Interviews have written exams now?

[Sparda29]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Went for an interview for a part-time pharmacist position. Got there and they tell me before I meet with the interviewer I have to complete a 40 question pharmacist competency exam to complete. Now, usually this is when you go on lexi or up to date to look it up. I pull out the iPhone only to have them tell me, "phones off please, this is a closed book assessment".

Anyone else work at a hospital with this bull****? They had **** like CYP interactions, identify which medication could have caused this ADR, appropriate dose for vitamin k for a patient INR of 10 with no bleeding, give you a list of meds, identify which med to stop when a heart failure diagnosis is made, etc.

I'd be surprised if I scored higher than 50%.

 

[Doc Hawaii]

Sounds pretty normal for some jobs. I thought competency exams were industry norms? They can use the exam to exclude you, or they can look the other way.

 

[deleted205891]

I had multiple patient cases in 2 out of 3 interviews that I had in the past 3 months.

 

[mustang sally]

I've never been given a competency exam in an interview for a regular job (just had patient cases in residency interviews). But it kind of seems like a good way to screen applicants for knowledge base.

 

[confettiflyer]

Yup written or oral competencies have happened at every job interview of mine...my current hospital has had them in place for a few years now.

Definitely helps weed people out and gives us insight into their thought process.

But the trick is they've got to be written in a certain way.

 

[Sparda29]

Yup written or oral competencies have happened at every job interview of mine...my current hospital has had them in place for a few years now.

Definitely helps weed people out and gives us insight into their thought process.

But the trick is they've got to be written in a certain way.

Stuff like effective vanco trough for pneumonia, yeah i can understand that question. But heparin dose in a specific condition, that's something you look up. I even got asked which of the following drugs contains an iodine moiety? Who the **** actually remembers that?

 

[njac]

Went for an interview for a part-time pharmacist position. Got there and they tell me before I meet with the interviewer I have to complete a 40 question pharmacist competency exam to complete. Now, usually this is when you go on lexi or up to date to look it up. I pull out the iPhone only to have them tell me, "phones off please, this is a closed book assessment".

Anyone else work at a hospital with this bull****? They had **** like CYP interactions, identify which medication could have caused this ADR, appropriate dose for vitamin k for a patient INR of 10 with no bleeding, give you a list of meds, identify which med to stop when a heart failure diagnosis is made, etc.

I'd be surprised if I scored higher than 50%.

Good.

My hospital has been hiring idiots lately, and this was my recommendation so at least we can find out they're an idiot before they start.

 

[Sparda29]

Good.

My hospital has been hiring idiots lately, and this was my recommendation so at least we can find out they're an idiot before they start.

So you have most of this stuff memorized?

 

[deleted205891]

Stuff like effective vanco trough for pneumonia, yeah i can understand that question. But heparin dose in a specific condition, that's something you look up. I even got asked which of the following drugs contains an iodine moiety? Who the **** actually remembers that?

Amiodarone? Important for people with iodine allergies. I guess you wouldn't survive the cases at my hospital where they ask you to analyze an argatroban to warfarin bridge.

 

[pezdispenser]

So you didn't get to move on to the interview and they sent you straight home?

 

[confettiflyer]

Amiodarone? Important for people with iodine allergies. I guess you wouldn't survive the cases at my hospital where they ask you to analyze an argatroban to warfarin bridge.

Hahaha...argatroban to warfarin bridge was a question I got, too! Must be a popular one.

 

[fauxden]

Doc Hawaii REALLY likes this thread...

 

[Sparda29]

So you didn't get to move on to the interview and they sent you straight home?

Nah, I got the interview. I'm not going to be taking it though. They said only 4 guaranteed shifts per pay period.

 

[zelman]

Amiodarone? Important for people with iodine allergies. I guess you wouldn't survive the cases at my hospital where they ask you to analyze an argatroban to warfarin bridge.

amIODarone is a bit of a nomenclature giveaway.

Also, iodine allergies do not exist.

 

[deleted205891]

amIODarone is a bit of a nomenclature giveaway.

