Community pharmacy: roles, responsibilities and relationships MCQs With Answer

Introduction:

This quiz collection focuses on “Community pharmacy: roles, responsibilities and relationships” tailored for M.Pharm students. It explores the expanded clinical, managerial and public-health roles of community pharmacists beyond traditional dispensing—covering medication therapy management, immunization, antimicrobial stewardship, pharmacovigilance, legal and ethical duties, patient counseling, interprofessional collaboration and supply chain management. The questions emphasize application and critical thinking required at postgraduate level, reinforcing concepts about patient safety, regulatory frameworks, documentation, referral pathways and professional communication with prescribers and other healthcare providers. Use these MCQs to assess and deepen your understanding of the multifaceted community pharmacist role in modern primary care settings.

Q1. What is the primary purpose of Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services provided by community pharmacists?

• To increase sales of prescription medications
• To resolve drug therapy problems and optimize therapeutic outcomes
• To dispense medications faster
• To substitute prescribed medicines with generics without notifying prescribers

Correct Answer: To resolve drug therapy problems and optimize therapeutic outcomes

Q2. Which legal responsibility is specifically required of community pharmacists when dispensing controlled substances?

• Keeping verbal records only
• Maintaining accurate controlled substance transaction records and adhering to prescription validation rules
• Allowing any prescription to be filled without verification
• Dispensing without checking patient identity

Correct Answer: Maintaining accurate controlled substance transaction records and adhering to prescription validation rules

Q3. In a multidisciplinary primary-care team, the community pharmacist’s most valuable contribution is usually:

• Prescribing all medications independently
• Providing expertise on medication selection, dosing, interactions and adherence
• Performing surgical procedures
• Managing hospital bed allocation

Correct Answer: Providing expertise on medication selection, dosing, interactions and adherence

Q4. Which activity best exemplifies community pharmacists’ role in public health?

• Only stocking over-the-counter cosmetics
• Delivering immunization services, health screenings and smoking cessation counseling
• Charging patients for physician consultations
• Manufacturing vaccines on-site

Correct Answer: Delivering immunization services, health screenings and smoking cessation counseling

Q5. When a pharmacist identifies a potential adverse drug reaction (ADR), the appropriate professional action is to:

• Ignore it if the patient seems fine
• Document the event, counsel the patient and report to the pharmacovigilance system as required
• Replace the medicine without consulting anyone
• Refer the patient to a non-healthcare acquaintance

Correct Answer: Document the event, counsel the patient and report to the pharmacovigilance system as required

Q6. Which practice supports medication adherence most effectively in community pharmacy settings?

• Giving large quantities of medications without counseling
• Providing individualized counseling, adherence aids (e.g., pillboxes), and follow-up
• Refusing to answer patient questions
• Only providing written leaflets with no verbal explanation

Correct Answer: Providing individualized counseling, adherence aids (e.g., pillboxes), and follow-up

Q7. For antimicrobial stewardship in community pharmacies, which action is most appropriate?

• Dispensing antibiotics for viral infections without prescriber input
• Educating patients about appropriate use, verifying prescriptions and liaising with prescribers when necessary
• Stockpiling multiple antibiotic classes for convenience
• Replacing antibiotics with herbal remedies

Correct Answer: Educating patients about appropriate use, verifying prescriptions and liaising with prescribers when necessary

Q8. Which record-keeping practice is essential to maintain patient confidentiality and continuity of care in community pharmacy?

• Leaving patient profiles accessible to any visitor
• Securely storing patient medication records, limiting access and documenting interventions
• Discarding patient records after one day
• Sharing records without consent for marketing

Correct Answer: Securely storing patient medication records, limiting access and documenting interventions

Q9. When a community pharmacist is unsure about an unclear prescription, the best professional step is to:

• Guess the dose and dispense
• Contact the prescriber for clarification before dispensing
• Refuse to serve the patient entirely
• Substitute any available drug of the same class

Correct Answer: Contact the prescriber for clarification before dispensing

Q10. Which competency is most critical for effective communication between community pharmacists and physicians?

