Appendix C Potential Questions Asked of You During Residency Interviews

■ Personality related

• What qualities do you possess that would make you a good resident?
• What qualities would you like to improve on as a resident?
• What are your short-term (e.g., 2–5 years) and long-term goals (e.g., 10 years)?
• What three words would your best friend use to describe you?
• Do you prefer to work individually or as part of a group?
• Describe a difficult situation you encountered and how you handled it.
• If you had to critique your own performance, where could you improve?
• What do you think is your greatest strength?
• Tell me about a time you failed and what you learned from it.
• Tell me about a time that, despite your efforts, did not have a favorable outcome and what you learned from it.
• Tell me a good joke.
• • If you could only save three possessions from a house fire, what would they be?
• Describe a situation in your professional career where you felt stressed or encountered conflict. How did you handle the situation?
• What do you like to do for fun?
• How do you manage or relieve stress?
• Why are you the best candidate for this program?
• What motivates you?
• Who inspires you?
• How would you adjust to the weather (cold or warm)?

■ Professionally related

• Why did you choose a career as a pharmacist?
• Why do you want to do a residency?
• Why are you interested in our program? versus Why did you choose to apply to this program?
• Where do you see yourself after completing the residency?
• What areas of pharmacy most interest you?
• Are you considering a postgraduate year-2 (PGY-2) residency or fellowship? If so, in what specialty?
• Teach me something in 2 minutes.
• Describe how pharmacy practice is changing and what you see as being relevant for the future.
• What do you see as the largest challenge for the pharmacy profession right now?
• What is the single most important facet of interpersonal communication?
• Tell me something that is current in pharmacy.
• At what time would you expect to start and end your day as a resident?
• Describe your experiences as a member of an interprofessional team.
• What can you offer our program that other applicants cannot?
• Would you consider yourself to be innovative? Why or why not?
• Are you an introvert or an extrovert and how does that impact your approach to direct patient care?
• How do you envision the role of the pharmacist in the patient-centered medical home?
• How has technology and automation impacted the profession?
• Given (example scenario), how would you approach the situation?
• • Describe your time- and project-management skills.
• Describe a leadership role that you held. What impact did you have on the organization that you led?
• How do you define Medication Therapy Management?
• Define and describe the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process.
• What is your definition of transition of care? Describe the role of the pharmacist in transition of care.

■ Experiential

• What is your definition of a clinical pharmacist?
• What was your favorite advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) and why?
• How could you have improved your least favorite APPE?
• Describe your favorite or most memorable patient.
• Describe your most memorable experiences from APPEs.
• If I were to ask preceptor X to describe you, what words would he or she use?
• Who was your favorite preceptor and why?
• Describe or discuss the most interesting medical journal article you have recently read.
• Why are critical thinking skills an important quality in a clinician?
• Describe a conflict with a preceptor or another member of the healthcare team (e.g., attending physician, intern resident, nurse) and how you approached and resolved the conflict.
• Describe the most significant contribution you made to a patient’s care this past year.

Source: Some questions are from Mancuso C, Paloucek F. Understanding and preparing for pharmacy practice residency interviews. Am J Health-Syst Pharm. 2004;61(16):1686-1689. ©2004, ASHP. All rights reserved. Adapted with permission.