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World AIDS Day and Sexual Health Campaigns...

It was World AIDS Day yesterday!!!

I hope you were all wearing your red ribbons to show your support for all those living with AIDS and HIV around the world!



I don’t know how many of you read the article in the evening standard yesterday stating that ‘London has 43% of the UK’s new HIV cases’. It’s kinda scary to see that figure to be honest (and before you all say its not a reliable source, they used figures from a Public Health England report). What’s scary about it is that in the current economic climate the NHS is undergoing a lot of cuts and budget reshuffling. Budgets for some specialised services such as HIV treatment are being reduced and in areas such as Lambeth and Southwark, where HIV rates are high compared to other areas, this could seriously affect the treatment and service available.

Being HIV positive doesn’t mean what it used to mean not long ago with those affected being able to live long, healthy lives post diagnosis. Working in an Outpatient pharmacy that handles HIV prescriptions I see the vast backgrounds of people that walk into the pharmacy with their prescriptions in hand. They range from range from different socio-economic backgrounds, ages, races and sexualities, but the treatment they receive doesn't differ although extremely expensive. I guess that's one of the beauties of the NHS, although whether it will be this way for long is a whole other debate.

Coming back to those figures in the Public Health England report, although the high rate of new HIV cases in the capital were attributed to unprotected intercourse, we can’t be sure of this. In my opinion, this could also be attributed to more people going to get tested. Especially with the current campaigns on billboards, bus stops and trains, more people are are aware of how quick and easy it is to get a HIV test. This provides another explanation for the rise in new cases, however, as the saying goes , its always better to be safe than sorry.


Also, last week my group and I ran a public health stall in  Kingston Hill on sexual health. This was quite an enlightening experience as I learnt a fair amount about sexual health, the most common STIs and their treatments. We had been planning the campaign for a month prior to the date, coming up with names, slogans, researching about the topic, contacting charities and GUM clinics, creating gift bags and games. The day was pretty hectic. We were constantly talking to people; from students to lecturers to just curious individuals. We advised, quizzed, played games and even ran from lecture room to lecture room inviting students and lecturers alike to visit our stall.

I actually learnt quite a lot. For example, I didn't know that syphilis is an infection that can spread to your internal organs and increase your chances of contracting HIV by a significant amount.  Or that majority of these conditions are asymptomatic and so you would need to get tested at least twice a year and with every new partner you have. Im so glad to have had the opportunity to do something like this and it definitely gave me the confidence to approach people and start up a conversation on such a sensitive and taboo subject.



Now to concur my public health campaign….

Also please check out @KuLove.Health on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram when you get a chance!
S.

Mini Question Bank

So here's the mini question bank I promised. Try and bullet point a few things you would like to say in answer to each of the questions and go over a few with a friend as a mock interview. But Do NOT memorise. You want to come across genuine!

Question Bank:

1.      The first and most important question – Why this trust or area (if the interview is for more than one hospital in an area)?

2.      Why hospital pharmacy?

3.      Compare community and hospital pharmacy roles. How are these similar and how are they different?

4.      What animal would you be and how do the characteristics apply to pre reg?

5.      Describe a time you worked in a team outside of your undergraduate course. What challenges did you face? How did you overcome them?

6.      What is expected of the pre reg year? What are the standards and how will you achieve them?

7.      A nurse shows you a patient drug chart with vancomycin and is confused about the dosage what do you do?

8.      What is medicines optimisation and how would you carry this out?  

9.      How would you save the NHS money?

10.  A patient scenario where you will be required to counsel or reassure a patient. This will be with an actor playing the patient. E.g. role play: a patient not willing to take their statin. Another patient not willing to take their antibiotics because they want to drink at their birthday party in a few days or they are afraid of antibiotic resistance. A patient who doesn’t want to start on ACE inhibitors because they feel fine and don’t believe they need it. (don’t forget to introduce yourself)

11.  What is the Carter report?  How will you apply this in pre reg?

12.  Scenario: You are working in a bakery when a bride orders a gluten free cake for her wedding day. You realise a couple of hours before she is to collect the order that the cake made is not gluten free. It takes 72 hours to make a new cake and the wedding is that day. What would you do?

13.  Senario: You will be given a drug chart or record of the patient’s current medication along with a patient history and asked to optimise the patient’s medication. (this will be without a drug chart so know common interactions and dosage)

14.  Describe the different roles within the pharmacy team? This was also assessed in some interviews through a prioritisation scenario. E.g. you are a pre reg trainee and the team leader for the day. There is a new locum (who is not used to the hospital environment), a pharmacy technician and dispenser with you. A doctor needs info about patient, there are 3 prescriptions waiting to be dispensed and a nurse waiting at the hatch. Delegate tasks and know everyone's role.

15.  You would be asked about key government policies and reforms.

16.  Describe a time you went the extra mile for someone.

17.  What knowledge do you have of the pre reg year?

18.  Recent pharmacy news that has caught your attention

19.  Recent pharmacy policy and guideline NICE / journal/ news

20.  New drugs that you have read about

21.  Any work experience and what you have learnt from it.

22.  Do you partake in any extracurricular activities? What skills have you learnt through this?

23.  Any accomplishments and successes you are proud of.

24.  How do you deal with problems and overcome them (may be asked through a scenario)

25.  Describe a strength you have and a weakness.

Things to think about before the interview:

·         Personal spec and job description – Hw o you meet these and what is your evidence for this.

·         Why should they pick you? What do you have to offer as an applicant and how do these relate to pre reg.

·         Knowledge of the area of work

·         What has motivated you to apply?

·         What are the required roles and responsibilities within the team you wish to join?

All the best!

S.

