1. Tell me is it easy to get HIV?
No. HIV is not like the lu or a cold. It is not passed through casual contact or by being near a person who is infected.
You can only get HIV if infected blood, semen, vaginal luids, or breast milk gets into your body
2. Tell me does everyone who is exposed to HIV get infected?
No. But it is important to know that you can be infected by a single exposure to HIV-infected blood, semen, or vaginal luids. Whether a person becomes infected after being exposed to HIV depends on how the virus enters the body and the amount of virus that enters the body.
3. Tell me how do you react under pressure?
This is a very important question to answer. Most physician specialties require brilliance in the heat of the moment. Highlight your ability to rise to the occasion when it is necessary.
4. Explain me your experience and skills?
Most employers are going to be impressed by institutions with names that they recognize. However, if you did not get your training from a highly recognized school or facility, highlight the accolades that it has as well as why you chose to pursue that institution.
5. Tell me what is the correct way to use a condom?
• Store condoms in a cool place, out of direct sunlight. Check the expiration date on the condom wrapper or box. Condoms that are past their expiration date may break.
• Open the package carefully. Teeth or ingernails can rip the condom.
6. Tell me is there a cure for HIV or AIDS?
No. There is no cure for HIV or AIDS. However, there are medicines that ight HIV and help people with HIV and AIDS live longer, healthier lives.
7. Tell me does sexual contact with many partners increase my risk of getting HIV?
Yes. Having unprotected sex with many partners increases your risk of getting HIV because it increases your chances of coming into contact with someone who has HIV. It also increases your risk of getting other sexually transmitted diseases (like herpes, gonorrhea, chlamydia, venereal warts, or syphilis). Having an STD, in turn, can make you more likely to get HIV
8. Tell me can I get HIV from a mosquito bite?
No. Studies have shown that mosquitoes and other insects do not pass HIV to humans.
When an insect bites a person, it does not inject its own blood or a previous victim's blood into the new victim. It injects only saliva. Unlike the germs that cause malaria and other diseases spread by insect bites, HIV does not reproduce (and therefore cannot survive) in insects. So, even if the virus enters a mosquito or another sucking or biting insect, the insect does not become infected and cannot pass HIV to the next human that it feeds on or bites.
9. Please explain why did you go into medicine?
Resoundingly, our clients expressed their distaste with physicians saying that they went into medicine for the pay. No employer wants to hire a money-hungry physician. Be honest about why you went into medicine. One possible answer: “I want to help people and provide the best medical care that I can.”
10. Explain me can 2 infected people have unprotected sex?
No, because there is the probability of re-infection or cross-infection. In other words, there are sub-strains of the virus and you can pass these to each other and worsen each other's health. An HIV+ person, can become re-infected with a different drug-resistant strain (type) of HIV, if he / she does not practice protected sex
11. Tell me is there a 100% effective way to prevent sexual transmission of HIV?
The only 100% effective way to prevent sexual transmission of HIV is through abstinence – avoiding all vaginal, anal, and oral sex. Using a latex male condom or a female condom can greatly reduce, but not entirely eliminate, the risk of HIV transmission. However, abstinence is the only method to completely eliminate the possibility of sexual transmission of HIV.
12. Tell me can a woman who has HIV pass the virus to her baby?
Yes. A woman who has HIV can pass the virus to her baby during:
• pregnancy;
• delivery; or
• breastfeeding.
There are medicines that women with HIV should take during pregnancy, labor, and delivery and that can be given to their babies just after birth, to greatly reduce the chance that their babies will become infected with HIV. It is best for women to know their HIV status before they become pregnant or very early in their pregnancy so that they can make informed decisions and take full advantage of these medicines. Since HIV is also found in breast milk, women with HIV should not breastfeed their babies.
13. Explain me how is HIV spread during anal sex?
Unprotected anal sex with a person who has HIV or whose HIV status you do not know is the highest-risk sexual activity for both men and women. The walls of the anus and rectum are thin and have many blood vessels that can be injured during anal sex. HIV-infected semen can be easily absorbed through these thin walls and into the bloodstream. Injured tissue in the anus and rectum can expose the penis to blood containing HIV.
Using latex condoms for anal sex lowers HIV risk, but condoms fail more often during anal sex than during vaginal or oral sex. So, protected anal sex is still riskier than protected vaginal or oral sex
14. Tell me can I get HIV from a human bite?
It is very unlikely that a person would get HIV from a human bite. HIV can only be passed in this manner through direct blood-to-blood contact and not by exchanging saliva. To pass the virus, the infected person would need to have blood in his or her mouth and break the skin of the other person. The break in the skin of the uninfected person could allow infected blood to enter his or her bloodstream. If a person who does not have HIV bites and breaks the skin of a person with HIV, transmission of the virus could only occur if the uninfected person has open sores or cuts in the mouth that allow for blood-to-blood contact.
