Free Australia Pharmacy Intern Oral Exam (FULL EXAM WITH SOLUTIONS for Part A, B and C)

Preparing for the pharmacy intern oral exam can be a daunting task. To help ease the stress and ensure you're well-prepared, we at InternPharmacistPrep have provided a full oral exam that covers all 3 parts of the oral exam (Part A, B and C) at no charge for your perusal. If you are clueless about how to approach the intern oral exam, I recommend looking at our free guide to learn ways to tackle the intern oral exam first before trying the practice exam.

If you are interested in a self-directed comprehensive preparation course that includes 10 full exams (30 stations in total), enrol here.

If you have mastered the fundamentals and are interested in getting more practice, you can also purchase an exam bundle that can be downloaded for in-person practice with your friends and family.

Pharmacist (Exam Taker) Copy

Station A: Primary Healthcare

You have 10 minutes for this station. This station will be conducted as a roleplay. In this scenario, you are expected to:

Correctly identify the condition and provide a solution to the patient

Explain why a specific product was recommended and when the chosen product is inappropriate.

Indicate whether referral to another health professional is required.

A man comes into the pharmacy and wants something for motion sickness.

Patient (Examiner) Copy

Station A: Primary Healthcare

The exam taker has 10 minutes for this station.

A man comes into the pharmacy and wants something for motion sickness.

	Information (if requested)
Patient	For himself
Experienced Before?	No
Symptoms	Nausea Wife says that he looked pale Sx occurred when he went on a cruise.
Duration of Sx	Started a day ago when he and his wife boarded the cruise ship.
Medical Conditions	High cholesterol levels Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2)
Medications	Rx	Atorvastatin 20mg: 1 tablet daily Metformin 1g: 1 tablet daily
	OTC	Panadol 1000mg occasionally for low back pain
	Supplements	Vitamin D 1000IU: 1 capsule daily
Allergies	None
Other	Not a smoker Enjoys glass of wine multiple times a week Likes eating all kinds of food, but wife says that his diet can be more balanced. Prefer something in tablet form

Recommendation

Travacalm Chewable (Hyoscine 300mcg): 1-2 tablets as a single dose 30 minutes before departing on cruise ship. Repeat every 4-6 hours prn (MAX 4 tablets/24hr)

Phenergan 25mg Tabs: 1 tablet as a single dose the night before. Repeat every 6-8 hours prn (MAX 3 tablets/24hr): Likely to cause drowsiness

Monitoring

Not really any red flags to monitor for. Some things to monitor for is fainting or severe vomiting which is unusual for motion sickness.

Non-Pharmacological Advice

Avoid alcohol for 24 hr before travelling & during trip.

Make sure you have plenty of fresh air.

On long journeys (such as being on cruise ships),eat and drink sparingly and often.

Position yourself where you will experience the least motion, such as in the centre of a ship.

Pharmacist (Exam Taker) Copy

Station B: Legal & Ethical Practice

You have 5 minutes for this station. This station will be conducted as a discussion of the situation, and not a roleplay.

You, a locum pharmacist, notice that the pharmacy owner is dispensing medications kept on a file for patient who has reached the safety net. You talk to him about this but he says there's no harm done as the patient would not have been able to get these prescriptions dispensed anyway as they would be expired by the time the patient needs their next supply of medications. How would you approach this situation?

For the above scenario, discuss:

Relevant legal and ethical considerations
Possible actions that could be taken
Action that would be taken and why
Actions that would be taken to prevent it from happening again in the future

Patient (Examiner) Copy

Station B: Legal and Ethical Practice

The exam taker has 5 minutes for this station.

For the above scenario, discuss:

Relevant legal and ethical considerations
Possible actions that could be taken
Action that would be taken and why
Actions that would be taken to prevent it from happening again in the future

Legal:

PBS Legislation (Fraud): Considered fraud when someone makes PBS claims for pharmaceutical benefits that were not provided

Ethical:

Care Principle 1: Duty of care to the patient (Whilst there is no harm caused to the patient, there can be hypothetical situations where there could have been harm if the owner was engaging in fraudulent behaviour. For example, what if the owner received a non-opened medication that has been returned by a patient for disposal and proceeded to rip off the label and put it back on the shelf to redistribute to another patient.)