Interview Tips

Apologies for disappearing for a while.  The stresses of final year came straight after the first lecture and I've been struggling to keep up. But I promise to be consistent from now on!    

  

So second round applications officially opened Friday and I thought what better time to post about the interviews.  

The London Collaboration: 

I only went through the London Collaboration interview which was a 2 station process. I started with station 2 where I initially had a medicines optimisation task. This was followed by a role play with a patient who was refusing to take his medication. Then to finish I was asked to describe a time when I went out of my way to help a patient or a friend. This station was quite easy and the interviewers were really engaged, smiling and encouraging which helped. In the next station it was the complete opposite. The interviewers looked like they wanted to be anywhere but there which threw me off a couple of times. They initially gave me a prioritisation task which required a good understanding of the roles of different hospital pharmacy staff. Following this I had a few questions to answer. These included ‘why do you want to work in London?’ and ‘Tell us about a time where you worked in a team to achieve a particular goal, outside of your degree.’   

  

From my understanding the second round interviews will be with individual hospitals and you will not have to sit an interview for multiple hospitals like with the London Collaboration. But I thought I should add a quick summary of this year’s collaborative hospital interviews as I have been told that this will be the new set up for hospital interviews next year. I will write a more detailed outline closer to the next application period.   

General Tips : 

For those going through this a second time and even those going through it the first time you’re probably desperately seeking advice on what you could do to maximise your chances. Below I have quickly summarised the general tips suggested by students who sat these interviews and lecturers, most of which I used myself to secure a place.  

  

1.      Smile  -   From everyone's experiences it was clear that the interviews varied greatly. Some people had really friendly interviewers that would smile and nod encouragingly when you got stuck. Then there's the other side, which was common, where the interviewers looked bored out their minds, fiddled with papers and kept glancing at the clocks. This is sometimes a technique to see how you are under pressure and other times it just might be because they’ve been sitting there all day. The last thing you should do in this situation is get worked up and drop the ball. I know it’s easier said than done but try to smile as much as possible. Avoid revising or talking about the interview itself before going into the interview. Talk about something different with a friend, crack jokes or remember something that made you laugh. Even pull funny faces in the mirror of their bathroom, if nothing else works, so you can laugh at how ridiculous you look. Just try to look as cheerful as is possible as this is a patient centred job you are applying for at the end of the day.  

2.      First Impressions stick so make it a good one  -   I walked in with a big cheesy smile and said good morning in the most cheerful voice I could muster. This I believe portrayed a friendly and welcoming personality which is needed as a pharmacist. Thankfully they smiled and said good morning back which was an excellent beginning to the interview. Remember people usually make a judgement about you within the first few seconds of meeting you. So for the rest of the interview you would be either reaffirming their judgement or trying to prove you’re the opposite. Keep this in mind before you walk into your interview. 

3.      Read the person specification  -   Most people will remember to read their application answers because really who remembers what the wrote weeks after they’ve wrote it. But not everyone reads the person specification which is one of the most valuable documents on the Pharmalife profiles. I used this both when I was writing my applications as well as before I went for an interview. It allowed me to tailor my answers to fit within their mark scheme. By showing how you meet the person spec through your answers you are effectively showing them why you’re the perfect person for the job and saving the interviewer and yourself a lot of time and stress.  

4.      Know where you are being interviewed  -  This may seem like an obvious one but you need to actually research the hospital you're being interviewed for. The more research you do the more you seem genuinely interested in the hospital and it shows your enthusiasm. Read the job description to begin with and then move on to the hospital’s website. What are their values? How have you reflected this through your experiences? Have they made any changes recently or introduced a new service? Do they have any special schemes or opportunities for their staff? What does their CQC report say? What makes them stand out for you? Even try typing their name into Google and see what comes up past the first few hits and then present all these findings back in the interview by embedding them in your answers.  

5.      Use  S.T.A.R  Answers  -   If you are asked a question don’t ever just dive straight in. Take the time to think. You need to articulate your answer in a coherent manner that actually answers the question fully. Mumbling for 5 minutes about the Sudafed tablets you didn’t sell the hypertensive patient and then realising they were asking you about teamwork will only harm your interview score. When answering any question related to a past experience use the STAR technique shown in the picture below.¹ This will allow for your answer to flow and for you to tick all the boxes on the interviewers sheet. 

 

Image from: http://srg.az/library/recruitment-azerbaijan-innterview-tips/recruitment-azerbaijan-using-the-star-technique-to-shine-at-job-interviews

6.      Record Yourself  -  This was an amazing tip I heard from one of the fourth year pharmacy students at Kingston University. Record yourself answering some of the questions and then listen back. Do you sound dull, boring, engaging, interesting? You could also try watching yourself in the mirror to look at your facial expressions when you’re talking. This might make you notice a few bad habits you have and give you time to change them. E.g saying ‘umm’ or ‘basically’ a lot or even a monotonous voice which would put people to sleep.  

7.      Practice but to a limit   -   This sort of links in with the first point but try and bullet point your answers for the most common questions and then have a friend ask you some at random. Although its common knowledge not to memorise answers for interviews, so they don't sound rehearsed, it would be a good way to see how you come across when answering questions. I used this tip before my interviews and didn't realise that although I am usually a chilled person I looked super serious when answering the questions. This allowed me to make a conscious effort to smile during my interview and the interviewers smiled back (well some did). 

This list is by no means exhaustive. Everyone will have tips and tricks to learn from and research makes the best preparation. My next blog post will have a mini question bank you can use to get you started. These will be just a collection of questions compiled by Zahra, a 4th year at Kingston University, from students who have attended interviews this past month.  

All the Best!

S.