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 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS) will serve as a member of a PACT Team. The CPS functions at the highest level of clinical practice and works independently under their individual scope of practice. The primary functions of the clinical pharmacist include the following mid-level provider responsibilities: patient and provider therapeutic consultations, patient medication therapy monitoring, and direct patient medication therapy and disease state management. The clinical pharmacist shall routinely provide and support clinical pharmacy, pharmacoeconomic, and mid-level provider activities and is directly responsible for monitoring and managing medication therapy for assigned patients. The CPS will serve as a mid-level provider who functions to initiate, modify or discontinue medication therapy. The clinical pharmacist also implements and monitors formulary management protocols and programs approved by the Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee and utilizes these drug management tools in a manner that supports the drug budget goals for the health care system VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws Major Duties include, but are not limited to the following: Clinical: Provides consultations to physicians and other healthcare professionals daily and provides drug information, observations on patient response to therapy, and appropriate recommendations regarding treatment alternatives or additional interventions to maximize patient care outcomes taking into consideration choice of therapy, safety, efficacy, and pharmacoeconomics. Evaluates patients for appropriateness of pharmacologic therapy and makes a pharmaceutical care plan for those patients who need pharmaceutical care, and will document the pharmaceutical care plan in the pharmacy initial assessment or progress note. Participates in developing criteria for drug utilization evaluations, data collection, trending reports, and other quality assurance activities as required ensuring appropriate and safe drug utilization. Establishes and expands the patient data base through interpreting the drug history, medical history, physical examination and ongoing patient specific monitoring of therapy, with documentation in the formal patient medical record. Administrative: Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) reporting. Works with other health care providers to develop programs for improvement of drug use. Develops and conducts drug usage evaluation in areas of need from a cost and patient outcome perspective. Documents cost reduction/cost avoidance activities on a periodic basis. Manages the hospital formulary and ensures its appropriate utilization by health care providers. Customer Service: Routinely identifies the customer's/patient's situation properly and performs the tasks required to resolve the customer's/patient's problem accurately and in a timely manner. Follows-up, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution. Consistently responds to patients', families', visitors', and co-workers' requests for assistance promptly and in a friendly and cooperative manner. Any deficiencies in this area are limited and minor and have no significant adverse impact on either organizational or individual productivity or efficiency. Listens to all customer/patient feedback, positive and negative, acts to resolve complaints within his or her control, and reports feedback to management (or supervisor) in a timely manner. Meets customer/patient expectations, with results to be determined through an established customer survey or other appropriate feedback system, which has baseline measurements of customer/patient satisfaction. Other Duties: Incumbent must demonstrate a high degree of knowledge in professional matters. Incumbent must demonstrate professional competency (i.e. possessing current knowledge and functioning in a manner consistent with the demands of a changing profession, including but not limited to, Unit Dose, IV Additives, Pharmacokinetics, Drug Interactions and Pharmacology). Incumbent assists in other areas of the Pharmacy between primary responsibilities. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm work schedule may include weekends and Federal holidays, at the discretion of management. Additional tours of duty may be required to support the operational needs of a 24-hour facility. Telework: ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized 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: Please check the section below for education requirements* 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. Failure to Obtain License. In all cases, pharmacists must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure starting from the date of their appointment. Failure to become licensed within 2 years from date of appointment will result in removal from the GS-0660 Pharmacist series and may result in termination of employment. 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. 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. 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. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). Physical Requirements: The work may require sitting for long periods of time (4-8 hours) with occasional stooping or kneeling, walking, and standing for long periods of time. The principle duties require repetitive use of hands and fingers (i.e. typing, writing). The incumbent must be physically capable of operating various types of equipment used for the job (i.e. computer, telephone). Creditable Experience 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. 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). 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. 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 in paragraph 2, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. 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 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: 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. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/55 PART II APPENDIX G15 Licensed Pharmacist Qualification Standard, GS-0660, Veterans Health Administration, Dated June 7, 2012

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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).

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 Marion VA Medical Center 2401 West Main Street Marion, IL 62959 US
• Name: Samona Mckinley
• Phone: 2165444460
• Email: [email protected]