Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

Duties

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The ambulatory care clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) is responsible for planning, implementing and operating the clinical pharmacy programs he/she is assigned to cover in the pain management interdisciplinary team. The CPS is the medication expert in these assigned areas. He/she functions as a consultant to other health care professionals. The incumbent functions at the highest level of clinical practice, work independently under their scope of practice as defined by the individual medical center to directly care for patients.

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

Program Management

• Accepts a shared responsibility for the overall management of clinic, including but not limited to developing & maintaining clinic grids, sustaining clinic utilization, managing missed opportunities, coordinating clinic cancellations, and restructuring as necessary to effectively maintain patient care in response to staffing needs.
• Accepts a shared responsibility in the development and ongoing review of all policies and operating procedures specific to clinical practice area.
• Responsible for the appropriate, effective and safe use of pharmaceuticals within practice area. Initiates quality assurance and improvement activities, including but not limited to medication use evaluations, medication management, monitoring and safety, criteria development, and policy creation and/or revision, that demonstrate improved patient care outcomes.
• Responsible for identifying, measuring, and reporting relevant outcomes as related to specific clinical pharmacy practice.
• Contributes to budgetary stewardship by incorporating cost savings initiatives into clinical practice and identifying potential cost reduction opportunities to improve overall healthcare services.
• Independently resolves provider and patient care issues, concerns, and questions as related to clinical practice.

Clinical Functions

• Provides clinical coverage in the pharmacist-run clinics in pain management.
• Operates independently under a defined scope of practice to initiate, change, and discontinue prescription and OTC medications, devices, and supplies in an outpatient clinical pharmacy practice setting. In collaboration with the appropriate provider, provides additional advanced medication services outside of defined clinical scope without need for provider co-signature and excluding controlled substances.
• Incorporates pharmacoeconomic considerations into clinical practice to promote cost-effective and evidenced-based drug therapy, considering but not limited to drug selection, dosage form, administration frequency, duration of therapy, monitoring, and efficacy.
• Actively participates in the process of medication reconciliation including updating the medication profile to reflect an accurate, active list of VA and non-VA medications, and discontinuing duplicate medications or medications that the patient is not taking.
• Manages out-of-stock situations by substituting alternate dosage strengths.
• Ensures adherence with the VA formulary and P&T Committee drug therapy & policy recommendations.

Distributive Functions

• Verifies computer prescriptions (with provider order entry) for patients in his/her assigned clinic area or other areas as assigned.
• Coordinates medication orders with central pharmacy or CMOP when necessary.
• Participates with the pharmacy management in formulation and implementation of policies and procedures to assure accurate preparation, compounding and dispensing of all therapeutic and diagnostic agents and other supplies furnished by Pharmacy Service to beneficiaries through the various inpatient and outpatient functional areas.

Educational Functions

• Precepts pharmacy students, PGY-1 and PGY-2 pharmacy residents including providing constructive feedback regarding quality of educational experience and preceptor interaction/involvement.
• Participates in the education and training of new employees or employees introduced to selected practice areas.

Administrative Functions

• Assumes an ownership role for administrative activities related to advanced practice setting, including reviewing consults in a timely manner, accurately completing and closing encounters, independently resolving provider and patient care issues, and assuring appropriate coverage for clinical services.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00AM-4:30PM

Telework: Ad-hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 62093F

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.Contact [redacted], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).
• Education: Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a baccalaureate degree in pharmacy (BS Pharmacy) and/or a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. Verification of approved degree programs may be obtained from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 20 North Clark Street, Suite 2500, Chicago, Illinois [redacted]; phone: [redacted], or through their Web site at: http://www.acpe-accredit.org/. (NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree program. Today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy.)
  
  • Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet- Based Test (TOEFL iBT).
• Licensure: Full, current and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia. The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has, or has ever had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only in accordance with the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).Grandfathering Provision. All licensed pharmacists employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:(1) Employees grandfathered into the GS-660 occupational series may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.(2) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration, that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation(3) If a licensed pharmacist who was retained under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations:

GS-13 Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. At the GS-12 grade level, the clinical pharmacist handles routine medication-related activities in accordance with local, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and national policies and regulations. These include, but are not limited to: reviewing, interpreting, and verifying medication orders for appropriateness; processing and filling medication orders; interacting with and making recommendations to other clinical staff regarding medication therapy ordered to ensure safe and effective care; reviewing the patient's medications, allergies, labs, and other pertinent information from the medical record to identify and solve medication-related problems; contacting providers as appropriate; documenting recommendations and interventions; providing refill extensions and partial medication supplies; taking health and medication histories; performing medication reconciliation; providing drug information; assisting in formulary management including therapeutic substitutions, nonformulary reviews and medication usage evaluations; documenting and assessing adverse drug events (ADEs); assisting in medical emergencies; providing oversight of technical staff in all aspects of medication distribution. Pharmacists at the GS-12 level must demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs):

• Knowledge of professional pharmacy practice.
• Ability to communicate orally and in writing to both patients and health care staff.
• Knowledge of laws, regulations, and accreditation standards related to the distribution and control of scheduled and non-scheduled drugs and pharmacy security.
• Skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.

Additionally, applicants must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.
• Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area.
• Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise.
• Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy.
• Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.

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