Clarification from the agency

This job is open to current permanent employees of the VA Maine Healthcare System, Augusta, ME location only, also Including Past/Current/Upcoming Graduates of VHA Health Trainee Programs (HPT) are eligible to apply (must send proof such as an SF-50 with application) and also other federal employees. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

Videos

The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist serves as a provider with prescribing privileges as outlined in the individual's scope of practice for the Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner (CPP) in Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) to provide comprehensive medication therapy management (MTM) specifically for patients with Substance Use Disorders (SUD). Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Verify vaccines and infectious disease screening.
• Provide medication education and implementing risk mitigation strategies.
• Perform suicide risk assessment and safety planning.
• Ensure referral of complex or unstable patients to higher level of care and/or additional behavioral interventions when needed.
• Prescribe, monitor and adjust non-controlled adjunct medications as needed.
• Evaluate the adequate treatment of co-morbid conditions that may impact treatment success and outcomes along with assessing for withdrawal symptoms; addressing or providing care management as needed and appropriate to scope of practice.
• Coordinate, encourage and monitor involvement and participation in psychosocial and psychotherapy as indicated.
• Communicate with team for next steps and coordination of care which may include ensuring needed appointments are scheduled, triaging unscheduled visits and facilitating urgent appointments with provider team members when necessary.
• Provides CMM for complex patients with chronic diseases including, but not limited to, opioid use disorder, alcohol use disorder, and tobacco use disorder; orders and interprets labs or other needed test pertinent to CMM care and makes
  needed referrals. May also treat co-morbid conditions (e.g. mental health conditions, pain conditions, etc.) in alignment with scope of practice.
• Accepts urgent or same day patient visits including, but not limited to, patient medication review for polypharmacy, recent hospital or emergency department discharges, and co-managed care patients.
• Determines if a referral to the physician is necessary when disease progression occurs, or adverse drug events require a higher level of treatment intervention.
• Follows up via face to face, tele-health, e-consults, telephone, secure messaging and other modalities to provide patient care.
• Reviews 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.
• Monitors and reports drug errors, adverse drug reactions, allergies, and patient compliance issues. Documents findings per facility procedures and in accordance with the VAADERS Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) reporting program.
• Applies knowledge to interpret laboratory values in the evaluation of patient care, recognizing significant abnormalities, and making dose adjustments or recommendations based on objective laboratory findings.
• Participates in the training and in-service of medical staff, nursing staff, residents, students and other allied health professionals as required.
• 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.

Work Schedule: Full Time - Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm
Compressed/Flexible: May be authorized.
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized
Functional Statement #: F04772
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not authorized

Notifications:

• This position is in an AFGE Bargaining Unit.
• This position is in the Excepted Service.
• This position is covered by a special salary rate.
• Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.
• Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. Award SF50's will not be accepted.
• Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) may be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment.

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.
• May be subject to satisfactory completion of our credentialing process.
• 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 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).
• License: 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).
• 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: (1) Employees grandfathered into the GS-660 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. (2) 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. (3) 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.

IN ADDITION TO THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS APPLICANTS MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING:

GS 12 Experience or Education: In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must meet one of the following:1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS 11,

OR

Completion of an ACPE-accredited Pharm.D. program.

The candidate must demonstrate the experience or education above as well as the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's) below:

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.

GS 13 Experience: In addition to the GS-12 requirements, candidates must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS 12). 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.

The candidate must demonstrate the experience above as well as the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's) below:

1. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.
2. Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area.
3. Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise.
4. Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy.
5. Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.

Preferred Experience: Experience as a clinical pharmacist practitioner with a scope of practice, VA Maine experience preferred. Desired experience: PGY1 residency, PGY2 residency, board certifications (BPS), or equivalent training. Current and former VA HPT (residents) are encouraged to apply.

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

Physical Requirements: The work requires prolonged periods of time sitting and performing data entry as well as regular and recurring physical exertion, involving standing for prolonged periods of time, lifting/carrying of pharmaceutical supplies weighing up to 50 lb., and bending/stooping. Work is typically performed in a clinical setting that exposes incumbent to communicable diseases and hazardous chemicals common in a health care environment. Such areas are adequately heated, and ventilated, and normal safety precautions and PPE are required. Some work is performed in a setting away from the pharmacy where the environment cannot be controlled.

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.