Scenario Questions
1. You are a pharmacist working in a pharmacy with several other pharmacists and pharm techs. One of the pharmacists, who has worked there for many years, has been coming late often, has appeared disheveled and has been swearing often when she speaks to patients. How would you approach this situation?
2. You have just graduated pharm school and are enjoying the summer. One day you walk into a Starbucks and see that the barista working that day was one of your inpatients in your final year when you had an inpatient pharmacy rotation. The barista, John, also recognizes you and is very grateful for how well you took care of him. When you go to pay for your coffee and meal, you notice that John only charged you for the coffee. What do you do? What if he insists that he does not want to charge you for the meal?
3. Your pharm school friend tells you that patients’ problems are “gold mines”. When you question him further about what he means by that, he says “Come on, we both know that we went into the pharmacy for the money and that we do not care about the people with their disgusting.” Do you report him?
4. Your friend tells you that he wants to take an “Introduction to Spanish” course to boost his GPA even though he is a native Spanish speaker. His last name, Hernandez, also indicates that he comes from a Spanish background. Native speakers are not allowed to take the course. What do you tell your friend?
5. You are working on a group project with 5 other students. One of the students doesn’t show up for meetings or if they do show up – they are late and leave early. They have put no effort into the group project but show up on the day of the presentation and try to take credit for the project. What do you do in this situation?
6. You are standing in line to see the teller in a bank. Suddenly, two individuals in the line start arguing with one another. What are you going to do in this situation?
7. You are on the last day of your community pharmacy placement. You have a busy day ahead of you and it appears your supervisor (who you think is an amazing role model) is intoxicated. What do you do?
8. A patient comes to your pharmacy with a prescription but you notice that the drug may interact with one of his other ones. You decide to call the physician and confirm, and when you reach his office, the physician says in a hurry “What?? Which patient? Oh yeah yeah, dispense it, I can’t talk now!”. The patient is leaving the country later that day. Would you dispense the drug?
9. You are trying to parallel park your car on a quiet street late at night when you hit the car right in front of you. There are no cameras on the street, there is no noticeable damage to the other car or yours, and there are no witnesses around. What are you going to do?
10. You are shadowing a hospital inpatient pharmacist with one of your classmates. They are very excited about their first shadowing experience and decide to take a picture of themselves to create an Instagram post about it. The patient’s feet show up in the picture, but there is no identifying information besides that. Are you going to report your classmate?
11. You are working alone in a convenience store as a cashier late at night. An older man comes in and buys a coffee. He is staggering, seems disoriented, and you smell alcohol on his breath. On the way out, he bumps into a shelf and knocks some cereal boxes off. He tries to put the boxes back but cannot manage this task. What actions might you take in this situation? Provide reasons for your responses.
12. You have dispensed a patient a certain medication, and the patient says that they cannot pay for the treatment because they lost their job recently. What would you do?
13. Your little cousin needs to complete 40 hours of volunteering for his school. He thinks volunteering is useless and serves no purpose since you don’t get paid for it. He wants to study business at university. What are you going to tell him in order to convince him of the benefits of volunteering?
14. You are going on a fishing trip with a group of friends. You also invite your neighbor, who is an international student. When you go pick her up, she is dressed in high heels and clothing not suitable for fishing. How would you approach the situation?
15. You are the only inpatient pharmacist working in a busy ICU. While walking over to the patient, your brother calls you that your mother had a heart attack and was hospitalized in another hospital. What are you going to do?
16. A pharmacy student cried in front of a patient after the patient told him a sad life story while his medication was dispensed. Do you think this is unprofessional?
17. You are part of an elite 2-person team fighting a forest fire. You have with you topographical maps, GPS, two climbing ropes, two shovels, two chainsaws, a first aid kit, and a radio. The other member of the team has a sprained ankle. You receive communication that the fire has changed direction, and your location is filled with thick smoke. You now need to meet a helicopter at a safe spot about 30 minutes away in one hour. What do you do?
18. Your pharmacist-supervisor decided to take you and a few other students to lunch. The supervisor suddenly starts making fun of his pharm tech’s weight and tattoos. What are you going to do at that moment?
19. A patient is very grateful for how attentive you have been to them over the years. They said they want to add you on Facebook. How would you respond?
20. You are sitting in a Starbucks, and you see your friend’s boyfriend holding hands with another woman. You are suspicious, and then you see them passionately kissing outside the Starbucks. What are you going to do?
21. Your undergraduate GPA has really suffered in the past year due to various personal issues. Your friend tells you that a person in your calculus course is selling copies of the exam he somehow acquired. You need to raise your GPA to get into dental school. Would you buy a copy of the exam?
22. The town of Smith Hill has suffered a lot of crimes in the past 10 years, and some city councillors want to forbid anyone with any criminal record from living in the town. You are the mayor of the town. How are you going to handle this?
23. Imagine you are one of several pharmacists working in a pharmacy, and you find that one of the other
pharmacists in the clinic has been having an affair with a pharm tech. What are you going to do?
24. You are in the process of dispensing medication to a patient when the patient starts making inappropriate comments about your looks and starts obviously flirting with you. What do you do?
