How I Prepared for PGY-1 Interviews
Sharing all my tips and trips to help you nail those interviews!
I had an overwhelming response to a poll I had on my Instagram stories on whether or not you would be interested in Mock Interviews. I was trying to think of a way to accommodate all 260 of you who had voted yes. Which brings me to here! I figured writing in length, much more than an Instagram post would allow, would allow me to share with all of you what worked and what didn’t work for PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency Interview Preparation.
I had 11 interviews last year and started preparing for interviews in the beginning of January. My first interview was 1/19 for a preliminary phone interview. The best way that I can recommend preparing for a phone interview is to treat it as you would a real residency interview.
In total, I had 1 phone interview, 2 in-person interviews (flew out to MD for one), and 9 virtual interviews and most of my interviews were 1/31/22-2/24/22 and most weeks I had 3 interviews.
How did I prepare?
For behavioral/situational questions:
I used the ASHP Interview Skills Packet for Residency Candidates along with the 110 Questions UCSF Students Were Asked in a Residency Interview packet and I inserted these questions into a Google Doc where I would type out my answers.
For tell me about yourself, I really tried to use Mehr Virk’s pitch method (honestly this whole video is so good, I highly recommend watching it!)
For most of the situational/background questions, I used the STAR method to answer my questions.
S - Situation
Explain the situation and give background
T - Task
Talk about the task that you took responsibility to complete
A - Action
Describe the actions you took to complete the task
R - Result
Explain the positive outcomes of your efforts
It is really important to try to reframe and answer the questions they are asking you in a positive light.
With my situational/background question preparation, there were still some questions that threw me off that I did not prepare for
What is a time that made you question your ethics?
I think they also may try to ask you questions to try to see if you say anything negative. Which I stress the importance of not doing! This is important when answering questions like, “When is a time you have dealt with conflict etc.” During one of my interviews, I was asked:
Who is your least favorite preceptor?
I answered this by saying that I have really had a great time with all of my preceptors, and I have learned so much from all of them and that it has been hard to even pick a favorite.
For clinical questions:
I reviewed chapters in RxPrep and made sure to know my guidelines by memory, so in case I could not answer a question, I would say, I don’t want to answer anything I am not 100% sure about but I would look at the 2023 ACC/AHA Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines before I would make a recommendation
If you are not 100% on your answer, do not answer and give a wrong answer. You’re not going to know everything. No one expects you to, but state where you would find the answer.
You can also tell them you’ll get back to them over email!
I reviewed:
Anticoagulation (DVT/PE/ACS)
Diabetes
Heart Failure/ADHF
UTI
CAP/HAP
C. diff
Status epilepticus
Sepsis
Heparin per pharmacy
Vancomycin per pharmacy
Additionally, if I was asked about a topic during my interviews that I was unfamiliar with, after the interview, I would write it down and review if before the next interview.
I would not assume if you’re applying to acute care programs that you won’t get ambulatory or counseling type questions. I definitely had some questions like “counsel me on empagliflozin.”
There is also the opportunity for them to ask you questions based on your CV. Everything on your CV is fair game. They can ask you to tell them about a journal club you presented on or talk about your research, so I would take some time to also look at your CV.
Additionally, I had two residency interviews where I had to participate in a debate in. One gave the topic ahead of time, one did not and you were not told what stance you were taking in on the debate. This was something, I wasn’t really prepared for but it shows how you can think, logically craft an argument and rebuttal.
Presentations
I had a couple different types of presentations:
The first was to select a topic from a provided list and I ended up selecting Drug Diversion and Oversight Prevention (~ 20 min)
The second was an All About Me Presentation (~ 2 min)
The third was a presentation on any topic which I ended up doing on Sourdough and adjusted it based on the timing requirements (8 min, 10-12 min, 15 min) and I presented it at 3 different interviews!
Thank You Emails
I did send thank you emails after each one of my interviews that was something like this:
“Dear Dr. ________,
I wanted to thank you and the PGY-1 pharmacy residency advisory committee for taking the time to interview me yesterday. I am honored to have had the opportunity to interview with you all. You provided a very welcoming environment, and I had a great time getting to know the residency program and staff better. I am impressed by what your program has to offer in terms of clinical training, research, and residency wellness, and after speaking with your current residents ____________, it is evident that they are well supported.
I know that pursuing a ______ residency at _____ will provide me with the clinical training to fulfill my goal of _____________.
I look forward to hearing from you soon”
Don’t expect to hear back from every program and if they do respond, don’t take that personally either. Out of 11 interviews, only 3 emailed me back! (coincidentally amongst my top 3 programs)
Lastly, what I highly recommend doing is recording your immediate feelings after an interview! I have a full folder of my reactions and this was so helpful to have during ranking!
Also, make sure to take time off after the interview and decompress. I went to an Orangetheory class after each interview and that was a helpful way for me to get my mind off things.
I hope this is helpful!
Leslie