Also, iodine allergies do not exist.

Yes, I meant cross-reactivity with iodinated contrast media allergy. However, according to PubMed there isn't much cross-reactivity, so I guess then it's not that important after all, at least if the allergy isn't anaphylaxis.

 

[KARM12]

Never had a clinical exam for a pharmacist position.

 

[confettiflyer]

Never had a clinical exam for a pharmacist position.

you old.

or you just seep excellence out your pores.

 

[cnicolef08]

Never had a clinical exam for a pharmacist position.

Neither have I. My DOP asked me during my interview "if i asked you to dose vanco right now for a patient with renal failure could you do it?" My answer "absolutely". And that was it. LOL! He didn't even ask a question, I guess he was just testing my confidence. Either way, I don't think clinical exams or competency tests are necessarily a bad thing.

 

[gwarm01]

When I interviewed in 2013 I wasn't given a written exam, but we did run through certain scenarios to see how I would handle them. Maybe they didn't expect too much from a new graduate other than a willingness to learn and utilize reference materials.

 

[PharmNerdMatt]

Nah, I got the interview. I'm not going to be taking it though. They said only 4 guaranteed shifts per pay period.

Depending on what kind of shift that sounds about right. We have 10 hour shifts in a lot of places, so that would be a 20hr/week position, 16 hours per week wouldn't be much though.

 

[KARM12]

you old.

or you just seep excellence out your pores.

It must be seeping excellence! Two recent interviews for jobs for highly clinical positions. Got both offers, including one known to be one of the most demanding clinical place for pharmacists in my area.

 

[njac]

It must be seeping excellence! Two recent interviews for jobs for highly clinical positions. Got both offers, including one known to be one of the most demanding clinical place for pharmacists in my area.

For the specialist positions I've interviewed for, they may have had me do a presentation, but not a clinical exam. I think once you've done specialty training there's and understood assumption that you know your ish.

However, when I've interviewed for per diem staffing jobs (gotta make that cheddar!), that's where I've seen the clinical and knowledge testing.

Frankly, I know how to do my job and it's not intimidating to be asked about what I know, nor am I afraid to admit which things I would double check in a reference. A clinical exam will only help my interview, not hinder it, so bring it on.

 

[confettiflyer]

Makes sense, they're not gonna quiz potential directors on the intricacies of 340(b) or six sigma.

There has to be value in questioning and when you're in the rarefied world of high level speciality positions or management, it's a different ball game.

I mean they fly you people out and wine and dine you for goodness sake.

 

[Sparda29]

Depending on what kind of shift that sounds about right. We have 10 hour shifts in a lot of places, so that would be a 20hr/week position, 16 hours per week wouldn't be much though.

I mean, the thing is that it is a union position, there are health benefits and vacation time. Instead of 20 days, you get like 6 days but it's pro-rated so if you end up working 40 hours a week, you earn vacation for those 40 hours. For the other hours, I could always just work at my per diem jobs.

 

[farmadiazepine]

There are so many capable pharmacists who can kick the ass of seasoned hospital pharmacists however they never get the chance to because of "one year hospital experience required" or a test like Sparda took, or the idea that retail pharmacists after working years of retail are a joke. It's stupid because all the people I know working in a hospital are dumb as fu*k and I would tutor them all in pharmacy school. The systems set in place don't take into account exceptions.

 

[confettiflyer]

It's stupid because all the people I know working in a hospital are dumb as fu*k and I would tutor them all in pharmacy school. The systems set in place don't take into account exceptions.

That sucks. But we just don't have time to go digging for exceptions with the exceptional are flooding HR with their CV's/resumes.

 

[Sparda29]

There are so many capable pharmacists who can kick the ass of seasoned hospital pharmacists however they never get the chance to because of "one year hospital experience required" or a test like Sparda took, or the idea that retail pharmacists after working years of retail are a joke. It's stupid because all the people I know working in a hospital are dumb as fu*k and I would tutor them all in pharmacy school. The systems set in place don't take into account exceptions.

