50 Pharmacy School Interview Questions and Answers

Pharmacy school interview questions and answers. Pharmacy school can be difficult and time-consuming, depending on your talents and availability. If you've applied to a pharmacy school education program, you'll most likely be interviewed by a college or university department to determine your fit and passion for the curriculum. Anticipate some typical questions and practice your replies ahead of time to improve your chances of being admitted to pharmacy school.

Here's an example interview question: A member of your family decides to treat his or her significant illness entirely with alternative medicine. What would you do in this situation?

pharmacy school interview questions

What are pharmacy schools?

An undergraduate or postgraduate pharmacy degree from a recognized university is the minimum qualification for pharmacists to be eligible for registration. In many countries, this entails completing a four- or five-year master's degree program in pharmacy (MPharm). To become a licensed pharmacist in the United States of America, students must finish a doctor of pharmacy degree after January 1, 2003. Other nations, such as Canada and France, have implemented similar requirements.

A doctor of pharmacy degree takes four years of study at an approved pharmacy school (most students applying for admission into a college of pharmacy already have an undergraduate degree). Many institutions, however, admit students after they have completed two or three years of college pharmacy requirements or have entered a six-year accelerated curriculum immediately from high school. Anyone who graduated with a bachelor's degree in pharmacy prior to this date is grandfathered in and can apply for a license.

Registration with the regulatory agency of the nation, state, or province is necessary to practice as a pharmacist. A pharmacy graduate is frequently required to have completed a specified number of hours of pharmacy experience under the supervision of a certified pharmacist. If the regulatory authority oversees a whole country, the prospective pharmacist will typically be subjected to a written and oral examination before being allowed to register. A national examining board administers the needed examination if its jurisdiction is restricted to a certain area (e.g., a state or province).

Basic interview questions

  • Expect basic questions to be asked at the start of your interview to assist the interviewer to get to know you, such as the following:
  • Please tell me a little about yourself.
  • What academic interests do you have?
  • What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of school?
  • Why did you decide to attend college in this city?
  • What are your personal objectives, and how do you intend to accomplish them?
  • What are your advantages?
  • What do you consider to be your worst flaw, and what actions have you made to address it?
  • What adjectives would your peers use to describe you?
  • What would your lecturers have to say about you?
  • In ten years, where do you see yourself?

Questions about your background and experience

These sorts of inquiries allow the interviewer to get a sense of how you spent your college years. Some instances are as follows:

  • What did you enjoy most about high school?
  • What did you study in college for your bachelor's degree?
  • What was your undergraduate grade point average?
  • What are some of the talents you've been working on? How did you pull that off?
  • What do you expect to achieve as a result of your education?
  • Which professions pique your curiosity the most?
  • What drew you to pharmacology in the first place?
  • What do you think your instructors contributed to your academic success?
  • Who, in your opinion, has had the greatest influence on your success?
  • What elements of your undergraduate study did you like the most?

In-depth questions

Pharmacy school curricula usually include a wide range of topics in mathematics and science, so you'll probably be asked questions like these during your interview:

  • What draws you to a career as a pharmacist?
  • In pharmacy school, what skills do you expect to gain?
  • How can you remain up to speed with pharmacology's latest trends and breakthroughs?
  • What kinds of research projects have you lately done as part of your education?
  • What makes you think you'll be able to succeed in pharmacy school?
  • What are your plans for the rest of your pharmacy school career?
  • How do you think you'll handle pharmacy school's expectations and challenges?
  • How will you keep motivated in the face of adversity?
  • How do you intend to keep track of your schedules?
  • What do you want to bring to the program and our university?

Other questions

Additional questions to prepare for.

  • How would you describe your dream vacation?
  • Tell me about a book you recently finished reading. Why did you read it, and would you tell others about it?
  • Explain how you prioritize your duties.
  • Tell me about a moment when you had to deal with someone else's annoyance.
  • How do you feel about the growth of tele-pharmacy? What are its advantages and disadvantages?
  • Share your opinion on the medication price arms race. What policies are you aware of that address this issue?
  • You're a rookie pharmacist who notices on your second day that one of the older pharmacists enters information into your computerized system improperly. When you point out the issue, they repair it but then say, "This new system they put in simply keeps doing that!" even though it was clearly their fault. What is your reaction?
  • How would you describe your profession as a pharmacist to an alien?
  • Would you prefer work as a pharmacist in a retail setting or in a hospital setting, and why?
  • Tell me about a moment when you had to teach someone else a difficult concept. What method did you use to approach the subject? Were you able to succeed?
  • What is one area of pharmacy that you didn't know about before going to college? When/how did you find out about it, and how did it affect you?
  • It's the end of your shift as a pharmacist, and your coworkers have already departed. You still have a few chores to accomplish, but you don't have enough time. Furthermore, you are unable to remain late since you must attend an important function following work. So, what exactly do you do?
  • Tell us about a moment when you assisted a bereaved person.
  • An uncle of one of your patients approaches you, asking for information about her birth control. What are your options?
  • Describe a time when you worked as part of a team and things went well, as well as a time when things went badly. What was your unique role in each scenario, and what did you take away from them?
  • Tell me about a moment when you had to reorganize something that was out of order.
  • Tell us about a moment when you were able to assist someone who was perplexed.
  • What has been your most important non-work achievement?
  • What's the difference between precision and accuracy? Do you think one is more important than the other? Why do you think that is?

