MSD Pharmaceuticals Trainee Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The conclusion :
If you see from one side you will find that there is actually no need for drug price control in India. There are already so many competitive forces that allow the market to sell both premium as well as generic drugs. So even if the doctor prescribes the expensive branded drug, the patient has option to ask for substitute generic drug at pharmacy. But then on the other side, India has got a huge percentage of population that finds it tough to meet the medical costs. And, therefore it becomes responsibility of the government to opt for the drug price control. However, it should be done in a planned way with a proper discussion with the industry so that no one feels the heat.
Tips: Group discussions should include recent events and more talks should be conducted regarding the actual job
Duration: 1 hour

Round: Group Activity
Experience: There debate topic was should community pharmacists should shif their focus away from dispensing and towards NHS service provision or not.If there is to be widespread reform by 2020, community pharmacy requires a revolution rather than evolution. Any revolution in community pharmacy is likely to be precipitated by a massive divestment in prescription dispensing in order to release money to help fund growth of NHS integrated care organisations. With substantial competition from big players and local practices keen to compete for the same work, the incomes of many community pharmacists will shrink rapidly
With the use of new technologies, dispensing in the community could soon replicate the dispensing systems used in hospitals. Indeed, policymakers are pushing for the replication of hospital dispensing arrangements in the community and have been quietly preparing for factory-type dispensing pharmacy outlets. So the conclusiom was pharmacist should shift their focus to NHS service.