Pharmacy School Interview Circuit 2

The following stations represent past pharmacy school interview stations, with model answers written by pharmacy school interviewers and interview specialists.

Pharmacy School Interview: Station 1

Station 1 Excellent Candidate Approach

The following image shows a map of Edinburgh. You are at the Travelodge Learmonth (located in the top left hand corner), and your friend is in Queen’s Hall (bottom right hand corner). Describe to your friend (who has never been to Edinburgh before) how to get to the Travelodge by foot, as clearly as you can.

5 Stage Approach To Communication Stations

Introduction
State the end objective(s)
Identify any relevant materials/terms
Empower the examiner/patient to ask questions (eg. Do you have any questions at the moment? If you have any questions at any time, feel free to interrupt me)
Provide clear, specific instructions

The candidate takes a few seconds to consider a route that is most sensible, they may even mark with a pencil on the map
Steps are short and easy to follow
Instructions aren’t just ‘turn left or right’, but refer to street names (this is important as depending on which way the friend is facing, the meaning of left and right will differ – north and south should be used instead)
Instructions are given slowly, so that mistakes are avoided
Relating this task to Pharmacy; effective communication is essential. It is vital that pharmacists are able to describe disease prognoses and treatment options to patients clearly, in language they can understand. If patients are unable to understand information, their consent may not be valid.

Pharmacy School Interview: Station 2

Station 2 Excellent Candidate Approach

You are about to embark on an eight hour drive with your three young children in order to visit your aunt, who lives in the countryside. Choose 5 of the 10 items to take with you on your journey

Glass Mirror
£1,000 cash
Pens
Paper
Crisps 
Chalk and chalk board
Spare mobile phone
Portable TV
Tennis ball
Plastic Container

‘BlackStone Tutors 5 Step Approach to Prioritisation Tasks’

Review the options available
Identify your 5 preferred items/the ideal order to complete the tasks
Explain why you have chosen these options/this order (making your explanations as specific as possible to the task, eg. Why some tasks are ranked highly)
Explain why you did not choose the other options/why they are ranked lower
Possible further mentions:

If additional item/options were permitted, I would also consider taking….
Alternatively, if the task were based in ………….I would prioritise taking……….

Pharmacy School Interview: Station 3

Station 3 Excellent Candidate Approach

If a patient requires 250ml in 8 hours of an intravenous medication, what is the desired flow rate?

(Provide your answer to 1 decimal place)

250ml over 8hours
‘X’ ml over 1 hour

250/8 = 31.25

‘X’ = 31.25 ml/hour
= 31.3 ml/hour (1 decimal place)

You are asked to assist the nursing staff in giving medication to a patient weighing 70kg. The recommended medication dose is 2.5mg/kg. A syringe is prepared containing 350mg in 2ml. What volume of the solution in the syringe do you need to administer?

2.5mg/kg
70kg = 175mg

175/350 = 0.50

0.50 x 2 = 1.0ml