Questions and sample answers from a pharmacy school interview

The following pharmacy school interview questions and sample responses will help you prepare for your interview so that you have the best chance of being accepted:

1. Describe the characteristics you believe a successful pharmacist should possess.

The interviewer can want to know what makes you think a pharmacist is effective at their work. Use your response to compare and contrast these traits to your own.

"Excellent attention to detail, organization, and interpersonal skills, in my opinion, play a major role in a pharmacist's performance." Aside from the technical, mathematical, and scientific abilities required, I believe that the ability to maintain good organization inside a pharmacy, as well as the capacity to sympathize and communicate effectively with patients, are critical. I understand the subtleties and dynamics of dealing with others in a customer service role, and I pay close attention to the smallest of details to ensure that everything is in its proper place."

2. What role do pharmacists, in your opinion, play in the success of healthcare teams?

Your views on pharmacology and the job of a pharmacist, in general, might provide the interviewer with significant information about how you see their program. Use your response to connect to your own personal beliefs and motives for choosing pharmacy as a major.

"Pharmacists, in my opinion, are incredibly important members of a healthcare team when it comes to giving assistance to patients." When it comes to medicines, interactions, and delivering safe and effective pharmacological therapy, pharmacists are the experts. A healthcare team can not have the full range of resources to provide patients without the knowledge and experience of a certified pharmacist."

3. What made you decide on this pharmacology program over others?

This is a question that can arise, particularly if you are an out-of-state graduate. Most likely, the interviewer is searching for specific features of their pharmacy school curriculum that you believe will help you achieve your professional goals. Give examples of your primary professional goals and how the program will help you accomplish them in your response.

"I picked the pharmacy degree at West Trenton University because of the excellent results of previous students," says one student. After hours of study into prospective colleges, I decided on this one since my main career objective is to own and operate a private community pharmacy, and your curriculum covers both the business and professional ethical elements of this. These characteristics, I believe, will ultimately assist me in achieving my aim."

4. What characteristics do you believe qualify you for the pharmacology program?

This question allows the interviewer to assess your skills and personal traits, which they can be searching for in pharmacy school applicants. Showcase the characteristics you possess that pharmacists in your community also possess. Here's an illustration:

pharmacy school interview questions

"I've found that my neighborhood pharmacist is very detail-oriented, empathetic, and patient with their clients," for example. This speaks to me because I've always been sympathetic to other people's feelings and experiences, and I like assisting others in taking charge of their health. Because of the significance I place on keeping order and the following procedure in a medical setting, I believe my organizing and analytical abilities will help me thrive as a pharmacist in the future."

5. Can you tell me about a time when you collaborated on a project or assignment as part of a group? What part did you play?

This question allows the interviewer to assess your ability to work as part of a team, as well as your ability to delegate responsibilities, share tasks, and collaborate on problem-solving. Give instances of obstacles you faced and how you succeeded in your team role on any projects where you worked as part of a team.

"For my human anatomy class, I just finished a study project with three of my classmates." Our study subject was the therapeutic advantages of new and emerging migraine medicines, and I was in charge of locating relevant resources, collecting data, and evaluating and interpreting the information I gathered. The most difficult part of this assignment was deciding which data would be most useful for our study, but with the aid of one of my coworkers, we were able to spread the most useful information for our project."

6. What are your project and assignment priorities?

This question reveals how effectively you manage your time and obligations as a student to the interviewer. Describe how you discern between your most essential activities and how you organize and manage your daily schedules using your response. An example of a response is as follows:

"The first thing I realized was that a planner is an efficient tool for arranging everything I have to accomplish," says the narrator. As a result, I use this to keep track of all of my key class dates, examinations, assignment due dates, and other details. I begin by marking any important classes, appointments, or other activities on my calendar so that I am aware of when I will be unavailable. Then I construct a list of any urgent chores I need to accomplish before class each day, followed by a list of critical errands and other things I perform during the day."