15. Tell me what kind of salary are you looking for?
We try to coach to steer away from talking about salary in an interview. If you say a number that is too high for the hospital, you might be taking yourself out of the race. If you give them a number that is low, you are either leaving money on the table or you are giving the interviewer the impression that you are worth less than the next candidate. Possible answer: “I am looking for at least a competitive salary; I definitely want to receive compensation equal to the effort put forth.”
16. Tell me where do you see yourself in five to ten years?
This question is subjective. If you are a locum tenens physician, your answer is going to be different from other physicians' answers. We recommend that you answer honestly. If you plan on entering retirement in the next five to 10 years, tell the interviewer. It is the most fair to both parties. In some cases, it is even okay to say that you don't know.
17. Tell me what diseases are associated with HIV?
AIDS is a whole bunch of illnesses that come about when your body has been infected with HIV and the body becomes overwhelmed. There are many illnesses associated with AIDS, some of the more common ones are listed below:
☛ - Many forms of rare cancers
☛ - Thrush (in the mouth, throat, stomach, vagina or anus)
☛ - Blindness
☛ - Wasting syndrome (rapid, ongoing weight loss)
☛ - Dementia (memory loss or failure, hallucinations)
☛ - Various lung problems (pneumonia, bronchitis, TB)
18. Tell me what is your biggest career mistake or failure?
The most dreadful of them all. The one where they ask you to take about your own personal mistakes, mess-ups and overall failures.
This one always feels like a trap-how can they possibly give a job to someone who has failed!!-but it's really not. The truth is you're human and you've made a mistake or two on the job before. So has everyone. So has your interviewer.
No one likes talking about failure, but it can be very helpful to a prospective employer to hear you talk about how you handle it. Avoid placing blame on anyone and focus on what you learned from the experience that you choose to share. Again, like your answers to the prior questions, don't be afraid to talk about your personal experiences.
“Never underestimate the power of the story,” Lin says. “It can convince a company that one won't quit at the first sign of a better paycheck.”
(Word to the wise: Don't go into “full honesty” mode on this one. Definitely don't lie, but you may want to avoid telling the interviewer about the three hazmat incidents you caused in your last job.)
How you should answer: “I learned the hard way about how to manage night shifts about five years ago. I was so used to managing day shifts that I realized there was a whole culture of the night shift that I was unfamiliar with. On top of that, the hours were killing me. But I paid attention to my more seasoned colleagues and did some real soul-searching about how I could better handle managing the job. My first six months were tough, but after I made a few key adjustments, I great to really like that job at that time.”
19. Do you know how long can people live with HIV or AIDS?
Medicines that ight HIV have helped many people with HIV and AIDS live years and even decades longer than was possible in the past, before effective treatment was available. HIV treatments are not a cure, and they do not work equally well for everyone, but they have extended the lives of many people with HIV and AIDS.
Without treatment, some people live for just a few years after getting HIV. Others live much longer. Researchers are studying a small number of people with HIV who have not become ill for more than ten years, even without any HIV treatment. However, these people are still infected with HIV and can pass the virus to others.
20. Tell me where do opportunistic infections and cancers occur?
Symptomatic HIV infection is mainly caused by the emergence of opportunistic infections and cancers that normally the immune system would prevent. These can occur in almost all the body systems, but common examples are featured in the table below.
As the table below indicates, symptomatic HIV infection is often characterised by multi-system disease. Treatment for the specific infection or cancer is often carried out, but the underlying cause is the action of HIV as it erodes the immune system. Unless HIV itself can be slowed down the symptoms of immune suppression will continue to worsen.
☛ - System
☛ - Examples of Infection / Cancer
☛ - Respiratory system
☛ - Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia (PCP)
☛ - Tuberculosis (TB)
☛ - Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS)
☛ - Gastro-intestinal system
☛ - Cryptosporidiosis
☛ - Candida
☛ - Cytomegolavirus (CMV)
☛ - Isosporiasis
☛ - Kaposi's Sarcoma
☛ - Central/peripheral Nervous system
☛ - HIV
☛ - Cytomegolavirus
☛ - Toxoplasmosis
☛ - Cryptococcosis
☛ - Non Hodgkin's lymphoma
☛ - Varicella Zoster
☛ - Herpes simplex
☛ - Skin
☛ - Herpes simplex
☛ - Kaposi's sarcoma
☛ - Varicella Zoster
21. Tell me why did you choose [your sector within health care] as a profession?
This is a specific one, and the question itself will be tailored toward you and the job at stake. The gist of it is: Employers want to know your motivations.
