"Our Controller recently came down with pneumonia the week of a major client presentation. He sent me what he had prepared, and I had to fill in the blanks. As an Analyst, being in a client-facing role was a bit out of my wheelhouse, but I adapted quickly and reminded myself that my team needed me."

Walk the interviewer through your decision-making process. Perhaps you go with a gut feeling, or maybe you rely on your education/experience. Maybe you rely on case studies that you have read in these instances. Trusting your gut is a skill, and the more you learn to trust your intuition, the easier it becomes to make these types of decisions. Demonstrate that you are confident and able to react swiftly when the need arises.

"When there is a quick solution I am eager to do the work and solve the problem. I try to respond efficiently and accomplish the mission. For example on clinical rotation there was a patient who needed to be taken to their car by wheel chair, but it was an hour wait before a transport assistant could help them. I asked for permission from my supervisor and then escorted them in the wheelchair myself."

"My past experiences have shown me that I thrive under pressure and am comfortable being uncomfortable in those types of situations. My method of solving them usually involves taking a moment to fully assess the situation and think of my top few options for solving it, both with conventional resources or other approaches I may not have tried in the past. Based off of this, I would choose the option that provided the maximum benefit with the least amount of risk or harm possible. Making decisions with incomplete information is difficult, but definitely at the core of what EM physicians do every day."