How to answer a pharmacy ethical dilemma in a medical school interview
- Topic
- Equity and access
- Kind
- Ethical dilemma
Prompt
You have a summer job at a pharmacy counter. A regular customer, an elderly man, comes in to pick up his heart medication, but his drug coverage has lapsed and he cannot pay for it today. He asks whether you could give him a few days of pills until his next payment arrives. What would you do?
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How to approach this question
What this question tests
- Ethical reasoning
- Professionalism and integrity
- Empathy and compassion
How to approach it
This panel interview question tests whether you'll stay within your authority when compassion pulls you to bend the rules for a regular customer who may be at real risk. Name the people involved: the customer, who needs what he came for, the pharmacist, who is responsible for what leaves the counter, and the pharmacy's policies. Ask aloud what a summer employee is permitted to do, and who in the pharmacy can make that decision. Weigh bringing in the pharmacist, helping him contact his coverage provider or his doctor's office, and pointing him to assistance programs. Land on a clear plan, and explain how you'd treat him with dignity whatever the outcome.
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