An anecdote is the strongest way to address this question, Lin says. Sharing a personal story connects your human side with your clinical skills.
How you should answer: “My father was terribly sick when I was a teenager, and most of my free time was spent in a caregiving role. I admit I surprised myself by how fulfilling I found it. Even though I missed a lot of social events, it instilled in me a drive to provide that level of care to others, which I've done throughout my career.”
22. Tell us what is the difference between anonymous and conidential testing?
If you have a conidential HIV test, you will give your name and other identifying information (age, gender) to the test counselor, doctor, or other health care provider, and the test result will be put in your medical record. The names of people who test positive for HIV are given to the New York State Department of Health to help the department better respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York State. Information about your HIV status is given only to the New York State Department of Health and is kept conidential. The conidentiality of all HIV-related information is protected by New York State Public Health Law.
If you have an anonymous HIV test, you do not have to give your name or any other identifying information. Instead, you are given a code number, which you use to get your test results when you return to the testing site. An anonymous test result is not recorded in your medical record and is not sent to your doctor or to other health care providers. If you test positive for HIV at a site that provides anonymous testing, you can choose to give your name and change the test result to conidential – which allows you to get HIV-related medical care and support services (like housing assistance) without waiting for a second HIV test to conirm the result.
23. Explain can a person with HIV who is not sick or who has no symptoms pass HIV to someone else?
Yes. Any person infected with HIV, even if he or she has no symptoms, can pass HIV to another person. Risk reduction measures still need to be taken
24. Tell me does having a sexually transmitted disease (STD) affect my risk of getting HIV?
Yes. Having an STD, especially herpes or syphilis sores, increases your risk of getting HIV and giving HIV to a partner. Other STDs, like gonorrhea or chlamydia, also increase your risk of becoming infected with HIV.
STDs change the cells that line the vagina, penis, rectum, or mouth, which can cause open sores to develop. These sores make it easier for HIV to enter the body. Any inlammation or sore caused by an STD also makes it easier for HIV to enter the bloodstream during sexual contact.
If you already have an STD, you are more likely to get infected with HIV during unprotected sex with someone who has HIV.
If you already have an STD, you are more likely to get infected with HIV during unprotected sex with someone who has HIV.
Studies have shown that STDs increase the amount of HIV in the semen and vaginal luids of people infected with HIV because of increased inlammation in the area. Therefore, if you have HIV and an STD, you are more likely to pass HIV to your partner during unprotected sex. Studies have also shown that treatment for STDs may reduce HIV transmission.
Many STDs do not cause symptoms, especially in women. It is important for sexually active men and women to get tested for STDs regularly, even if they have no symptoms.
25. Tell me can injecting vitamins, steroids, hormones, or insulin put me at risk for HIV infection?
It can if you share injection equipment. HIV can be passed any time you share equipment to inject drugs, vitamins, hormones, insulin, steroids, or any other substance intravenously (IV) into a vein, into your muscles, or under your skin. Always use new, sterile needles and syringes when injecting any substance into your body. If you must reuse a needle, clean it with bleach
26. Explain what is the status of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York State?
As of December 2007, more than 180,674 persons in New York State had been diagnosed with AIDS; approximately 73,889 of those persons are still living. Of those 73,889 persons living with AIDS:
• 44% are African American.
• 30% are Hispanic.
• 25% are white.
• 0.7% are Asian/Paciic Islander.
• 0.1% are Native American.
• 26% are women.
• 5% are under the age of 25.
• 15% are over the age of 50.
AIDS has been diagnosed in people living in every county of New York State.
However, 79% of New Yorkers currently living with AIDS were living in New York
City at the time they were diagnosed.
In June 2000, New York State began reporting cases of people diagnosed with HIV only (not AIDS) in addition to reporting AIDS cases. Since then, New York State counts and reports HIV cases separately from AIDS cases. As of June 30,
2007, there were 46,040 persons in New York State living with HIV (but not AIDS).
Of those persons:
• 44% are African American.
• 29% are Hispanic.
• 24% are white.
• 1.3% are Asian/Paciic Islanders.
• 0.1% are Native American.
• 33% are women.
• 8% are under the age of 25.