• Technical jargon without explanation
• Clear, concise, evidence-based recommendations and respectful collaboration
• Aggressive insistence on changing prescriptions
• Only communicating via social media

Correct Answer: Clear, concise, evidence-based recommendations and respectful collaboration

Q11. In terms of supply chain management, a key responsibility of community pharmacists is to:

• Ignore expiration dates and sell expired stock
• Ensure appropriate procurement, storage (temperature control) and stock rotation to maintain product quality
• Purchase medications from unverified sources to cut costs
• Store all medicines openly in sunlight

Correct Answer: Ensure appropriate procurement, storage (temperature control) and stock rotation to maintain product quality

Q12. Which of the following best describes the pharmacist’s role in screening for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the community?

• Performing laboratory-based diagnostic tests for all conditions
• Providing point-of-care screenings (e.g., blood pressure, glucose), risk assessment and referral to physicians
• Deterring patients from seeing physicians
• Offering no preventive services

Correct Answer: Providing point-of-care screenings (e.g., blood pressure, glucose), risk assessment and referral to physicians

Q13. Ethical responsibility of a community pharmacist when encountering a prescription with potential conflict of interest is to:

• Dispense regardless of ethical concerns
• Disclose the conflict, decline inappropriate requests and follow professional codes
• Favor prescribers who give incentives
• Keep silent to maintain business

Correct Answer: Disclose the conflict, decline inappropriate requests and follow professional codes

Q14. Which documentation is most important when a pharmacist provides an extended service such as immunization or MTM?

• No documentation is necessary
• Detailed clinical notes including consent, interventions, outcomes and communication with other providers
• Only the date is required
• Documenting only financial charges

Correct Answer: Detailed clinical notes including consent, interventions, outcomes and communication with other providers

Q15. How can community pharmacists contribute to reducing medication errors at the prescribing stage?

• By ignoring unclear prescriptions
• By performing medication reconciliation, reviewing therapy for interactions and communicating suggested changes to prescribers
• By making unilateral changes without documentation
• By refusing to discuss therapy with prescribers

Correct Answer: By performing medication reconciliation, reviewing therapy for interactions and communicating suggested changes to prescribers

Q16. Which strategy helps build trustful relationships between community pharmacists and patients from diverse cultural backgrounds?

• Assuming all patients have the same beliefs
• Using culturally sensitive communication, respecting beliefs and providing tailored counseling
• Refusing service to patients with different cultures
• Only providing written instructions in one language

Correct Answer: Using culturally sensitive communication, respecting beliefs and providing tailored counseling

Q17. When faced with a medication shortage, an ethical and professional approach by the pharmacist includes:

• Hoarding remaining stock for higher profits
• Assessing clinical urgency, seeking therapeutic alternatives and informing prescribers and patients transparently
• Selling the shortage stock only to select customers
• Ceasing all communication about availability

Correct Answer: Assessing clinical urgency, seeking therapeutic alternatives and informing prescribers and patients transparently

Q18. What is a key performance indicator (KPI) relevant to quality improvement in community pharmacy practice?

• Number of promotional posters displayed
• Rate of documented medication reviews, immunization uptake and reported adverse events
• Number of hours the pharmacy remains closed
• Volume of candy sold at the counter

Correct Answer: Rate of documented medication reviews, immunization uptake and reported adverse events

Q19. Confidential patient counseling in a community pharmacy is best achieved by:

• Discussing sensitive information loudly at the counter
• Providing a private consultation area and ensuring conversations cannot be overheard
• Refusing to provide counseling
• Giving out patient details to family members without consent

Correct Answer: Providing a private consultation area and ensuring conversations cannot be overheard

Q20. In building collaborative relationships with other healthcare providers, the pharmacist should prioritize which communication style?

• Confrontational and unilateral directives
• Interprofessional, respectful, evidence-based and solution-focused dialogue
• Only brief text messages with no details
• Withholding clinical insights to avoid disagreement

Correct Answer: Interprofessional, respectful, evidence-based and solution-focused dialogue

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