Scenario Questions
1. A couple brought in a small brown chihuahua to your clinic for weekend boarding while another couple brought in another older and ill brown chihuahua for euthanasia. Your staff euthanized the wrong animal and the couple with the healthy chihuahua is about to arrive in 10 minutes. What will you do?
2. 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?
3. You are a veterinarian working in a small community. You are examining a small puppy and notice that there is evidence that physical abuse might have taken place. The owner of the puppy is outside of the room talking to your secretary. You have known the owner for over 15 years and always known her to be a very pleasant woman. What are you going to do?
4. You are a veterinarian who has been working with horses for 30 years (you haven’t treated any other animals during that time). One day, your neighbor knocks on your door and tells you that their dog got injured and is bleeding heavily. Will you treat the dog even though you haven’t treated dogs for 30 years?
5. 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?
6. A client pulls up with a hit-by-car dog that will die without immediate medical attention. They only have $50. The short-term costs for caring for the animal will be much more than that, not to mention the long-term costs. What do you do?
7. 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?
8. You are a receptionist at the only veterinary clinic in a rural community. The clinic is supposed to close at 4, but it reaches full capacity at 2 and the vet asks you to not register any more patients. At 3:58, a couple walks in and says that their cat is throwing up and needs to be seen right away. What do you do?
9. You are a vet student, and you have been working at a certain clinic for several weeks now. Your preceptor is very knowledgeable, and you look up to her as a mentor. However, one morning you find that your preceptor appears intoxicated. What do you do?
10. You are a veterinary student and are currently working in a veterinary clinic for your externship. The vet tells you to administer a certain drug to a German Shepherd. You accidentally administer the wrong drug, but the drug you administer does not really change the German Shepherd’s condition. What are you going to do next?
11. A veterinary student broke out in tears after a client asked to euthanize their cat. Do you think this is unprofessional?
12. 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 in university. What are you going to tell him in order to convince him of the benefits of volunteering?
13. 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?
14. You are a practicing veterinarian, and you are about to perform surgery on a sick cat. While walking over to the patient, your brother calls you that your mother had a heart attack and was hospitalized in a hospital. What are you going to do?
15. 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?
16. 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?
17. A client comes to you after having surgery performed by another vet. You notice that the surgery was sloppy to the point of being dangerous, and the animal is sick as a result of the surgery. What do you do?
18. A client is very grateful for the way you treated their dog’s tumor. They said they want to add you on Facebook. How would you respond?
19. 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?
20. You believe your best friend in vet school is suffering from depression, but they do not want to share information about their feelings or their current state, no matter how many times you tried. What are you going to do next?
21. You are organizing your convocation for your vet 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?
22. 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 vet school. Would you buy a copy of the exam?
23. 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?
24. 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?
25. Imagine you are one of several veterinarians working in a clinic, and you find that one of the other veterinarians in the clinic has been having an affair with the
secretary. What are you going to do?
26. A client just had their dog treated in the clinic. When you give them the bill, they say, “I cannot pay for this; my son is currently undergoing chemotherapy for his cancer, and I cannot work.” What do you do?
27. 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?
28. 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.
29. 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?
30. 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?
31. An older couple is moving to an extended care facility and could not take their 10-year-old, healthy, small dog with them. They have been a veterinarian’s client for over 7 years. They trust him to euthanize the dog. What should the vet do?
32. You are a vet student doing an externship. 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?
33. A vet’s best friend is experiencing grave financial problems. They cannot afford veterinary care for their dog. They ask the vet if they can help remove a tumor from their dog’s abdomen, or else the dog would die. Should the vet remove the tumor?
34. You are a vet student working with a surgeon. A client’s animal dies in the cage after surgery, and the surgeon tells you to call the client and tell them it died during the actual surgery and not afterwards. What are you going to do?
35. You have been taking care of your friend’s cat, Muffin, for a week while your friend is on a 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?
36. 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?
37. 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?
38. You are about to write your veterinary board exam in 10 minutes and notice one of the other people in the waiting room hyperventilating and crying. The exam invigilator just announced that you can enter the exam room and take your seats. Are you going to approach the individual even though you don’t have time?
39. You are the only survivor in a devastating plane crash. You are currently floating with a life jacket in the middle of the ocean while the rest of the plane has drowned, and there is no land anywhere to be seen. How are you going to survive?
40. You are a soldier on a UN peacekeeping mission in Africa. You realize that one of your co-soldiers has been selling weapons to a local terror group. You know that your colleague has been going through tough financial times. Are you going to report your colleague?
