Pediatrician interview questions and answers

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Pediatrician Interview Questions

If you’re a hospital, clinic or other healthcare facility that wants to hire a pediatrician, there are many aspects you need to consider. As with every doctor, they need to have a high level of expertise in their specialty (even if they aren’t very experienced). Additionally, they need the ability to build rapport with children, which is often more difficult than with adults. They also need patience, critical thinking and the ability to “read” symptoms since their young patients often can’t express what they feel.

During the interview, try to first establish the level of their professional knowledge. Ask about different research they have done or papers they may have published. It’d be useful to look for those who have a background in a subject that matches the needs of the department you’re hiring for (e.g. developmental delays or infant epidemiology). You may also find that pediatricians with experience in dealing with emergencies have a different profile than the ones who are more experienced in routine examinations.

The rest of the interview should be geared towards evaluating their judgement and soft skills. Ask situational questions to make sure they can think clearly and thoroughly in different situations. Questions about their past behavior can also be useful. The following list will give you an idea of how to look for the most important skills.

Operational and Situational questions

• If a child complained about a continuous pain on their leg for the past two weeks, what would you suspect?
• Imagine that a parent calls and tells you their child has high fever and a rush. How do you respond?
• If two children come into the emergency room at the same time and one is crying while the other is silent, which one do you attend to first?
• What would you tell a parent who isn’t sure that they should vaccinate their baby?

Role-specific questions

• When was the last pediatrics conference you attended? What did you get out of it?
• Is there a particular pediatrics subject you’re interested in?
• Do you have experience in mass screening?
• Can you explain the meaning of triage?
• What’s the process of examining a newborn?
• How do you decide when to prescribe an antibiotic? How do you decide which one?
• What’s your experience with online prescription systems?
• How many children have you attended to from birth to adulthood?

Behavioral questions

• Tell me about a time you had to face an uncooperative child. How did you handle it?
• Recall a time you had a disagreement with a parent. What did you do?
• Describe a time you had to determine the symptoms of a child who was only crying without complaining
• Give me an example of a time you felt fulfilment for your job