The clinical pharmacist specialist participates as a mid-level provider spends a minimum of 90% of his/her time in direct patient care activities including, participation, as a mid-level provider, on Primary Care Teams who functions to initiate, modify or discontinue medication therapy. The incumbent provides professional training to Pharmacy Residents, as well as training for pharmacy students.
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: 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. 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 COPY OF FPGEC CERTIFICATION WITH THE APPLICATION PACKAGE. NOTE: Current VA Employees grandfathered into the GS-0660 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. 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. 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. § 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. 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: Employees grandfathered into the GS-0660 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. 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. 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. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d) and 7407(d). 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). Preferred Experience: Candidates for the Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner (CPP) should possess the outlined skills with specific experience in the area of primary care chronic disease management. Candidates should have recent experience in a current or previous job including residency training that includes direct patient care and comprehensive medication management responsibilities in the Primary Care setting. Preferred candidates will have an advanced pharmacy degree (Pharm.D), board certification (BPS), PGY1 and/or PGY2 Pharmacy Practice Residency, or equivalent experience or mentorship. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment in paragraph 2, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: GS-13 Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. 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 Pharmacist Practitioner. The clinical pharmacy specialist (CPP 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 CPP 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 12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13.
Major Duties Include, but are not limited to: Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: AdHoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required CLINICAL The principle areas of involvement for the incumbent are the pharmacist-run Ambulatory Care Clinics and the Primary Care Teams. Patient care responsibilities involve: Establishing pharmacist-patient relationship. Collecting, synthesizing and interpreting relevant information. Listing and ranking patient's drug-related problems: Ambulatory Care Clinical Specialist will perform the above functions within the context of their Scope of Practice and specific Clinic Protocols, if applicable, including independently managing outpatient drug therapy of patients in assigned areas. Provides patient education (individual and group) both formally and informally in various ambulatory care settings. Performs limited physical assessment to determine whether patient is stable and whether medications should be renewed. Incumbent orders appropriate laboratory tests and refers patients to appropriate provider or triage area if patient is unstable. Serves as drug therapeutic consultant to medical and nursing staff. This function includes educating fellow Primary Care Team members in aspects of rational, cost-effective drug therapy prescribing and new therapeutic agents. Serves as liaison with Pharmacy Service, Outpatient Clinics in general, Mather inpatient staff and patients, Community Living Center/Center for Rehabilitation and Extended Care (CLC/CREC), Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) and other related areas in order to improve communication, solve problems, and maintain continuity of care throughout the spectrum of our Health Care System. DISPENSING Evaluates provider's orders as to appropriateness (dosage, quantity, potential drug interactions, patient allergies) based on patient's medication profile and over-the-counter (OTC) drug usage; checks work of other pharmacy staff (pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, or students) for conformity to professional standards and techniques. A thorough knowledge of regulations applicable to Pharmacy, including DEA, JC, VA AND FDA is required. EDUCATION Precepts pharmacy residents and pharmacy students, as well as clinical pharmacists participating in Staff Development Programs. Assists in developing and implementing Staff Development Programs taking into consideration different training needs of individual pharmacists (or pharmacy technicians as applicable). The incumbent provides oral and written evaluations of pharmacy residents and students per established schedules and maintains close communication with Residency Director and University student coordinators. Prepares formal and informal presentations related to rational drug therapy for providers and clinic staff. This function mainly applies to Primary Care Teams, but may include clinic-wide Medical Education/Grand Rounds programs, nursing in-services, etc. Provides orientation and training to new employees, trainees, volunteers and other assigned personnel as applicable. Assists in developing, organizing and implementing new training and educational concepts for PGY-1 Pharmacy Residents and Pharmacy students as applicable. Maintains clinical faculty appointment at Schools of Pharmacy as applicable. RESEARCH Designs and conducts research projects pertinent to VA Northern California Health Care System; writes research articles for publication; collaborates with other providers on research topics whenever appropriate.