Community Pharmacist Interview Questions and Answers
Q. What do you mean by Community Pharmacist?
A community pharmacist is a health care professional who works in a retail pharmacy and dispenses prescription medications to patients and provides expert information on drug therapies. He or she also provides advice on the safe and effective use of these medications, offering guidance on general health and wellness, monitors their progress, and manages their overall health care.
Q. What are some of the most important qualities for a community pharmacist?
The most important qualities for a community pharmacist includes:
- Sound pharmacy knowledge
- Good communication skills
- Good organizational skill
- Empathy
- Teamwork
- Ethical judgement etc.
Q. What is your process for helping patients who need a refill on their medication?
- Review the prescription
- Check any potential drug interactions or contraindications may occur
- Contact with physicians to request authorization for refill if necessary
- Provide the prescribe medication with education (indication, dosage, side effects, storage etc.)
Q. When a community pharmacist may not be able to help a patient?
Your pharmacist may not routinely be able to help with:
- Stitching or wound and dressing care
- Severe lacerations, cuts, severe sprains, strains and fractures
- Infected wounds and foreign bodies
- Head injuries or loss of consciousness
- Suspected broken bones or heavy blood loss
- Persistent chest pain or difficulty breathing
- Drug overdose, swallowing foreign bodies or poisoning
Q. What are the principles of clinical governance in relation to the community pharmacy
There are three principles of clinical governance in relation to the community pharmacy contract:
- Clinical governance (continuous quality improvement) should be embedded into all professional services.
- Clinical governance is driven by a genuine desire to improve the service delivered to patients.
- The development of clinical governance should be supported and encouraged by primary care organizations.
Q. What do you mean by WWHAM acronym?
- W: Who is the patient?
- W: What are the symptoms?
- H: How long have the symptoms been present?
- A: Action taken?
- M: Medication being taken?
Q. What are the stages involved in taking a patient history?
- Presenting complaint (PC): the patient’s own account of their condition. The patient is not interrupted but allowed to explain in their own words.
- History of presenting complaint (HPC): when did it start? Have you ever had the condition before? How did you notice the condition? The site and character of the symptoms, any associated features, exacerbating or alleviating factors.
- Direct questioning (DQ): specific questions related to the potential diagnosis.
- Past medical history (PMH): illnesses, operations. For example ask specifically about diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure or epilepsy.
- Medications/allergies: prescribed and OTC or herbal medicines.
- Social/family history (SH/FH): brief exploration of any relevant social or family history.
- Functional enquiry: this aims to uncover undeclared symptoms by further questioning to determine factors such as recent weight loss, fatigue, fevers and recent trauma.
Q. What are the stages involved in setting up a medicines management service?
- Identify local need
- Assess suitability of premises
- Assess individual skill and knowledge – (continuing professional development)
- Involve patients in service design
- Become MUR (medicines use review) accredited
- Obtain agreement on:
- The process of sharing information about patient records
- The communication mechanism for making a recommendation to the GP
- Intended outcomes
- Clinical governance and audit
- Funding arrangements
Few common questions you may asked by employer:
- Why you are interested in this position?
- What is your strength for this position?
- Tell me about an ethical dilemma you faced.
- Discuss a time you worked with a difficult customer.
- How long do you expect to work for us if hired?
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