Pharmacist - Clinical Specialist (Women's Health)

Summary

The Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner functions at the highest level of clinical practice, working independently under an individual scope of practice to directly care for patients. The CPP serves as a member of assigned team(s) and as an advanced practice provider to initiate, prescribe, modify, or discontinue medication therapy, and as a consultant for intensive medication therapy management services.

Duties

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Customer Service - Responds to the needs of the service in a courteous and timely manner. Acts as a team member and is supportive of the group's efforts at all times. Demonstrates an ability to work under a variety of circumstances to maximize group productivity and quality.

Clinical - Direct Patient Care - Core functions include face-to-face and telephone encounters with referred patients, for comprehensive medication management. Functions as a mid-level provider to design, implement, and monitor therapeutic drug plans to achieve definite outcomes through direct interactions with patients and providers in assigned areas. Orders, performs, reviews, and analyzes appropriate laboratory tests and other diagnostic studies necessary to monitor and support the patient's drug therapy. Follows-up with patients on lab or test results to discuss the plan of therapy, i.e. changes in medication therapy, monitoring, and additional testing requirements.

Clinical - Indirect Patient Care - Review patient medication regimens for clinical effectiveness, drug selection, dosing, contraindications, side effects, potential drug interactions, and therapeutic outcomes as required. Communicates findings with prescribers and provides appropriate alternatives to current treatment plans as needed. Obtains medication histories from patients and summarizes significant findings in the medical record and/or to the provider as appropriate. Monitor and report drug errors, adverse drug reactions, allergies, and patient compliance issues. Apply knowledge of normal laboratory values in the evaluation of patient care, recognizes significant abnormalities, and makes dose adjustment recommendations based on objective laboratory findings. Reviews and evaluates requests for non-formulary and restricted drugs for appropriateness and compliance with established criteria where applicable. Assists Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee with medication use evaluations and other safety initiatives. Documents clinical interventions in CPRS in a timely and professional manner as appropriate, per policy. Promotes and monitors compliance for established drug therapy policies. Works with providers to ensure compliance with national, VISN, and local initiatives.

Education and Research - Participates in the training and in-servicing of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy students, pharmacy residents, and other medical center personnel as required. Is skilled at using both written and verbal communication techniques in teaching others. May serve as preceptor for pharmacy students and pharmacy residents in accordance with established policies. Assists in new employee orientation sessions as scheduled.

Drug Information - Serves as an authority on drug usage, interactions, over-dosages, and compliance, to medical staff, nursing staff, technicians and students. Uses appropriate references to research drug information. Provides timely and accurate responses to drug information inquiries from all customers. Is able to accurately assess and document patient comprehension. Is able to refer patients to educational programs provided at the medical center by multidisciplinary teams.

Program Management and Quality - Serves on medical center and/or VISN committees as requested. Adheres to medical center and department policies and regulations

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework: Available Ad-HOC per agency policy

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 616060

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 evaluation/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.
• Education: (1) 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.) (2) 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English.

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 Determinations: 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.

1. 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.

Preferred Experience: Will demonstrate strong clinical judgement, the ability to work independently, and commitment to collaborative, patient-centered care within a multidisciplinary women's heath setting. Will have a completed a PGY2 residency in Women's health experience.

Applicants without formal residency training who have extensive clinical experience in women's health are encouraged to apply. Board certification is highly desirable.

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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements:

A. Due to the open, shared nature of PACT team workspaces, the incumbent must be able to work effectively amid multiple simultaneous conversations occurring nearby, including discussions of direct patient care by other team members that may be incidentally overheard. The incumbent is expected to maintain patient confidentiality regardless of open workspace configuration, consistent with the Privacy Act and HIPAA minimum necessary standards.

B. The incumbent must be able to concentrate, exercise independent clinical judgement, and accurately perform telehealth (phone and VVC) patient encounters in a moderate-noise environment characterized by ambient conversation, phones ringing, and general clinic activity.

C. Primary care work areas experience frequent foot traffic from patients, providers, nursing staff, and other healthcare personnel throughout the workday; the incumbent must be able to maintain focus and workflow efficiency despite a frequent interruption practice setting.

D. The position requires prolonged periods of sitting, typing, and computer screen use, as well as extended telephone and headset use for phone clinics and virtual encounters.

E. The incumbent must have visual acuity sufficient to review laboratory results, medicat