Summary

The Oncology Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner (CPP) is responsible for oncology pharmacy care activities, including care of patients receiving chemotherapy and other oncological and hematological therapies. Privileges will be granted to practice as a provider under the supervision of NTO pharmacy program manager as directed by the chief of NTO. The NTO CPP will serve in many key roles in the care of oncology patients as a highly trained expert functioning with a scope of practice.

Duties

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• The primary role of the Oncology CPP is to serve as a core member of the oncology team, providing direct patient care serving their patients through the provision of oncology pharmacy services. Provides care based on physical, psychosocial, educational, safety, and related criteria, appropriate to the age of the patients served in the assigned areas (i.e. adult and geriatric populations)
• Delivers care through a team or consult based approach
• Provides expert guidance to the oncology team in regard to treatment selection, comprehensive treatment plan review, supportive care, and assistance with monitoring for safety and efficacy of the prescribed treatment. This may include toxicity checks, oral anticancer therapy management, medication reconciliation, management of benign hematology treatment, E-Consults, and enrollment and evaluation for REMS programs
• Collaborates closely with the spoke site pharmacy teams to ensure safe and timely delivery of anticancer therapy
• Uses clinical screening tools to evaluate and assess patients
• Serves as an authoritative information source on drugs and their utilization in therapy
• Evaluates the drug literature by analysis of experimental design and evaluation, in order to compare and contrast therapeutic regimens and roles for new drugs as it applies to patient care
• Evaluates prescribed drug therapy and communicates daily to physicians/pharmacists for appropriateness, effectiveness, cost-benefit, adverse drug reactions, allergies, and disease states
• Appropriately renders care to patients in Oncology Clinic and other clinics where oncology or hematology products are prepared
• Assures that all cumulative doses of patients receiving bleomycin or anthracyclines are tracked to assure patient safety
• Acts as a provider with specialty training in oncology with a scope of practice, providing expertise to providers, pharmacists, nursing, and other disciplines as appropriate
• Assists in developing ordering templates for all chemotherapeutic regimens
• Designs and/or participates in research studies (including drug utilization evaluations) with the Oncology and/or physicians
• Designs dosage regimens from current pharmacokinetics principles and specific patient parameters, effectively communicates recommendations to the patient's provider, and documents activity in the patient's medical record
• Designs a therapeutic regimen or plan based on patient specific information that includes establishing a therapeutic endpoint, selecting an appropriate drug and related therapy, and establishing an appropriate dosage regimen and monitoring parameters
• Provides consultation on selection of appropriate dosage regimens as follow-up when non- therapeutic drug levels are obtained for patients
• Establish and maintain processes and standards for virtual oncology, pharmacy including chemotherapy ordering
• Participates in the development and enforcement of Oncology Pharmacy, PBM, TeleOncology and Oncology Program Office policies and procedures as requested
• Attends Oncology Program Office and TeleOncology service meetings
• Provides suggestions for improving overall efficiency and effectiveness of pharmacy operations within TeleOncology
• Serves as a subject matter expert in the Oncology Program Office through intraoffice collaboration on pharmacy aspects of the Offices programs, projects and policies
• Responsible for training clinical pharmacy practitioners and technicians joining the National TeleOncology Program in operations
• Serves as a preceptor to pharmacy residents and pharmacy students during rotations
• Additional duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm (subject to change based on the needs of the service)

Compressed/Flexible:Available

Telework: Not Available

Remote: This is a remote position.

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

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 may 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

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). TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION
  • 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). YOU MUST SUBMIT A COPY OF FPGEE AND TOEFL WITH YOUR APPLICATION
• 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. YOU MUST SUBMIT A COPY OF CURRENT LICENSE WITH THE APPLICATION PACKAGE.

Preferred Qualifications:

1. Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist (BCOP)

2. Completed PGY2 in oncology pharmacy

3. 3+ years of VA oncology experience with a scope of practice

Grade Determinations

GS:13: Must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Examples of experience include: 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; providing refill extensions and partial medication supplies; performing medication reconciliation; providing drug information; assisting in formulary management including therapeutic substitutions, nonformulary reviews and medication usage evaluations; and documenting and assessing adverse drug events (ADEs). In addition, you must have experience which demonstrates the following knowledge, skills and abilities: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

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.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

uring the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.