust their medication?
- How would you deal with an angry or frustrated customer?
- What would you do if you spotted an obvious mistake on a GPs prescription?
- How would you feel if you missed it?
- How would you advise someone to deal with the common cold?
Ethical pharmacy university interview questions
There are a number of political and ethical issues around the UK’s drug policies, with decisions made by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, as well as central government. You will need to deal with these issues all the time, so it is important that you have the right attitude towards ethical problems.
- Do you think prescription charges are a fair way of paying for drugs?
- Should recovering addicts be given free/subsidised treatment on the NHS?
- What would you do if a parent refused drugs for their child for religious or moral reasons?
- Should patients be discouraged from taking antibiotics to reduce resistance?
- A mistake could be tragic or even fatal. How would you deal with this responsibility?
- Should drug trials be more or less vigorous?
- Is it ethical for companies to charge so much for new drugs?
- If you disagree with a doctor’s choice of treatment, would you question it?
