How political can you safely get during interviews?

[mik30102]

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Hello everyone, for my interview at rochester I need to talk about what I feel is the biggest problem the american health care system has. I want to talk about how our outcomes are poor compared to what we spend when comparing us to nearly every other country in the world. I would imagine I would be asked how we can fix this during a interview. My honest answer would be to adopt a single payer system for the purposes of giving everyone coverage, that it would operate at a lower overhead cost (medicare operates at about 3% overhead compared to the 20% of for profit insurance), and that it would overall be more efficient allowing the government to negotiate bulk payments with drug companies and eliminating some secretary staff. Would this be asking for trouble? Thanks everyone!

 

[G_Marker]

I'd be careful about going into too much detail about how you'd go about improving the healthcare system.

Even if you've read a couple books on the subject, there's a lot of misleading information and statistics out there... Adcoms might be aware of these and may feel particularly opinionated. I'd be interested to see what others think of this.

I think my answer would be somewhere along the lines of regulating private insurance companies... I think it's probably pretty scary to most people that companies more concerned about the bottom line are controlling the healthcare of patients by denying treatments and tests. Worse yet, the insurance companies have no liability if the patient dies because they denied treatment - the doctor is blamed.

 

[gyngyn]

The ability to come to a reasonable conclusion based on a sound understanding of the dilemma is all you need to do. Just be able to answer follow up questions regarding your opinion and you'll be fine.

For example, where would the incentive for R and D come from if Pharma's profits are capped?

 

[allantois]

That's what happens when you put Economics as a pre-requisite for pharmacy school 🙄

 

[mik30102]

The ability to come to a reasonable conclusion based on a sound understanding of the dilemma is all you need to do. Just be able to answer follow up questions regarding your opinion and you'll be fine.

For example, where would the incentive for R and D come from if Pharma's profits are capped?

So I would be okay along if I dont come off as to extreme and have some logical thinking? As a example answer to your question I would respond that I acknowledge that a balance must occur between lowering costs and keeping incentive for innovation, and that nethier side can become to greedy. However I think pharma can survive a drop in profits per person, especially since any drop in profit margin should be met with a increase in sales from giving all americans access to their drugs. Im not saying of course that pharma should make no money just that what we currently spend is not sustainable. Thanks for the help @gyngyn!

 

[mik30102]

That's what happens when you put Economics as a pre-requisite for pharmacy school 🙄

Not really sure what your trying to say lol... I have taken both micro and macro economics and have taken 2 health care based economic courses in pharmacy school.

 

[gyngyn]

So I would be okay along if I dont come off as to extreme and have some logical thinking? As a example answer to your question I would respond that I acknowledge that a balance must occur between lowering costs and keeping incentive for innovation, and that nethier side can become to greedy. However I think pharma can survive a drop in profits per person, especially since any drop in profit margin should be met with a increase in sales from giving all americans access to their drugs. Im not saying of course that pharma should make no money just that what we currently spend is not sustainable. Thanks for the help @gyngyn!

Yes, you need to be able to respond in an measured way to what may be the unintended consequences of your recommendation. Nobody really expects you to fix medical care in the US, just to be an informed participant.

 

[mik30102]

Yes, you need to be able to respond in an measured way to what may be the unintended consequences of your recommendation. Nobody really expects you to fix medical care in the US, just to be an informed participant.

Thank you for your advice!

 

[Goro]

I think you can be honest with how you feel, whether it's single payer, cradle to grave, or free-market rules, every man/woman for his/herself.

Just be prepared for an interviewer who will take your logic tot he next levels, whether thinking about the down-sides, or how to pay, or what if X occurs?

Hello everyone, for my interview at rochester I need to talk about what I feel is the biggest problem the american health care system has. I want to talk about how our outcomes are poor compared to what we spend when comparing us to nearly every other country in the world. I would imagine I would be asked how we can fix this during a interview. My honest answer would be to adopt a single payer system for the purposes of giving everyone coverage, that it would operate at a lower overhead cost (medicare operates at about 3% overhead compared to the 20% of for profit insurance), and that it would overall be more efficient allowing the government to negotiate bulk payments with drug companies and eliminating some secretary staff. Would this be asking for trouble? Thanks everyone!

 

[jsquared91]

Hello everyone, for my interview at rochester I need to talk about what I feel is the biggest problem the american health care system has. I want to talk about how our outcomes are poor compared to what we spend when comparing us to nearly every other country in the world. I would imagine I would be asked how we can fix this during a interview. My honest answer would be to adopt a single payer system for the purposes of giving everyone coverage, that it would operate at a lower overhead cost (medicare operates at about 3% overhead compared to the 20% of for profit insurance), and that it would overall be more efficient allowing the government to negotiate bulk payments with drug companies and eliminating some secretary staff. Would this be asking for trouble? Thanks everyone!

Dealing with a similar question for an interview prompt, decided to do something similar to yours, hoping my passion looks better than writing something safe that I'm not that interested in.

 

[hunterjumper14]

Yikes, the thought of saying "single payer system" in front of many of the people that interviewed me is terrifying.

 

[jsquared91]

Yikes, the thought of saying "single payer system" in front of many of the people that interviewed me is terrifying.

Yeah, I'm staying away from those words.