Are you a pharmacy student and want to learn more about post-graduate training programs such as residency or fellowships? In this video, I’ll teach you how to prepare for residency interview questions. Stay until the end when I share what to expect on interview day.
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Hi, I’m Dr. Jessica Louie and I’m an Associate Professor, Board-Certified Critical Care Pharmacist and entrepreneur. I help people find meaning beyond a job title and let go of burnout. We talk passive income and simplifying on this channel to combat stress and burnout. If you haven’t seen my burnout story or our debt-free journey while in residency/fellowship, please click those video links below.
If you don’t know about my journey, I completed a PGY1 in pharmacy practice and PGY2 in critical care in 2014 and 2015 as ASHP accredited programs.
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Congratulations on making it to the interview day! This is a big win after a program has reviewed your written application. To start preparing, we are breaking down the steps into 6 steps.
Residency Interview Advice: STAOR Method
First, prepare to answer questions in detail using the STAOR method or STAR Method. If you have never heard of this technique, STAOR stands for:
S = situation
T = task at hand
A = action
O = obstacles (if any)
R = result
Following this STAOR Method can keep the information you provide relevant to the question, give specific examples, how they were overcome and a result that helped you grow as a person. Often, I find that students are NOT detailed enough in interview answers and therefore the STAOR method can be a great starting point to prepare for each question.
Residency Interview Advice: Review CV and LOI
Second, start reviewing your CV and Letter of Intent (LOI) for potential interview questions to come from these areas. Anything listed on these written documents is fair game to be asked in an interview. This could include behavioral or clinical questions.
Review your CV and LOI for:
- Journal club
- Research, poster, publication, findings
- Projects/presentations
- Pharmacy work experience
- Leadership positions
- Meaningful interventions made during rotations
Residency Interview Advice: Prepare Presentations
Third, prepare any presentations if requested by program. Programs may request a presentation on a disease state, a specific drug, a drug-information question, or a topic outside of the pharmacy profession. This allows you to showcase your presentation skillset, critical thinking skills and ability to answer questions on the spot.
Residency Interview Advice: Study Clinical Questions
Forth, prepare for the clinical questions during the interview. Likely, most interviews will focus more heavily on behavioral questions and a smaller emphasis on clinical questions. Clinical questions are going to most likely be related to the residency program core rotations and your CV/LOI past experiences. I recommend studying for the clinical portion with common disease states that could be asked. For example:
Acute Care residency programs are more likely to ask about common hospital topics such as: Infectious disease, Anticoagulation (DVT, PE, Stroke), Acute Coronary Syndromes, Electrolytes, and how to prioritize different clinical scenarios.
Ambulatory Care residency programs are more likely to ask about chronic disease state management such as Asthma, COPD, Hypertension, Dyslipidemia, and Heart Failure.
If you are not familiar with a disease state that is asked in an interview, consider talking through your thought process (critical thinking) and follow-up with any questions after the interview via email.
Residency Interview Advice: Research the program and institution
Fifth, prepare to answer questions specific to the residency program and the institution. Research the mission statements, value statements, and service offerings of the institution beforehand so you can be specific in your answers about “WHY THIS PROGRAM.” This will also help you prepare questions to ASK the program.
Residency Interview Advice: Prepare Questions to ASK the program
Sixth, come up with questions to ASK the program. Remember, you are INTERVIEWING them as much as they are interviewing you. You need to ensure this is the right fit for you and your learning style for the next 1-2 years. You can watch my last YouTube video on this topic.
What to Expect during Interview Day?
Each program will format this interview slightly differently but in general, most interviews will be a full-day event of interviews, essay, presentations, lunch/dinner and tours. Most interviews will include a component with individual interviews (1:1 with you and a pharmacist or director) and panel interviews (you with several pharmacists or current residents). You may interview with 1-5 panels during the day for 30-60 minutes each. The panels may ask the same question or a similar version of the same question to ensure you are sharing the same answer.
The essay portion may be a short one to ensure you wrote your own Letter of Intent (LOI) and have competence in the English language/grammar techniques.
The presentation may be presented to the other candidates interviewing the same day.
The lunch session may be with the current residents and the current residents may have a vote in the ranking process so please keep it professional.
What to do after the Interview Day ends?
After you leave the Interview Day, be sure to document all the notes that are floating in your brain. This could be a written note or I preferred to record an Audio Message to myself to reflect on how I felt after the day, if I could see myself at the program and where I felt I could rank the program. This audio message can be very helpful later on when you decide how to rank programs – you can watch that video in our series below with tips on what to do after the interview day.
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You may also Enjoy Reading:
- 30 Questions to ask BEFORE applying to Residency
- How to Stand Out as a Residency Applicant
- Day in the Life of a Critical Care Pharmacist
- Roadmap to Pharmacy Residency
- 5 Ways to Improve Study Habits
- 5 Tips for Staying Focused while Studying
- How to Use Medication Charts to Study Drugs
Jessica Louie, PharmD, APh, BCCCP is the CEO of Clarify, Simplify, Align and Host of The Burnout Doctor Podcast. Dr. Louie uses her signature Burnout Doctor Method to coach burned out pharmacists & professionals to simplify because work-life balance is a LIE. Align work into your life & break free from people pleasing, perfectionism and thrive in life on YOUR TERMS.