• 26% are over the age of 50.
Of those New Yorkers who are currently living with HIV (but not AIDS), 77% of them were living in New York City at the time they were diagnosed.
The State Department of Health also tracks the “risk factors” identiied by people who test positive for HIV. The risk factor is the most likely way a person became infected. Of the persons currently living with AIDS in New York State:
• 29% have a risk factor of using intravenous drugs.
• 30% are men with a risk factor of having sex with men.
• 16% have a risk factor of heterosexual sex.
Injection drug use (through sexual contact with an injection drug user, or infants infected prenatally) was the direct or indirect cause of infection for 44 percent of the persons in New York State who were living with AIDS as of December 2002.
Of all cases with known risk, 52.3 percent are directly or indirectly attributable to injection drug use.
27. Tell me who is at risk for getting HIV?
A person of any age, sex, race, ethnic group, religion, economic background, or sexual orientation can get HIV.
Those who are most at risk are:
• people who have “unprotected sex” with someone who has HIV. Unprotected sex means vaginal, anal, or oral sex without using a condom.
• people who share needles, syringes, or other equipment to inject drugs, steroids, or even vitamins or medicine with someone who has HIV.
• Babies can potentially become infected during their mothers' pregnancy, during delivery, or after birth in the immediate post-partum period. They can also become infected through breastfeeding.
A person of any age, sex, race, ethnic group, religion, economic background, or sexual orientation can get HIV.
• Health care and maintenance workers who may be exposed to blood and/or body luids at work sometimes get infected through on-the-job exposures like needle-stick injuries
28. Explain me what are the symptoms of HIV?
There are many different symptoms that can indicate HIV infection. However, many of these symptoms are similar to other common illnesses. The most common symptoms are very similar to the early stages of flu or a cold but without the runny nose.
They include:-
☛ - Fatigue (feeling tired)
☛ - Slight fever that lasts for a few weeks
☛ - Headaches
☛ - Muscular pain
☛ - Not wanting to eat normally
☛ - Feeling sick or nauseous
☛ - Swollen glands in the groin or under your arms or at the back of your neck
☛ - Sometimes a rash that will not go away
☛ - Sometimes a dry cough that is unrelated to smoking
☛ - Woman also tend to have a persistent vaginal thrush that doesn't heal rapidly
If you have any of these symptoms and they continue for more than a few weeks, get to your doctor or clinic. Remember, early intervention is the key to living longer with HIV.
29. CLINICAL GOVERNANCE & SAFE PRACTICE Based HIV Consultant Job Interview Questions:
☛ What makes you think that you are safe?
☛ How do you know that you are safe ?
☛ How can we make sure that you are performing to the standards of Good Medical Practice?
☛ Tell us about your day-to-day experience of clinical governance.
☛ What contribution can you make to clinical governance in your new consultant post?
☛ How do you keep up to date?
☛ How do you identify your weaknesses and deficiencies?
☛ What contribution can you make to risk management?
☛ Do you believe in a no-blame culture?
☛ When did you last have to complete a critical incident form?
☛ How would you encourage your team to complete critical incident forms each time it is appropriate?
☛ What are the hurdles to implementing clinical governance in a department?
☛ Tell us about a recent clinical mistake that you have made.
☛ Tell us about your biggest mistake.
☛ Tell us about a situation where you felt out of your depth.
☛ When is the last time that you had to seek senior help?
☛ Do you think that it is acceptable for consultants to ask for help?
☛ Tell us about your audit experience.
☛ How does patient feedback influence your practice?
☛ How responsive are you to your patients' needs?
☛ Tell us about the most difficult clinical situation you have faced.
30. DERMATOLOGY Based HIV Consultant Job Interview Questions:
☛ What service would you develop in your department and how?
☛ How would you reduce the costs of the department by 20%?
☛ How do you know that your teaching methods work?
☛ Are there any published studies on the outcomes of teaching?
☛ To produce a good undergraduate teaching, we will need to run less clinics or see less patients in clinics. How can you defend/argue this?
☛ Our hospital has poor feedback on patient experience. What one thing do you think we could change to improve this?
☛ In the current times when there is demand to see more patients, how can you defend spending time in research?
☛ What is the most interesting paper you have read this year and why?
☛ There is pressure to move some specialities into the community. What arguments would you use to keep your speciality hospital-based?
31. RESEARCH Based HIV Consultant Job Interview Questions:
☛ Tell us about your research experience.
☛ What is your understanding and experience of research governance?
☛ What did you gain from your research?
☛ Do you think that all trainees should do research?