25. Your entire pharm school class is applying to community placements this year, and you and a classmate both want to end up in the same pharmacy with a great reputation. You learned from a friend that the other classmate has been speaking privately with the supervisor from that pharmacy and said that you are not a hardworking student. What are you going to do?
26. You are Spiderman, and you are on your way to stop a bunch of bank robbers from robbing a bank. Your Aunt May calls you and tells you that she is having chest pain and is on the way to the hospital. What do you do?
27. Your friend in pharmacy school is suffering from depressive symptoms, but they are not keen about talking about it. What are you going to do next?
28. You are a border control officer, and a woman with her two children tried jumping over the fence to enter your country. Are you going to stop them?
29. You are a pharmacy student working in a community pharmacy for one of your rotations. Your supervisor has been insulting you numerous times, has refused to teach you, and sent you home early numerous times. What are you going to do?
30. You own a pharmacy in an area with several other pharmacies. Several patients came in the past few weeks and said that another pharmacist from across the street has been spreading false rumors about your pharmacy. What are you going to do?
31. You are in an amusement park with your little 7-year-old nephew. You are standing in line to ride one of the most popular roller coasters in the park. A child behind you starts calling your nephew insulting names, and the child’s parent does not seem to care about it. What are you going to do?
32. You and your friend are both in a biological research course. Both of you have a lab report due tomorrow and are sitting in a cafe editing one another’s work. While reading your friend’s lab report, you notice that he plagiarized a lot of information from online sources. What are you going to say to your friend, and what are you going to do?
33. A patient came into your pharmacy for a renewal of her prescription when you realized that you have dispensed twice the normal dose that she was prescribed the last time. She says that she hasn’t experienced any side-effects since the last time. Would you tell that you were dispensing a doubled dose and reduce it or continue dispensing the same dose since there were no side-effects?
34. You are organizing your convocation for your pharmacy school class, where each student has 3 tickets for family or friends. The day before, the master of ceremonies calls and tells you he is very sick and cannot make it. In addition, you learn that the original venue cannot be used as there has been a fire and there is smoke damage. Another venue has been arranged but can only accommodate half of the number of guests. The ceremony is tomorrow – what do you do?
35. You are a female pharmacy student in a community placement, and a male patient refuses to see you because they “do not trust a woman to give me good advice”. What are you going to do?
36. You have been taking care of your friend’s cat, Muffin, for a week while your friend is on vacation. The day before your friend returns from a vacation, Muffin is nowhere to be seen. What are you going to do to find Muffin?
37. A patient comes to your pharmacy and tells you some of the medical advice he heard from another pharmacist in the area. That advice is very incorrect and potentially dangerous. Are you going to report the other colleague?
38. You are touring a concentration camp in Europe and you notice a couple of teenagers taking inappropriate pictures. Are you going to comment on their behavior?
39. You are backpacking across Europe, and you just walked through a crowded street in Prague when you noticed that your wallet and your passport are missing from your pocket. How are you going to act in this situation?
Behavioral Questions
1. Tell us about a time when you cheated/lied/broke the law.
2. Tell us about a time when you had to make a hard decision.
3. Tell us about a time when you knew being a pharmacist is the career path for you.
4. Tell us about a time when you helped someone in need.
5. Tell us about a time when you did something you were not proud of.
6. Tell us about a time when you had to be a leader.
7. Tell us about a time when you learned something new.
8. Tell us about a time when you yourself were treated unfairly and what did you do about it.
9. Tell us about a time when you were a follower and not a leader.
10. Tell us about a time when you felt ashamed.
11. Tell us about a time when you helped a stranger in need.
12. Tell us about a time when you were scared.
13. Tell us about a time when you doubted whether you were doing the right thing.
14. Tell us about a time when you questioned if your academic path was the correct one.
15. Tell us about a time when you had to change your habits in order to improve yourself.
16. Tell us about a time when you sought out help from a person of authority.
17. Tell us about a time when you found that you had “too much on your plate.”
18. Tell us about a time when you had to say “no.”
19. Tell us about a time when you were tempted to yell at someone.
20. Tell us about a time when you made someone cry.
21. Tell us about a time when you felt extremely euphoric.
22. Tell us about a time when you had to deliver bad news.
23. Tell us about a time when you were wrong about something very important.
24. Tell us about a time when you stood up for someone else.
25. Tell us about a time when you disappointed your parents/grandparents.
26. Tell us about a time when you were close to quitting but never did.
Current Issues
1. Should future pharmacists be taught diagnostic skills?
2. What do you think about pharmacists performing tasks such as administering flu shots? Should pharmacists be allowed to perform injections for other vaccinations?
