Pre-reg interview

[Asterix]

Got an interview in 4 days, what type of questions am I likely to be asked/any general tips?

[Starcandle]

Be prepared to discuss why you want a hospital pre-reg and why that particular hospital / region.
Make sure you know about the hospital(s) you are being interviewed for - teaching hospital? any specialties? etc.

What will be the roles of the GPhC and the RPSGB?
What is the role of NICE?
What interesting pharmaceutical articles have you read lately?

Possibly some clinical questions or a drug chart to review.
What skills can you bring to the pharmacy team?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Expect questions on anything you have put on your application form - placements, hobbies, etc, so remember what you said!

Good luck!

[Nik]

Yep I had a few of those questions mentioned above at my interview. Also be prepared for "scenario" type q's where the interviewers ask you what you would do and why in a particular situation. Common one is prioritising, eg between dispensary phone call, queries at the hatch from patient/nurse/consultant + patient for whom you are currently doing a prescription. I also remember being asked one about how I would deal with an angry nurse at the pharmacy hatch waiting for patients meds as he was ready to be discharged. You can't really revise for this kind of thing - however as long as you use a bit of common sense you'll be fine.

[Asterix]

thanks so much for the input guys, what kind of drug chart questions should I anticipate?

[Starcandle]

There wouldn't be time for anything too complicated, so maybe an asthmatic patient started on a beta blocker, or a patient with a penicillin allergy prescribed Augmentin. Or for example paracetamol and co-codamol on the same chart.

[Ama2007]

I just had my pre-reg interview. The questions were simple! all scenario questions...no clinical questions( I spent all my time revising for these questions) I hope I done well. There was one question that struggled with...what would you do first:

remove something blocking the way affecting safety of staff
replacing medication for a patient
answering a doctors phone call about medication
checking the CD register because the balance was incorrect the other day
you forgot to record the temp of the fridge


which one would you do first?

I am waiting to hear from them by 17th Sep!!!!

[Nik]

Depends on what importance you attach to patient/public safety. Is the dr urgently waiting for an answer ? Can you get another member of staff to check fridge temp ? How urgent does the patient's meds need replacing - can you deal with the blocking object immediately or do you need other people to help. Can you get other members of staff to help you with this asap so you can get back to your patient ?

Asterix - Hospitals can vary with the type of clinical questions asked - some might not ask at all, others (most) will ask some basic things, a minority may ask for more (I know of 1 example in West Mids where about 15 drugs were on a chart for the pre-regs to look at). Just make sure you know the basic ADR's and CI's of the common drugs.

[Ama2007]

we didnt get any clinical questions because the previous year complained about the interview not been fair( lots of clinical questions and facts). It wasnt focused on the person and their behaviour which I think is more important than been asked how this works and the side effects which you can revise any time and you can learn before hand.

what about the CD register? I said I would do it at the end.

[Nik]

Out of those 5 options, CD reg and fridge temp wouldn't be high priority.

[afrarita]

hi, I pretty worried that I have not heard from the hospitals I've applied for pre reg (under consideration). I was just wondering if people have heard from the hospitals they've applied to.