This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

The Pharmacist (Clinical Specialist) and, also referred to as the Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner (CPP) works in the pharmacy of a large tertiary care medical center at East Orange, NJ, and is involved with teaching, research and all facets of patient care. The Pharmacy Service serves veterans throughout the state and has three pharmacy locations at East Orange, Lyons, and the James J. Howard Outpatient Clinic in Brick, NJ . The CPS may be asked to work at any of the sites if needed. The medical center is affiliated with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers College of Pharmacy and the University of Sciences at Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist functions as a therapeutic expert in drug use and drug utilization. The incumbent monitors drug use, makes recommendations on the correct utilization of drugs, exercises duties as outlined in their scope of practice and educates medical center staff and providers on drug utilization. Some of the areas that the Clinical Pharmacy Specialist may manage include, but are not limited to: - Anticoagulation - Diabetes- Erythropoietin - Lipid - Hypertension - Pain Management - Oncology - Mental Health - Infectious Diseases - Spinal Cord/MS/ALS related issues - Congestive Heart Failure - Cardiac Related Management - COPD/Asthma/Pulmonary - Intensive Care/Acute Care related disease state Lists the major duties and responsibilities of the position: - Serves as expert and consultant to the Chief of Pharmacy Service for medication related issues in the emergency department setting. - Serves as an independent practitioner in the setting requiring the highest level of pharmacist clinical privileges with minimal supervision. Principal responsibilities include pharmacotherapy management, provision of drug information services, and the development and supervision of pharmacy programs in the ICU/Acute Care Units (Inpatient) units and Pulmonary Services. - Participates in inpatient rounds. - Responsible for daily performance and oversight of provider-consulted, clinical pharmacy pharmacokinetic monitoring program for acute care wards. This includes the rational design of a therapeutic dosing regimens for vancomycin and aminoglycosides based on patient-specific information that includes selection of an appropriate drug dose and establishment of a therapeutic endpoint. Duties include progress note entry, mediation order entry, lab/monitoring follow-up and dose titration as appropriate for all Veterans in the inpatient wards receiving vancomycin and aminoglycosides. - Responsible for daily performance of clinical pharmacy anticoagulation monitoring program for inpatient wards as assigned. This includes ordering of appropriate laboratory monitoring, rational dosing titration and progress note entry for all acute care ward patients receiving warfarin, based on patient specific information and establishment of a therapeutic endpoint. - Assesses patients on parenteral and enteral nutrition. In conjunction with nutrition, parental formulations are reviewed for appropriateness based on laboratory parameters. Documents parenteral formulations daily in the electronic medical record. Assesses patients on enteral nutrition for medication-related problems and recommendations for changes are communicated and documented in the electronic medical record. - Participates in developing criteria for drug utilization evaluations, data collection, trending reports, and other quality assurance activities as required to ensure appropriate and safe drug utilization. - Actively participates in local, state and national organizations related to the advancement of the pharmaceutical profession. - Requires minimal supervision by the Associate Chief, Clinical Services. - Serves as a mentor to Pharm.D. students and residents. - Serves as a Pharmacotherapy Manager mentor to medical students, residents, and physician. - Plans and coordinates formal and informal instruction/orientation to all staff within area of assignment. - Provides patient education about medications and related topics when appropriate. - In cooperation with clinical section staff and other health professionals collects and analyzes data related to ongoing clinical programs and presents it either at national meetings or publishes it in professionally representative publications. Serves as preceptor of residents' research projects as assigned. VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws Work Schedule: Rotating Weekdays/Weekends/Holidays Telework: AD - HOC (when necessary or needed) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 38597F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: EDRP Authorized: Contact [email protected] , the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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 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. (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. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. 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). Creditable Experience (1) Knowledge of Professional Pharmacy Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with professional pharmacy practice. Professional practice means paid/non-paid employment as a professional or unlicensed graduate pharmacist as defined by the appropriate licensing board. (2) Residency and Fellowship Training. Residency and fellowship training programs in a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for-year basis. The pharmacy residency program must be accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). A fellowship program that is not accredited by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) will need to have comparable standards for experience to be creditable (Professional Standards Board refers to the Deputy Chief Consultant for Professional Practice for the determination). (3) Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to pharmacy experience at the next lower level. Experience as a Graduate Pharmacist is creditable provided the candidate was used as a professional pharmacist (under supervision) and subsequently passed the appropriate licensure examination. (4) Part-time Experience. Part-time experience as a professional pharmacist is credited according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, a pharmacist employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment above, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Grade Determinations: GS-13 Requirements Experience 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: Candidates must demonstrate an ability to function independently and effectively in a collaborative acute care/ICU environment and meet qualifications as a PGY1 preceptor. Competitive candidates will have completed a PGY2 critical care or acute care -or- have completed a PGY1 residency with significant acute care/ICU experience. Candidates without residency training but have extensive clinical experience in acute care/ICU may be considered. BCCCP or equivalent is highly desirable. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/55 JUNE 7, 2012 PART II APPENDIX G15 The full performance level of this vacancy is 13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13.Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. (THIS IS A REQUIRED DOCUMENT FOR ALL APPLICANTS)

Unofficial transcript is accepted.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address VA New Jersey Health Care System 385 Tremont Avenue East Orange, NJ 07018 US
• Name: Aleni Salcedo
• Phone: 917 859 9405
• Email: [email protected]