I'd guarantee that the only person who would pass this test would have been the clinical pharmacy coordinator at the last hospital I worked at. The DOP would have failed and so would have the other pharmacists who are all dinosaurs. I get it if you ask basic stuff like Lovenox dosing or TPA dosing or vanco levels.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Maybe its a regional thing, I've never heard of giving a clinical knowledge test for a job (although it makes sense a place would do that.....I would hope the questions aren't too nitpicky, granted there are things a pharmacist should know off the top of their head, but given the abundance of reference materials & protocols, I think its more important how the pharmacist would apply their knowledge, not that they can rattle off a bunch of stuff from memory......especially with new grads, they often are superior on rattling off facts, but they often lack the experience to know how to apply their knowledge in real life situations.)

 

[confettiflyer]

Maybe its a regional thing, I've never heard of giving a clinical knowledge test for a job (although it makes sense a place would do that.....I would hope the questions aren't too nitpicky, granted there are things a pharmacist should know off the top of their head, but given the abundance of reference materials & protocols, I think its more important how the pharmacist would apply their knowledge, not that they can rattle off a bunch of stuff from memory......especially with new grads, they often are superior on rattling off facts, but they often lack the experience to know how to apply their knowledge in real life situations.)

That's why employers need to test correctly, not administer some random jumble of trivia questions. That's lazy managing.

Our questions are more open ended with multiple answers. It's fun to watch applicants answer them...separates pretty well who would be both clinically competent and a cultural fit.

 

[Dred Pirate]

So you have most of this stuff memorized?

yes

 

[Dred Pirate]

That's why employers need to test correctly, not administer some random jumble of trivia questions. That's lazy managing.

Our questions are more open ended with multiple answers. It's fun to watch applicants answer them...separates pretty well who would be both clinically competent and a cultural fit.

we have a guy who asks questions that are little funny and odd, but to see people's respones tell us a lot.
1. You are stranded on a tropical island - what two abx do you want?
2. You are on an island full of schizophrenic zombies, you have an ativan dart gun, what other two meds would you load in your gun

 

[Sparda29]

we have a guy who asks questions that are little funny and odd, but to see people's respones tell us a lot.
1. You are stranded on a tropical island - what two abx do you want?
2. You are on an island full of schizophrenic zombies, you have an ativan dart gun, what other two meds would you load in your gun

1 - levofloxacin and metronidazole
2 - vecuronium and haldol

 

[Dred Pirate]

1 - levofloxacin and metronidazole
2 - vecuronium and haldol

1 - you can justify almost anything
2. I never thought of vec - I said haldol and geodon (for those zombies I can stablize enough to work for me)

 

[fauxden]

1 - you can justify almost anything
2. I never thought of vec - I said haldol and geodon (for those zombies I can stablize enough to work for me)

i would have gone haldol and risperdal consta (if we are talking injectable we are looking at one shot a month, much easier to deal with in a post apocalyptic world where we have drug guns....?)

 

[Sparda29]

i would have gone haldol and risperdal consta (if we are talking injectable we are looking at one shot a month, much easier to deal with in a post apocalyptic world where we have drug guns....?)

Just gotta out run them while the vecuronium takes effect. Then they stop moving and eventually go into respiratory arrest and die.

 

[OmiPharmD]

Just gotta out run them while the vecuronium takes effect. Then they stop moving and eventually go into respiratory arrest and die.

I'm not clear on how drugs will even be effective on zombies. If they are still mobile with all their guts hanging out I'm going to assume normal drug ADME does not apply. [emoji15]

 

[BidingMyTime]

Yeah, might as well shoot a zombie with Zyvox, maybe it would miraculously cure the zombie. Or how about Prozac, so the zombie is happy?

 

[zelman]

Screw zombie island. I'd load my gun with Carfentanil and MDMA and shoot myself in the leg.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Screw zombie island. I'd load my gun with Carfentanil and MDMA and shoot myself in the leg.

HaHaHa! I like your answer, I suppose the hiring manager would hear that and mark you down for not being a "team player". Or maybe they would appreciate your honesty?