Integrity Principle 1: Maintaining public trust in profession (The public may lose faith in the profession as patients expect pharmacist to provide services in a legal and non-fraudulent manner)

Integrity Principle 2: Upholding professional integrity of themselves (Engaging in non-ethical behaviour is a reflection of the owner’s inability to uphold integrity in the pharmacy profession)

Possible Actions Taken

Option 1: Ignore the owner pharmacist’s actions

No harm directly to the patient (but potential harm to other patients assuming that the owner could also be engaging in other fraudulent behaviour)

Not upholding their legal and ethical obligations as a health professional.

Public trust in pharmacists may be affected as some patients may feel that pharmacists act without integrity.

Option 2: Highlight the illegal and unethical nature of the owner’s action. Emphasize that it is PBS fraud as the patient is not utilising the medication. If the owner continues engaging in fraudulent behaviour, report to Services Australia (administrator of PBS)

(This option will be taken)

Illegal and unethical behaviour is prevented whilst maintaining professional relations with the owner

Legal and ethical obligations as a pharmacist will be met

Public trust of the pharmacy profession is maintained (as patient is assured that any fraudulent behaviour will be halted and that pharmacists are acting with integrity)

Actions to Resolve Similar Situations in the Future

Recommend pharmacists (not just the owner) to the PBS website to highlight PBS fraud, so that pharmacists are aware of what to look out for, and to prevent fellow pharmacists from engaging in fraudulent behaviour. Ensure that pharmacists engage in conversations with the offender to ascertain whether they are aware that they doing something legally and ethically inappropriate.

If pharmacists are engaged in fraudulent behaviour, mandatory notification is required as it could be argued that the person is “significantly departing from professional standards, and place the public at risk of harm”.

Pharmacist (Exam Taker) Copy

Station C: Problem Solving & Communication

You have 20 minutes for this station. This exam station will be conducted in roleplay, where history taking is started, followed by a pharmacist-doctor interaction, and ending with a solution implemented for the patient. References are permitted in this station.

Patient comes into the pharmacy with the following script:

Patient (Examiner) Copy

Station C: Problem Solving & Communication

The exam taker has 20 minutes for this station.

Patient comes into the pharmacy with the following script:

	Information (if requested)
Patient	Robert
Age	28 years old
Had Med Before?	No
Why prescribed?	Gut Infection (If prompted: H. Pylori infection)
Medical Conditions	High Cholesterol (Familial Hypercholesterolemia)
Medications	Rx	Rosuvastatin 40mg: 1 tablet daily (started 10 years ago)
	OTC	Occasional Panadol for muscle aches after exercising too much
	Supplements	Vitamin D 1000IU: 1 capsule daily
Allergies	Penicillin Allergy If prompted: Allergic reaction resulted in anaphylaxis – Experienced when he was 10 years old during treatment for a skin infection
Other Patient Info	Not smoking Doesn’t drink alcohol Balanced diet (mindful of diet) Goes to the gym every 2 days for 3 hours.

Issue

Severe, life-threatening penicillin allergy with Nexium HP7

Solution

Replace amoxicillin with metronidazole

Dosing regimen is 7 days if local clarithromycin resistance is low (else 14 days but clarify with doctor about this to clarify treatment duration)

There are three different medications that are taken together TWICE daily for 7 days.

Esomeprazole 20mg: 1 tablet TWICE daily (in the morning and at night)

Clarithromycin 500mg: 1 tablet TWICE daily (in the morning and at night)

Metronidazole 400mg: 1 tablet TWICE daily (in the morning and at night)

Generally well tolerated but may experience SE such as Diarrhoea, N&V (take with food to reduce)

If rash develops/shortness of breath/swelling of lips/tongue, stop medications and seek medical assistance.

All materials on InternPharmacistPrep©, including text, graphics, and other content, are protected by copyright laws. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or modification of any content without prior written consent is strictly prohibited.

Article by InternPharmacistPrep

Published 01 Jan 2025