CRNA interview questions (Midwestern University)

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In case you're on here wondering what kind of questions to expect in a CRNA interview, specifically for Midwestern University, here were mine:

"Soft questions"

1. Why do you want to be a CRNA?

2. Why this school?

3. If we asked your coworkers, what would they say are your major weaknesses?

4. What are your major strengths?

5. How do you feel about moving/traveling for clinicals? Any concerns?

6. Are you applying to other schools? (yes). What would make you pick MWU over another school if admitted?

7. What are some contemporary political issues involving CRNAs? Do you keep up with the profession in general?

8. Did you shadow? (yes, a lot). Was it a job requirements or volunteer?

"Hard questions"

These were highly dependent on the information I volunteered and my personal background in my unit.

1. what kind of patients do you take care of?

2. Tell me the steps of RSI and the steps you take when you can't get an airway. (I intubate patients in my current RN role and volunteered this information). Do you look direct or use videolaryngoscopy?

2. what kind of drugs do you usually give for RSI? Answer: ketamine, Roc, propofol

3. Tell me all about ketamine and "side effects" that might benefit your patient.

4. Tell me about Roc. Is it a depolarizing agent?

5. What kind of advanced procedures do you complete? what are the landmarks for those procedures?

6. What sort of monitor do you use? (zoll X series). What sort of monitoring do you do with it? (ETCO2, SPO2, ECG, P1-P3 invasive line capabilities). Where does an art line transducer go on the patient? What happens if it falls on the floor and was hanging lower than the patient, what would the pleth/pressure look like?

7. What ACLS drugs do you carry? Epi, atropine, lidocaine, etc.

8. Tell me all about epinephrine.

9. Your patient has received several units of blood products. What sort of metabolic derangements might you expect, and what will you see on the monitor as a result?

10. Your patient is in Afib. How do you treat it. (left it vague and up to my interpretation for rate/stable vs. not/drugs vs. electricity).

Notable topics omitted: labs, specifically ABG interpretation (which I expected from other interviews), discussion of bicarb/lactate/significant metabolic derangements. Organs and their purpose/actions. Significant delving into polarization/depolarization/action potential. Discussion of sympathetic vs. parasympathetic nervous system and receptors/neurotransmitters. Deeper discussion of less utilized drugs. Full discussion of the sickest patient I've taken care of recently. More complicated scenario based questions.

This was in 2021 and a virtual with a panel of 6 faculty lasting exactly 30 minutes. Most questions were asked by one individual. I was able to ask approximately 5 questions at the end. They were very respectful and I never felt "targeted" or picked on as can happen in these interviews. Overall it was low pressure.

Good luck!