7. In your undergraduate career, what were some of your favorite pre-pharmacy courses?

This question, or one similar to it, might assist the interviewer to obtain a sense of your academic interests, especially research interests. Even if your favorite courses weren't entirely relevant to pharmacology, be honest with your answers.

"Because of the unique characteristics of each discipline, I really enjoyed my statistics, mathematics, and chemistry classes." For example, I enjoy deconstructing complicated data to uncover patterns and trends, as well as tackling hard mathematical problems. My favorite component of chemistry is akin to this: using the tiniest atoms to create new structures."

8. Can you offer an example of a moment when you had to rely on your problem-solving abilities to get through a difficult situation?

Your problem-solving abilities will be invaluable in pharmacy school, and the interviewer can use this question to assess how you tackle challenges. Include instances of how you've used your problem-solving abilities in the past or how you'd use them to assist you to achieve.

"I learned I was lacking one needed course for my bachelor's degree just before I graduated," for example. I would not have been able to graduate on time if I had not completed the course. So I looked up the course prerequisites and spoke with my academic adviser to inform them that I would be transferring to another institution to finish the course. Because of my fast thinking and ability to discover answers outside of standard ideas, I was able to finish an accelerated summer course while still receiving my degree on time."

9. In your opinion, what function does technology play in the field of pharmacology?

Many behind-the-counter duties are increasingly being performed by technology in pharmacies. The interviewer can want to know how you feel about using prescription filling apps and other forms of technology to help you execute your job as a pharmacist.

"I believe that the use of technology is becoming more crucial than ever, particularly when it comes to new and developing drugs," for example. Pharmacists can obtain patient information faster and enter medical data more efficiently thanks to technology. Additionally, software, internet ordering systems, and pharmacy databases are powerful instruments for keeping a pharmacy organized and accurate."

10. What have you learned about pharmacology that you didn't know before you went to college? What impact has this had on your studies?

Your response will provide the interviewer a sense of how you learn new knowledge and use it to excel in school. Give examples of some of the things you've learned or a few things you plan to learn in the future.

"Since concentrating on my major in undergraduate school, I've learned more about medical science." For example, the distinct chemical reactions and synthesizers.

Common questions

Questions from pharmacy students and job seekers.

Who will be in the pharmacy school interview?

Admission committee members. And other personnel.

What is an MMI? Or multiple mini interview?

A multiple mini interview is a set of brief, structured interview stations used to examine non-cognitive traits such as sensitivity, maturity, collaboration, empathy, communication skills, and other non-cognitive qualities.

Learn what these interviews are like.

What's the best advice to prepare?

Make sure you have the interview room in hand. Have your prior pharmacy studies paperwork. Ensure that you're at the right pharmacy school. And prepare in advance.

What skills should I mention?

Problem-solving skills, attention to detail, passion, empathy, and active-listening.

Is it hard to get into pharmacy school?

Pharmacy school is difficult and time-consuming. Demonstrate to the interviewers that you realize how tough it will be to achieve and that you intend to spend the most of your time studying Pharmacy. On average, 10% of students do not complete their studies at pharmacy school. You don't want to be a part of their group.

How do you nail or ace a pharmacy school interview?

Mock interviews with someone (like family members or past students) who can provide you with objective feedback is a great way to improve your interviewing skills. Treat the practice pharmacy school interview as if it were a real one. The more you prepare, the less nervous you will be and the better your performance will be. Consider the types of questions you'd ask if you were the interviewer.

pharmacy school interview questions

author: patrick algrim
About the author

Patrick Algrim is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), NCDA Certified Career Counselor (CCC), and general career expert. Patrick has completed the NACE Coaching Certification Program (CCP). And has been published as a career expert on Forbes, Glassdoor, American Express, Reader's Digest, LiveCareer, Zety, Yahoo, Recruiter.com, SparkHire, SHRM.org, Process.st, FairyGodBoss, HRCI.org, St. Edwards University, NC State University, IBTimes.com, Thrive Global, TMCnet.com, Work It Daily, Workology, Career Guide, MyPerfectResume, College Career Life, The HR Digest, WorkWise, Career Cast, Elite Staffing, Women in HR, All About Careers, Upstart HR, The Street, Monster, The Ladders, Introvert Whisperer, and many more. Find him on LinkedIn.

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