Correct Answer: how far pharmacists should be allowed to prescribe
Passage Reference: we support letting pharmacists in Nova Scotia treat more common conditions
Why this is correct: The editorial supports letting pharmacists treat more common conditions. Each person quoted takes a view on how far and how fast that should go.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, read what the writers support in the first paragraph. Then check what every speaker keeps arguing about.
Why the other options are wrong:
- why walk-in clinics close so early: The walk-in clinic appears only in a reader’s story about a long wait. Nobody discusses closing times.
- a plan to train more nurse practitioners: Thakur says nurse practitioners are scarce, but nobody proposes a plan to train more of them.
- how to lower the price of common drugs: Aubin talks about the fee for an assessment, not the price of drugs.
Correct Answer: Cyril Fraser
Passage Reference: He warns that a mild cough or rash can mask heart trouble or an immune disease.
Why this is correct: Cyril Fraser warns that a mild cough or rash can mask heart trouble or an immune disease. So a minor-looking problem may be serious.
Tips: Look for a speaker who “warns” about cases that seem simple. Read each speaker’s quoted words carefully.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Juliette Pepin: Juliette Pepin argues that many minor visits never needed a doctor, which is the opposite of worrying that they hide serious illness.
- Deepa Thakur: Deepa Thakur worries about gaps in rural care and unequal rules, not about symptoms hiding disease.
- Montgomery Aubin: Montgomery Aubin worries that fees will make poor patients delay care. The warning about hidden illness is Fraser’s.
Correct Answer: low-income patients who put off care because of fees
Passage Reference: patients with little money will keep putting off care
Why this is correct: Aubin warns about fees. If pharmacy assessments are not covered like doctor visits, patients with little money will keep putting off care. Evidence of low-income patients delaying care because of fees would support that concern.
Tips: Find Aubin’s reason in the third paragraph. The right choice is evidence that shows his fear already coming true.
Why the other options are wrong:
- clinic data on visits that never needed a doctor: Data on minor visits would support Pepin’s case for wider prescribing, not Aubin’s concern about fees.
- rural towns with no nurse practitioner nearby: Rural towns without nurse practitioners would support Thakur’s point about gaps in care shared among several professions.
- patients who use several different pharmacies: Patients spread across several pharmacies would support Fraser’s worry about scattered histories, not Aubin’s point about money.
Correct Answer: each profession would carry the same coverage and training
Passage Reference: every profession must carry the same malpractice coverage and complete the same yearly training
Why this is correct: Thakur backs Pepin’s list on one condition. Every profession must carry the same malpractice coverage and complete the same yearly training. So her condition calls for equal coverage and training for all of them.
Tips: Look for the words “on one condition” in Thakur’s lines. The sentence after them tells you what she needs.
Why the other options are wrong:
- pharmacists would carry less coverage than nurses: Thakur wants coverage to be the same for every profession, so lighter coverage for pharmacists would break her condition.
- rural clinics would hire physicians and nobody else: Thakur says small towns rely on care shared among several professions, so she does not want clinics staffed only by physicians.
- nurse practitioners would give up their prescribing: Thakur is a nurse practitioner who says they are scarce. She never suggests they stop prescribing.
Correct Answer: in favour, but only step by step
Passage Reference: we support letting pharmacists in Nova Scotia treat more common conditions ... we also believe the expansion has to come in steps
Why this is correct: The editorial says “we support letting pharmacists” treat more conditions, but that “the expansion has to come in steps.” It recommends adding “a few conditions at a time.”
Tips: Read the writers’ view in the first paragraph and their advice in the last one. Restate that view simply, then test each choice.
Why the other options are wrong:
- opposed until more doctors are hired: The writers support the change now and never say more doctors must be hired first.
- eager to add every condition at once: In the last paragraph, the writers recommend adding a few conditions at a time, not all at once.
- neutral, leaving the choice to readers: Notice that the writers take a clear side and make a detailed recommendation to the province.
Correct Answer: bladder infections
Passage Reference: trained pharmacists already treat bladder infections
Why this is correct: Pepin argues that trained pharmacists already treat bladder infections, prescribe birth control and test for strep throat.
Tips: The comment names Pepin and asks what pharmacists already handle. Look for her list of what they do now in the second paragraph.
Why the other options are wrong:
- sprained ankles: Sprains are never mentioned. Pepin lists bladder infections, birth control and strep throat.
- high blood pressure: Blood pressure is not on Pepin’s list of what pharmacists already handle.
- skin cancer checks: Skin cancer checks are never mentioned in the editorial.
Correct Answer: check new prescriptions the same day
Passage Reference: the patient’s family doctor can check on the day a prescription is written
Why this is correct: Pepin wants the list tied to one electronic file. The patient’s family doctor can check it on the day a prescription is written.
Tips: Pepin has a second idea about records. Read what the family doctor could do with the electronic file.
Why the other options are wrong:
- renew prescriptions without a visit: Pepin never says doctors would renew anything through the file. She wants them to check what was prescribed.
- cancel a pharmacist’s order: Pepin never suggests doctors should cancel pharmacists’ orders. The file is there so doctors can check them.
- book follow-up visits online: Online booking is never mentioned in the editorial.
Correct Answer: a same-day callback line to physicians
Passage Reference: he wants red-flag checklists and a same-day callback line to physicians
Why this is correct: Before any new condition is added, the family doctor wants red-flag checklists and a same-day callback line to physicians.
Tips: The comment calls him the family doctor. Look for “Before any new condition is added” and read the two things he wants.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a second pharmacist on every shift: Fraser never asks for more pharmacists on a shift. He wants checklists and a callback line.
- a doctor’s signature on each order: Fraser does not ask doctors to sign every order. He wants pharmacists able to call a physician the same day.
- a yearly exam for every pharmacist: Yearly exams are never mentioned. Training comes up only in Thakur’s condition.
Correct Answer: care shared among several professions
Passage Reference: small towns have long depended on care shared among nurses, pharmacists and doctors
Why this is correct: Thakur notes that small towns have long depended on care shared among nurses, pharmacists and doctors.
Tips: The comment names Thakur. Find what she says small towns have long depended on.
Why the other options are wrong:
- air ambulance flights: Air ambulances are never mentioned in the editorial.
- doctors who visit weekly: Thakur never mentions visiting doctors. She says small towns rely on care shared among several professions.
- online video clinics: Video clinics are never mentioned. Thakur talks about care shared among several professions.
Correct Answer: seven hours
Passage Reference: she had waited seven hours at a walk-in clinic
Why this is correct: The editorial opens with a reader who waited seven hours at a walk-in clinic for a throat swab and a prescription.
Tips: The comment mentions the reader who waited. Look at the first sentence for how long the wait was, and do not confuse it with the pharmacist’s time.
Why the other options are wrong:
- three days: The reader’s wait was measured in hours, not days: seven hours at the clinic.
- two hours: The reader waited seven hours, not two.
- most of a week: The reader waited seven hours in one day, not most of a week.
