Situational questions

[deleted853480]

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Does anyone have any practice situational questions that I can use for practice. Thank you

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

More information is needed. Are you looking for interview questions about hypothetical scenarios?

 

[deleted853480]

Yes

 

[Cornfed101]

Like ethical questions? UW has a great list of ethical questions and what the laws and facts are. It’s very helpful U of W School of Medicine Bioethic Topics

 

[LizzyM]

You are a student. You know that the resident is supposed to do follow-up/check on something before the nurses administer an ordered treatment. Asked if it has been checked and found to be okay, you clearly hear the resident lie and say it is okay when you know that the resident did not check. (You know because you've been with the resident the whole time.) What would you do or say?

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

You are a student. You know that the resident is supposed to do follow-up/check on something before the nurses administer an ordered treatment. Asked if it has been checked and found to be okay, you clearly hear the resident lie and say it is okay when you know that the resident did not check. (You know because you've been with the resident the whole time.) What would you do or say?

I would wait until the resident and I are alone and politely say "Maybe it's because I haven't had my coffee yet but I don't remember the details from that follow up. Would you mind giving me a run-down of that again just so I can jot it down and ponder over the clinical implications later?"

 

[Welshman]

I would wait until the resident and I are alone and politely say "Maybe it's because I haven't had my coffee yet but I don't remember the details from that follow up. Would you mind giving me a run-down of that again just so I can jot it down and ponder over the clinical implications later?"

so you would wait until a medical error has already occurred to fix it? What if the test that he was supposed to check revealed a deadly contraindication for the treatment the nurse had just administered? That's on your hands now.

Why not just ask to see the test for yourself or ask the resident to explain the results to you as a learning opportunity? Or just politely call them out, "when did we check on those results?"

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

so you would wait until a medical error has already occurred to fix it? What if the test that he was supposed to check revealed a deadly contraindication for the treatment the nurse had just administered? That's on your hands now.

Why not just ask to see the test for yourself or ask the resident to explain the results to you as a learning opportunity? Or just politely call them out, "when did we check on those results?"

Things don't happen that fast. I would wait between the time that the nurse left and the time that she starts treatment to question the resident.

 

[Goro]

Does anyone have any practice situational questions that I can use for practice. Thank you

Your attending asks you to lie to the patient's family after a surgical procedure takes much longer and more serious than expected.

What do you do?

Also, SDN has a great Interview Feedback section. Check it out.

 

[Planes2Doc]

You are a surgeon and are getting ready to start a procedure in the OR. An anesthesiologist comes in and is stumbling around and smells like alcohol. The procedure starts and he keeps going to and from the room. What would you do?

 

[Planes2Doc]

You are getting ready to go on a mission trip as a physician to Haiti after some sort of natural disaster strikes. You ask your colleague if he wants to go and he says: "**** Haiti! Haiti is a **** hole." What would you tell him in this situation?

 

[getdown]

so you would wait until a medical error has already occurred to fix it? What if the test that he was supposed to check revealed a deadly contraindication for the treatment the nurse had just administered? That's on your hands now.

Why not just ask to see the test for yourself or ask the resident to explain the results to you as a learning opportunity? Or just politely call them out, "when did we check on those results?"

Speaking from a practical point of view not associated with hypothetical scenario, you should never do this. As a medical student who's rotating through your grades and evals highly depend on the resident you're with. You don't want to piss them off. The worst medical students I've been around are the ones that think they know more than the resident. You wouldn't call out the attending politely so why would you do it to the resident? Also, as a med student you are often the last to know about anything. The nurses page the resident so any information you have is outdated. So calling out anyone with information you think is useful will more than not burn you instead. There's a hierarchy for a reason and med students are on the bottom of the pole. Being discreet and knowing how to navigate the hierarchy and politics of medicine is much more important than being right.

Speaking to the scenario above. In any interview situation, the ultimate focus should be providing good and safe patient care. So your focus should be on the patient. Assuming you're 100% sure the resident is lying and 100% sure the error would be deadly then you should bring it up. The trick is how to bring it up. If this was during rounds and you have time, it's probably the best to wait after so as not to put the resident on blast, talk to the nurse and tell them to hold it, explain the situation and then talk to the attending. If this was to be done then and there then you'd have to bite the bullet and speak up.

 

[getdown]

You are getting ready to go on a mission trip as a physician to Haiti after some sort of natural disaster strikes. You ask your colleague if he wants to go and he says: "**** Haiti! Haiti is a **** hole." What would you tell him in this situation?

I would tell him "I think you took the wrong turn. The White House is on the other side, Donald."

 

[Cornfed101]

You are getting ready to go on a mission trip as a physician to Haiti after some sort of natural disaster strikes. You ask your colleague if he wants to go and he says: "**** Haiti! Haiti is a **** hole." What would you tell him in this situation?

Say “you are ridiculous” and find another person to go with you...

 

[ortnakas]

You are a surgeon and are getting ready to start a procedure in the OR. An anesthesiologist comes in and is stumbling around and smells like alcohol. The procedure starts and he keeps going to and from the room. What would you do?

Had various versions of this question several times (IM so their version was usually a drunk senior resident or consultant, but same general principle).