3. Some pharmacy schools accept students straight out of high school. Are you for or against that?
4. Should there be a mandatory retirement age for pharmacists?
5. Should all drugs be covered under provincial/government health insurance?
6. What is your opinion of for-profit pharmacy schools?
7. Should pharmacies sell needles for harm-reduction in drug users?
8. How do you think robotics is going to play a role in the field of pharmacy? Are robots going to replace pharmacists?
9. Is the salary of pharmacists too high?
10. Should pharmacists be allowed to dispense drugs for themselves and their family members?
11. What’s the best way to promote mental health among pharmacy students and decrease suicide rates?
12. What is your opinion about online platforms like Facebook or YouTube blocking content that is deemed discriminatory?
13. Should there be an age of consent for decision-making in healthcare?
14. What is your opinion about affirmative action and making sure there are reserved spots for certain population groups in the pharm school class?
15. Some say pharmacists are better described as businessmen rather than healthcare professionals – what do you think about that?
16. What do you think of asking pharmacy school applicants their parents’ salary when they apply?
17. How can social media be used effectively in pharmacy and pharmacy education?
18. Should parents be fined if they do not vaccinate their children?
19. Should vaccination be mandatory and not vaccinating one’s kids punishable by law?
20. What is your opinion of some pharmacies selling homeopathic medicine?
21. If a person suffers from lifelong depression that is refractory to any form of treatment, should they be eligible for euthanasia?
22. What is your opinion on capital punishment?
23. How can we help solve the current obesity crisis facing the western world?
24. A lot of people in Canada still smoke despite the known health risks and the anti-smoking campaigns. Why do you think that is? How can we eliminate smoking once and for all?
Personal Interview Questions
1. We have received your reference letters. What do you think those letters said about you?
2. You just won a lottery ticket for 100 million dollars! Congratulations! What are you going to do with all that money?
3. If you love helping people so much as well as science, why do you not want to be a physician?
4. Pharmacy school is a very difficult journey. How do you know that you will like it and that you will succeed?
5. What’s the biggest problem in the world? How can a pharmacy student fix this problem?
6. Who is your favorite person? Your mentor?
7. If you could have dinner with three people, alive or dead, who would they be?
8. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 30 years?
9. What is your mantra? What quote do you live by?
10. If you could choose one actor/actress to play you in a movie, who would you choose?
11. If somebody wrote an autobiography about your life, what would be the title?
12. There are thousands of applicants applying to this school, why should we choose you and not them?
13. What do you do for fun?
14. If you can be any object found in the kitchen, what would you be?
15. If you can be any dessert, which dessert would you be?
16. There are many countries in the world where we all want to travel, but name one country you will never travel to?
17. What is one controversial topic you read about in the news recently? What is one funny topic you read about in the news recently?
18. Tell us a joke!
19. What is the funniest moment in your life?
20. What is your biggest regret in life?
21. Do you prefer learning in large groups or small groups?
22. How do you learn?
23. Let’s say you are lost during a lecture and have absolutely no idea what is going on, what would you do?
24. What is your biggest failure?
25. What does commitment mean to you?
26. If you had one magical ability, what would that ability be?
27. Tell me about the type of person you would not want to work with in a group. Give an example of a time when you had to work with a difficult person?
Non-Traditional Questions
1. Imagine being in school again. What is the best way to stand up to bullies?
2. The great philosopher Socrates once said, “I know one thing and that is that I know nothing.” What do you think he meant by that?
3. You are being sent to Mars to establish a colony. What are the qualities you will look for when you choose the leader of the colony?
4. There are two applicants competing for one spot in a pharmacy school. Applicant A has lots of experience working in pharmacies, has lots of pharmacists in their family, and wanted to become a pharmacist all their life. Applicant B has no experience in pharmacy but is very empathetic and pleasant to work with. Applicant B just recently decided they wanted to become a pharmacist. Who would you choose to fill the spot?
5. You have a large section of land in the middle of a city with an enormous population. You can either build a hospital or a large library. Which would you build?
6. An individual has been rejected from dental school 6 times. Do you think that individual should really start considering another career, or should they keep on re-applying?
7. You are the CEO of a hospital, and due to budgetary constraints, you must cut services in your hospital. How would you determine how to cut these services, and what services would you cut?
8. You had the chance to travel back in time for a UN mission to do one single act to change the future forever. What single act are you going to do?
9. You are on a plane when it crashes in Northern Ontario. You are the only survivor. Once you get over that, you decide to head for the nearest town, over 1000km away. What three things do you take with you?
10. You are a museum volunteer, and you often lead groups of children through various exhibitions to show them interesting artifacts. What are you going to do to make sure the children are interested in the articles you show them?
11. You have been abducted and wake up in a dark room and tied to a chair. What are you going to do at the moment?
12. Black or grey cannot be used as colors for roads anymore, and your city council asks you for the advice of what color to use for new roads. Which color do you think should be used?
13. There are budget cuts in schools, and one subject must be taken out- which one?
14. At what point is somebody considered an expert? Are you ever going to be an expert in your field?
15. Imagine living under a dictatorship like North Korea. Would you try to escape, would you try to live your life, or would you try to start a revolution?
16. How many balloons can you fit in this room?
17. How many toilets are there in this city? How many pianos?
18. Why are manholes round?
19. Your 7-year-old cousin asks, “where do babies come from?” What do you say?
20. Imagine hearing that a nuclear plant near you is going to explode in 2 hours. What are you going to do?