Clinical Pharmacist

The incumbent is responsible for providing clinical and distributive pharmaceutical care in the Roseburg VA Health Care System. The individual functions under the general supervision of the Chief of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Supervisor, or designee.

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: 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 60602-5109; phone: (312) 664-3575, 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.
  • 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.
• English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 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).

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-11 Pharmacist

• Experience, Education, and Licensure. None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-12 Clinical Pharmacist (Full Performance Level)

• Experience or Education. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must meet one of the following:

1. 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, or
2. Completion of an ACPE-accredited Pharm.D. program.

Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs):

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

Preferred Experience: Experience in clinical setting and/or with the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system is 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-11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-12.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

Responsibilities:

A Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws

Functional Duties and Responsibilities, but not limited to:

• Obtain medication history from patients, summarize significant findings and provide recommendations for disease state management.
• Perform ongoing medication profile reviews for patients in the assigned area.
• Identify any drug-induced problems, which would include adverse effects, allergic reactions, toxicities, improper dosage regimens, non-compliance, and drug interactions. Make recommendations to the responsible physician for optimal management of drug-induced problems either verbally and/or in writing. The clinical pharmacist will report any adverse drug reactions as delineated by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics and Nutrition Committee.
• Weigh the risk: benefit ratio of various therapeutic alternatives; develop a therapeutic plan utilizing the most efficacious, least toxic and most economical treatment modalities available. Select and utilize appropriate objective and subjective parameters necessary to monitor the therapeutic and toxic effects of the drugs selected. Develop rational alternative treatment plans in cases where the initially selected plan fails to achieve the desired therapeutic result or problems with drug toxicity or other complications occur.
• The clinical pharmacist is responsible for computer processing of all medication orders in the assigned areas, which may include, but are not limited to Outpatient, Acute care, Long-term care, Specialty care, Facility patient care areas, Urgent care and other units as assigned. The clinical pharmacist will review the order for appropriateness of the medication, dosage, schedule, duration, and instructions. The regimen will be reviewed for any potential drug-drug, drug-disease, drug-nutrient interactions, and therapeutic duplications. The orders will be processed accurately and in a timely manner. The clinical pharmacist will be responsible for prioritizing operational and clinical activities to provide high quality patient care.
• The clinical pharmacist is responsible for the final check of outpatient and/or inpatient medications (including intravenous medications) before final dispensing to the patient. The clinical pharmacist may need to actively fill the medications at times when pharmacy technicians are unable to perform filling duties.
• The clinical pharmacist will be able to perform both non-sterile and sterile compounding of oral, topical, and injectable medications using proper pharmaceutical technique when assigned. Clinical pharmacists will perform non-sterile, non-sterile and hazardous drug compounding in compliance with USP 795, 797 and 800, respectively.
• The incumbent functions as a therapeutic consultant to the entire medical staff. These activities are both formal and informal and involve both written and oral communication with a wide variety of individuals.
  1. Complete medication histories, including patient interviews.
  2. Obtain and document medication history from patients, summarize significant findings, and provide disease state management. The pharmacist will perform medication reconciliation upon admission, transfer, and discharge from a unit.
  3. Perform ongoing medication profile reviews for patients in the assigned area.
  4. Identify any drug-induced problems, which would include adverse effects, allergic reactions, toxicities, improper dosage regimens, non compliance, and drug interactions, among others. Make recommendations to the responsible physician for optimal management of drug-induced problems either verbally and/or in writing. The clinical pharmacist will report any adverse drug reactions as delineated by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics and Nutrition Committee.
• Educate patients on the purpose and proper use of medications as appropriate depending on the area to which the clinical pharmacist is assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:00am - 3:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 00000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Salary : $74,678