41. A vet is approached by a drug rep during one of your busy clinic hours. They bought pizza for your entire office. Should the vet accept the pizza?
42. A Canadian police officer is vacationing in Miami Beach with his family. On the beach, he notices an altercation between two individuals. What should the police officer do once he notices the altercation?
43. There is an overpopulation of raccoons in a local neighborhood. The raccoons are destroying property, and there has been an increase in people coming into the ER complaining of having been bitten by raccoons. As a vet, you have been placed on a task force to create a solution to the raccoon problem. What are your first steps to solve this problem?
44. You are organizing a group trip with the university Chess club. You are one of the more senior club execs and are in charge of the group. One night, one of the junior players decided to sneak alcohol into the hotel room. You caught him. Are you going to kick him off the rest of the trip?
45. A 5-year-old child of a lower-class family has befriended another 5-year-old child from a very wealthy family. The wealthy child often comes over to the house of the poorer child and brags about all his new fancy toys. The poorer child, saddened over the fact that he does not have those toys, often cries to his parents. Should the parents of the poor child forbid him from being friends with the wealthier child?
46. You are walking along a pleasant park in the summer and see a stranger throwing garbage on the grass. Do you approach the stranger and ask him to pick it up?
47. Imagine hiking around in the forest in South America and realizing you are lost and have no technology, maps, or other people around to assist you. What are you going to do?
48. A friend of yours is going to volunteer abroad in a Caribbean veterinary clinic. He confesses that he is doing this “purely for the vet school resume.” What are you going to say to your friend?
49. You are a vet working on a meat farm, and you find out that the owner is using illegal hormones to increase the muscle mass of the different animals on the farm. The increased muscle mass does not really affect the health of the animals, but the hormones do stay in the meat after the animals are butchered. What are you, as the farm’s main vet, going to do in this situation?
50. Your elderly grandmother calls you an hour two days before your vet school interview. She says that she is feeling very lonely and would really like to use the nice weather in the next few days to go to the park with you. What are you going to do?
51. You recently discovered that a friend you met in University comes from a well-known mafia family. Would you continue the friendship?
52. You are a vet student doing your rotation in a veterinary clinic. When talking to a client, the patient says, “Your preceptor is such a cocky individual, don’t you think? He always thinks he knows everything.” How are you going to respond?
53. You are a veterinarian, and you gave a dog the wrong medication during an operation. There were no harmful consequences except a rash on the patient. The family that owns the dog has the reputation of “suing everybody.” What are you going to do?
54. Bob, a long-term client of yours, is a breeder of purebred husky dogs. He brings three husky puppies that he will not be able to sell because they deviate somewhat from the breed requirements, but they are healthy. He asks you to euthanize them. What would you do?
55. You are a vet student, and one day you walk into a Starbucks and see that the barista working is the owner of a cat that you helped treat in an emergency vet clinic you worked at. The barista, John, also recognizes you and is very grateful for how well you took care of his cat. 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?
Current Issues Questions
1. Should animal experience be mandatory for veterinary school admission?
2. What do you think about zoos? Are they ethical?
3. What role can veterinarians play in animal shelters?
4. Should there be professional obligations for veterinarians to offer free services to clients from poor socioeconomic backgrounds?
5. How do you think robotics is going to play a role in medicine? Would robots replace veterinarians in the future?
6. What is your opinion about circus animals? Would you ever be a veterinarian for circus animals?
7. What is your opinion about some vets performing convenience euthanasias?
8. How do you feel about using animals for research and live surgery teaching purposes?
9. With the busy schedule of a veterinarian, it is not always possible to provide a great deal of grief counseling or follow-up help for clients who have lost a pet. Please comment.
10. What is your opinion of for-profit veterinary schools?
11. Vets have a reputation for charging too excessively for their services. Why do you think that is?
12. Should veterinarians be allowed to date their clients?
13. What’s the best way to promote mental health among vet students and decrease suicide rates?
14. Should there be a mandatory retirement age for veterinarians?
15. What is your opinion about veterinarians working in the meat industry and caring for animals that would be butchered for food?
16. Some veterinary students refuse to attend anatomy labs because they do not like the fact that animals are “being killed for our training.” What do you think about that? Should they be kicked out?
17. What is your opinion about affirmative action and making sure there are reserved spots for certain population groups in the veterinary school class?
