Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. Open to all US Citizens.

Videos

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

Major duties:

Clinical Practice:

• Maintains clinical practice through provision of patient care during new patient and/or follow-up visits. Coordinates care for patients with other healthcare providers.
• Provides and coordinates medication management services for patients in designated clinic(s) according to broad scope of practice focused on chronic disease state management.
• Documents all encounters in the patient's clinical record.
• Renews and orders medications per Scope of Practice with semi-annual clinical care review.
• Evaluates orders for appropriateness and drug interactions, allergies and adverse reactions, and duplicate therapy.
• Provides appropriate patient consultation for all new prescriptions. Inquires about side effects and patient questions for renewed prescriptions. Evaluates patient's ability to understand instructions. Provides verbal and written instructions to promote patient medication adherence. Documents all elements of patient consultation.
• Serves as a professional advocate for advancement of pharmacy services in PACT.

Clinical Education and Scholarly Activities:

• Serves as a preceptor and shares responsibility fer training, guidance and evaluation of Ambulatory Care Students.
• Serves as a preceptor/trainer for visiting healthcare professionals or students who want to broaden their knowledge and skills and/or establish their own clinical practice in the designated practice area.
• Assumes an active role in staff development of peers and provides educational opportunities to nursing, medical staff and to other ancillary services.
• Presents at local, state, regional or national meetings.
• Collaborates with residents or other medical staff in process improvement or research, when appropriate.
• Assists in training new employees.

Administrative Support:

• Independently manages medication management services for all ambulatory patients in a CBOC(s) or primary care clinic(s).
• Manages quality improvement programs for medication management services in the CBOC(s) or primary care clinic(s) and coordinates activities with the other Tomah medication management services. This may include participation in Medical Use Evaluations (MUE).
• Evaluates pharmacy related performance measures for a designated group of patients and initiates program changes to achieve measures.
• Serves as a resource between Pharmacy Service and all health care providers in their group.
• Knows and follows formulary guidelines and recommends therapeutic and cost-effective alternatives to non-formulary (NF) drugs.

Customer Service and Teamwork:

• Maintains excellent working relationship with department and organization staff.
• Effectively promotes teamwork among staff, residents and students.
• Demonstrates responsiveness to customer needs and is empathetic to their problems.
• Responds to request for assistance from patients, families,. and staff in a friendly and cooperative manner.
• Other duties as assigned by supervisor may be involved in overall role.

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 02179F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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 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
  • 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.
  • Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if 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. (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 - must be proficient in spoken and written English

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements the following criteria must be met:

Experience. One (1) full year of creditable experience at the next lower level (GS-12) or equivalent, directly related to the Clinical Pharmacy Specialist position which includes proven professional pharmacy practice; communicating orally and in writing to both patients and health care staff; proven knowledge of laws, regulations, and accreditation standards related to the distribution and control of scheduled and non-scheduled drugs and pharmacy security; and skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters OR completion of 1 year Post Pharm D. ASHP accredited Residency in the specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice. In addition must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• 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.
• Preferred Experience: PGY-1 and PGY-2 Ambulatory Care VA Residency, Experience in Women's Health Medication Management. Those not meeting the preferred experience are still encouraged to apply. -OR- Minimum two years of experience working under a scope of practice or a collaborative practice agreement in an ambulatory clinic setting with 50% or more direct patient care time.

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


Physical Requirements: Work is performed in patient care areas, including locked neighborhoods, and in the Pharmacy, where there is a potential for exposure to communicable diseases. Such areas are NOT adequately heated, ventilated, or air-conditioned, and safety precautions are required. Both in the Inpatient and Outpatient Pharmacy work areas and neighborhoods are high-stress working environments, due to space shortages in the Pharmacy, and dealing with difficult Psychiatric Inpatients and Outpatients.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.