☛ What is the role and importance of research for a junior trainee?
☛ How do you go about seeking ethical approval?
☛ What are NRECs?
☛ How would you go about seeking funding for your research?
☛ Why should a DGH care about research when there are more pressing issues such as service provision and profitability?
☛ Should all research be carried in tertiary centres or do DGHs have a role?
32. NEONATOLOGY Based HIV Consultant Job Interview Questions:
☛ Take me through your CV concentrating on the clinical aspects.
☛ What personal attributes do you have that make you suitable for this post?
☛ Which part of the service do you want to develop?
☛ What are the challenges facing Neonatology?
☛ How can we improve communication between Obstetrics & Neonatology?
☛ How can training for junior doctors be improved?
☛ How do research and audit fit into business planning?
☛ What are the challenges caused by EWTD?
33. OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY Based HIV Consultant Job Interview Questions:
☛ Presentation on "How would you use the opportunity to make the services in this hospital first class?"
☛ Tell us about yourself.
☛ How do your friends describe you?
☛ You have not done any research or publication, has this been a conscious decision...not to be involved in research?
☛ Would you like to continue your masters in medical education? Is it a part-time or distance learning course.
☛ What do you think of GMC revalidation?
☛ How will you provide leadership to such a big unit?
☛ Is there anything you learned in other units that you would like to bring to our unit?
☛ You said you want to set up combined obstetrics and cardiac medicine clinic in the unit....will that improve outcome for patients?
☛ A midwife comes to you and complains that the SHO on call for labour ward is seen to use opiates on duty and seen to walk around with hypodermic needles and syringe in his pockets. How will you handle this situation?
☛ How will you develop the education programme or the post-graduate trainees in the unit?
☛ Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
☛ Do you feel you are ready to become a consultant?
☛ Tell us about a recent NICE guideline which you tried to implement in your department. What problems did you face in implementation?
☛ What experience have you had as a registrar which would help you meet the challenges of the role of a consultant?
☛ Do you feel you had enough time for your training...did EWTD affect it in anyway?
☛ Tell us about a recent AIRS form that you filled in.
☛ If we employ you, what will you do for the first 6 months?
☛ Chief Executive: If you get the job, what will you ask me?
☛ What is the risk in employing you? How can we help mitigate the risk?
☛ Do you have any questions for us?
34. PAEDIATRIC ANAESTHESIA/PICU Based HIV Consultant Job Interview Questions:
☛ Can you tell me how your training has prepared you for a post as a Consultant in Paediatric Anaesthesia?
☛ Panel requested more detail on a couple of audits
☛ This is not an academic post but how will you contribute to academic anaesthesia at this trust?
☛ In 5 years time, a post for a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Undergraduate training is advertised. Would you be interested?
☛ You are in theatre with a diaphragmatic hernia when another surgeon tells you he has a really sick neonate in NICU with NEC. How will you manage this?
☛ You are repairing a hernia thoracoscopically when you suddenly find the child's CO2 goes up. How will you manage this situation?
☛ Bearing in mind the HDU/ITU facilities in this hospital, how will manage a child who needs a Nissen's fundoplication who has suddenly aspirated while on the ward?
☛ How do you measure efficiency?
☛ What efficiency strategies would you like to introduce if you were appointed?
☛ Where do you see the role of Chelsea in North West London in the Paediatric Surgical Network?
☛ You will have read about CQUINS and QIPPS in preparation for your interview. What do you understand by the term innovation?
☛ What innovations will you introduce to the trust?
☛ You are in theatre with a trainee who isn't performing to the standards that you would expect. You question him during a long boring case and find out that about 2 weeks ago, he was with a senior colleague who shouted at him in front of the whole theatre team and he has been feeling very demotivated since. How do you handle this?
☛ He then tells you he could smell alcohol on your colleague's breath. How do you handle this?
☛ How do you deal with a senior underperforming trainee?
☛ How would you respond to a complaint letter?
35. PATHOLOGY Based HIV Consultant Job Interview Questions:
☛ What is the difference between clinical governance and clinical effectiveness?
☛ Describe an audit which you have done.
☛ Where do you see your role given the planned restructuring of pathology services (Carter report) and what are the advantages and disadvantages of the proposals.
☛ What makes a good leader!
☛ Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
☛ What advancements do you think you will have made to the department and how do you plan to develop the service over the next 5 years?
☛ Are you happy just giving clinical advice (as a consult) without full responsibility of the patient? What do you do if the advice is then ignored?
☛ How would you save costs in pathology?