18. Are vegan veterinary students more empathetic towards animals than non-vegan ones?
19. What is your opinion about the current species extinction crisis? Can we do anything to prevent it?
20. How can social media be used effectively in veterinary medicine and veterinary education?
21. How can we prevent animals from being abused?
22. Should some of the care for wild animals be covered by government funds or solely through donations?
23. Genetic engineering is becoming more and more popular and sophisticated. What do you think about using genetic engineering to prevent species extinction?
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 helped an animal in need.
4. Tell us about a time when you realized that veterinary medicine is the path for you.
5. Tell us about a time when you helped someone in need.
6. Tell us about a time when you did something you were not proud of.
7. Tell us about a time when you had to be a leader.
8. Tell us about a time when you learned something new.
9. Tell us about a time when you yourself were treated unfairly and what did you do about it.
10. Tell us about a time when you were a follower and not a leader.
11. Tell us about a time when you felt ashamed.
12. Tell us about a time when you helped a stranger in need.
13. Tell us about a time when you were scared.
14. Tell us about a time when you doubted whether you were doing the right thing.
15. Tell us about a time when you questioned if your academic path was the correct one.
16. Tell us about a time when you had to change your habits in order to improve yourself.
17. Tell us about a time when you sought out help from a person of authority.
18. Tell us about a time when you found that you had “too much on your plate.”
19. Tell us about a time when you had to say “no.”
20. Tell us about a time when you were tempted to yell at someone.
21. Tell us about a time when you made someone cry.
22. Tell us about a time when you felt extremely euphoric.
23. Tell us about a time when you had to deliver bad news.
24. Tell us about a time when you were wrong about something very important.
25. Tell us about a time when you stood up for someone else.
26. Tell us about a time when you disappointed your parents/grandparents.
27. Tell us about a time when you were close to quitting but never did.
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. Veterinary school is a very difficult journey. How do you know that you will like it and that you will succeed?
4. Tell us some of the disadvantages of being a veterinarian.
5. If you love animals so much, why commit to so many years of schooling and not be a vet tech?
6. What’s the biggest problem in the world?
7. Prove to us that you love animals.
8. Who is your favorite person? Your mentor?
9. If you could have dinner with three people, alive or dead, who would they be?
10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 30 years?
11. What is your mantra? What quote do you live by?
12. If you could choose one actor/actress to play you in a movie, who would you choose?
13. If somebody wrote an autobiography about your life, what would be the title?
14. There are thousands of applicants applying to this school, why should we choose you and not them?
15. What do you do for fun?
16. How would you feel about euthanizing animals?
17. If you can be any object found in the kitchen, what would you be?
18. If you can be any dessert, which dessert would you be?
19. There are many countries in the world where we all want to travel, but name one country you will never travel to?
20. What is one controversial topic you read about in the news recently? What is one funny topic you read about in the news recently?
21. Tell us a joke.
22. What is the funniest moment in your life?
23. What is your biggest regret in life?
24. What kind of veterinary practice do you imagine having?
25. Do you prefer learning in large groups or small groups?
26. How do you learn?
27. Let’s say you are lost during a lecture and have absolutely no idea what is going on, what would you do?
28. What is your biggest failure?
29. What does commitment mean to you?
30. If you had one magical ability, what would that ability be?
31. 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.
32. Tell us about the research you did in undergrad.
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 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
4. There are two applicants competing for one spot in a veterinary school. Applicant A has lots of experience working in vet clinics as well as lots of vets in their family and wanted to become a vet all their life. Applicant B has no experience in veterinary medicine but is very empathetic towards animals and pleasant to work with. Applicant B just recently decided they wanted to become a vet. Who would you choose to fill the spot?
5. An individual has been rejected from veterinary school 6 times. Do you think that individual should really start considering another career or should they keep on re-applying?
6. 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?
7. 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?
8. 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?
9. 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?
10. 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?
11. Black or grey cannot be used as colors for roads anymore, and your city council asks you for advice on what color to use for new roads. Which color do you think should be used?
12. There are budget cuts in schools, and one subject must be taken out – which one?
13. At what point is somebody considered an expert? Are you ever going to be an expert in your field?
14. 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?
15. How many balloons can you fit in this room?
16. How many toilets are there in this city? How many pianos?
17. Why are manholes round?
18. Your 7-year-old cousin asks, “Where do babies come from?” What do you say?
19. Imagine hearing that a nuclear plant near you is going to explode in 2 hours. What are you going to do?