Summary

Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System seeks a licensed Clinical Pharmacist Specialist (Infectious Diseases), Pharm. D., with expertise in infectious diseases and antimicrobial medication management. The role delivers comprehensive medication management, focusing on outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy and serving as lead pharmacist for the GLA HIV program. Additional duties include HCV patient management, consultative pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic support, and antimicrobial stewardship.

Duties

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Duties include but are not limited to:

• Provides an extensive range of services to patient in Infectious Diseases. Works as a member of assigned ambulatory care clinics. Designs, implements, assesses, monitors, and documents therapeutic plans using the most effective, least toxic and most economical medications. Offers additional interventions to maximize patient care outcomes, taking into consideration choice of therapy, safety, efficacy, and cost.
• Orders and assesses laboratory results, making the necessary recommendations and adjustments to the patient's therapy.
• Works as an active member of the inter-professional team and provides expert professional, technical, and procedural information to the primary team, including the clinical pharmacist, and/or the primary care provider.
• Performs activities such as physical assessment, ordering appropriate tests/consults, making referrals, etc., to achieve desired outcomes.
• Identifies and documents drug errors, adverse drug reactions, allergies, and patient compliance issues per facility procedures. Takes specific corrective action per protocol or as permitted by approved scope of practice.
• Documents and ensures timely completion of alerts, encounters, notes, clinical interventions, consults, etc. inpatient record and/or other data collection tools per local policy.
• Identifies areas in which improvements in clinical services can be made and completes at least one project a year (e.g., quality/performance improvement, implementation of new service, enhancement of existing service, etc.).
• Monitors patients' medication therapy through telephone consultations or clinic visits at intervals determined by the pharmacist. At each follow-up encounter, reviews lab results and evaluates patients for any changes related to their medication therapy. As needed, makes dose changes or other changes to patients' medication therapy. Documents any medication changes and therapeutic plan in electronic medical records.
• Management of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) program and antimicrobial stewardship program.
• Consultative liaison with infectious diseases consultation service on pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics issues.
• Provides consultation regarding drug-drug interactions, incompatibility, adverse effects and dosing to other providers.
• Assists in the development of institutional policies and standard operating procedures relevant to infectious diseases pharmacy and therapeutics.
• Works with Infectious Diseases Program Manager and physician staff in continually evaluation infectious diseases program policies to best meet the needs of veterans receiving antimicrobial therapy.
• Develops, plans, and implements innovative inpatient and ambulatory care programs to meet the goals of the VA Antimicrobial Stewardship Taskforce.
• Effectively organized workload, plans short and long-range objectives, solves problems, and achieves goals within budget and staffing constraints.
• Responsible for establishing and reviewing pharmacy policies with the concerning ambulatory care, acute care, and Infectious Disease.
• Participates in various medical center councils, committees, performance improvement teams. Provides sound arguments that influence clinical and management decision. Attends and/or participates in Pharmacy Service and sections meetings.
• Ensures timely completion of assigned administrative projects and reports.
• Effectively instructs patients and family members in the appropriate use of medications and medical devices and documents comprehension. Able to adjust communication and tracking methods based on age and developmental considerations. Refers patients to educational programs provided at the medical center by multidisciplinary teams as applicable.
• Trains pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other relevant staff. Participates in all aspects of training such as conducting on-the-job training and monitoring performance. Assists in new employee orientation and training, as assigned.
• Precepts and evaluates pharmacy students, pharmacy residents, and other relevant trainees, which may include projects, rotations, presentations, etc.
• Designs and completes research studies involving clinical pharmacist functions, quality assurance , drug use evaluations, pharmacotherapy, etc.
• Develops and conducts patient education classes.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday from 8:00am-4:30pm; tour may be adjusted to meet patient and medical center needs.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 000000

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: 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 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). A copy of the FPGEC certificate must be submitted 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. An active copy of unrestricted license to practice pharmacy must be submitted.

NOTE: Individuals who have or have had multiple licenses and had any such license revoked for professional misconduct, professional incompetence or substandard care, or who surrendered such license after receiving written notice of potential termination of such license by the State for professional misconduct, professional incompetence, or substandard care, are not eligible for appointment to the position unless such revoked or surrendered license is fully restored (38 U.S.C. a7 7402(f)). Effective November 30, 1999, this is a requirement for employment. This requirement does not apply to licensed pharmacists on VA rolls as of that date, provided they maintain continuous appointment and are not disqualified for employment by any subsequent revocations or voluntary surrenders of State license, registration or certification.

• Exception. Non-licensed pharmacists who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment at the entry level as a Graduate Pharmacist under the authority of 38 U.S.C. a7 7405(c)(2)(B). The appointing official may waive the requirement of licensure for a period not to exceed 2 years for a pharmacist that provides care under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist. For grade levels above the GS-11, the candidate must be licensed.
• Failure to Obtain License. In all cases, pharmacists must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure starting from the date of their appointment. At the time of appointment, the supervisor will provide the unlicensed pharmacist with the written requirement to obtain licensure, the date by which the license must be acquired, and the consequences for not becoming licensed by the deadline. Failure to become licensed within 2 years from date of appointment will result in removal from the GS-0660 Pharmacist series and may result in termination of employment.

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).

Grade Determination: GS-13

(a) Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.(

b) Assignments. Candidates at this grade level are to be in one of the assignments listed below. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.

Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. The clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) functions at the highest level of clinical practice, works independently under their scope of practice as defined by the individual medical center to directly care for patients. A CPS plays a defined role in budgetary execution and serves as a mid-level provider who functions to initiate, modify or discontinue medication therapy and as a consultant for intensive medication therapy management services. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: designing, implementing, assessing, monitoring and documenting therapeutic plans utilizing the most effective, least toxic and most economical medication treatments; helping achieve positive patient centric outcomes through direct and indirect interactions with patients, providers, and interdisciplinary teams in assigned areas; performing physical assessments; and ordering laboratory and other tests to help determine efficacy and toxicity of medication therapy. Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs:

a. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.

b. Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area.

c. Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise.

d. Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy.

e. 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/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: The work requires regul