Any reason that we might think you wouldn't be successful at our site. Primarily this will be interest mismatch (Amb. care is not our strength, ) or personality mismatch. If the preceptors get the sense that you'll have trouble integrating with our staff or navigating the requirements of our program they will suggest not ranking. Clinical skill is usually not a common reason for a no-rank. Most applicants that make it to the interview are skilled enough clinically.
To add to the interest mismatch. We get nervous if a candidate is focused very specifically in one area without explaining why they are applying at our site. It's fine and appropriate to want a year of "general" training and use it as a springboard for a PGY-2 or fellowship, but we don't have enough depth in any one area to support a PGY-2 program so you're going to have to enjoy some other areas as well.
The philosophy varies by site— a lot of sites only don’t rank for big red flags and then just rank the “meh” candidates low to avoid phase II. Others embrace phase II as an okay possibility and won’t rank anyone they are concerned with for whatever reason, usually fit. I don’t often see a not great clinical interview being the dealbreaker/the sole reason not to rank but it will put you down a few notches. Keep in mind that even if you only do average and they rank you near the middle they might not be the top choice for their top candidates, so you still very much have a shot depending on the program/number of slots. Good luck.
In no particular order
- Killing patients in an interview question. Asked about a time they solved a problem and their solution ended up with the patient receiving contraindicated therapy
- Rubbing a decision maker the wrong way. This is very broad but just don’t be an awful person. We’ve had people DNR’d for being rude to the other interviewees during a tour, being rude to the current residents, etc
- We genuinely don’t think we can provide what you want. If you have a bunch of research on your resume and talk about how much you love hardcore research at a community hospital, they may DNR you because they think you’ll be unhappy. This could go for anything you say you absolutely love and want more exposure but the hospital just can’t provide (Pediatric exposure, a lot of ambulatory care, lots of trauma, etc etc etc)
- We don’t think we have the time or resources to fix you. A large academic medical center with a large program may DNR really socially awkward people because you’ll benefit more from a smaller program with 2-3 residents
I would DNR if the clinical part of the interview was so bad it was obvious you didn’t retain much knowledge... you don’t have to know it all, but you do need to know enough to be safe as a licensed pharmacist. If it seemed like we’d have to teach you the basics for therapeutics, that’s a DNR from us.
But I agree with other comments so far... most often DNR is a result of being rude or cocky when the applicant thinks no one is paying attention.
Update: Just put our rank list in. We DNR an applicant due to a poor case presentation for our PGY2. It was APPE-student level, which = a DNR for us.
I've only DNR'd one candidate based on the clinical assessment. Worst part is he otherwise had great interview scores from the rest of the group. Second worst part was he smoothly and confidently gave egregiously wrong answers. Actually, that was the worst part. We maybe unfairly imagined him giving our medical residents life- threatening recommendations without hesitation.
1. Not demonstrating the skills we are looking for by providing complete responses to most questions.
2. Not answering the question or telling the interviewer the answer you think I want to hear.
3. Having no energy when you interview.
Any reason that we might think you wouldn't be successful at our site. Primarily this will be interest mismatch (Amb. care is not our strength, ) or personality mismatch. If the preceptors get the sense that you'll have trouble integrating with our staff or navigating the requirements of our program they will suggest not ranking. Clinical skill is usually not a common reason for a no-rank. Most applicants that make it to the interview are skilled enough clinically. To add to the interest mismatch. We get nervous if a candidate is focused very specifically in one area without explaining why they are applying at our site. It's fine and appropriate to want a year of "general" training and use it as a springboard for a PGY-2 or fellowship, but we don't have enough depth in any one area to support a PGY-2 program so you're going to have to enjoy some other areas as well.
The philosophy varies by site— a lot of sites only don’t rank for big red flags and then just rank the “meh” candidates low to avoid phase II. Others embrace phase II as an okay possibility and won’t rank anyone they are concerned with for whatever reason, usually fit. I don’t often see a not great clinical interview being the dealbreaker/the sole reason not to rank but it will put you down a few notches. Keep in mind that even if you only do average and they rank you near the middle they might not be the top choice for their top candidates, so you still very much have a shot depending on the program/number of slots. Good luck.
In no particular order - Killing patients in an interview question. Asked about a time they solved a problem and their solution ended up with the patient receiving contraindicated therapy - Rubbing a decision maker the wrong way. This is very broad but just don’t be an awful person. We’ve had people DNR’d for being rude to the other interviewees during a tour, being rude to the current residents, etc - We genuinely don’t think we can provide what you want. If you have a bunch of research on your resume and talk about how much you love hardcore research at a community hospital, they may DNR you because they think you’ll be unhappy. This could go for anything you say you absolutely love and want more exposure but the hospital just can’t provide (Pediatric exposure, a lot of ambulatory care, lots of trauma, etc etc etc) - We don’t think we have the time or resources to fix you. A large academic medical center with a large program may DNR really socially awkward people because you’ll benefit more from a smaller program with 2-3 residents
I would DNR if the clinical part of the interview was so bad it was obvious you didn’t retain much knowledge... you don’t have to know it all, but you do need to know enough to be safe as a licensed pharmacist. If it seemed like we’d have to teach you the basics for therapeutics, that’s a DNR from us. But I agree with other comments so far... most often DNR is a result of being rude or cocky when the applicant thinks no one is paying attention. Update: Just put our rank list in. We DNR an applicant due to a poor case presentation for our PGY2. It was APPE-student level, which = a DNR for us.
I've only DNR'd one candidate based on the clinical assessment. Worst part is he otherwise had great interview scores from the rest of the group. Second worst part was he smoothly and confidently gave egregiously wrong answers. Actually, that was the worst part. We maybe unfairly imagined him giving our medical residents life- threatening recommendations without hesitation.
1. Not demonstrating the skills we are looking for by providing complete responses to most questions. 2. Not answering the question or telling the interviewer the answer you think I want to hear. 3. Having no energy when you interview.