The Clinical Pharmacist is responsible for providing a variety of pharmaceutical services, including but not limited to verifying medication orders, preparing and dispensing medications in an accurate and timely manner, formulary management, medication reconciliation, and patient counseling. Pharmacists may be assigned to outpatient or inpatient pharmacy or may provide coverage in both sections of pharmacy.

Duties

VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws FUNCTIONS/SCOPE OF DUTIES: Clinical Routine duties: 1) The Pharmacist recommends appropriate selection of drug therapy based upon the pharmaceutical principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; monitoring for efficacy, side effects and clinical outcome; and after review with a Clinical Pharmacist, advises prescribers as appropriate. 2) Provides patient-specific therapeutic drug monitoring and communicates relevant findings and/or recommendation is to other health care providers in charge of the patient both orally and in writing. Monitoring will include prospective review and intervention in: a) Therapeutic appropriateness of a patient's drug regimen b) Therapeutic duplication in the patient's drug regimen c) Appropriateness of the route and method of administration d) Degree of Patient compliance with the prescribed drug regimen e) Drug-drug, drug-food, drug-laboratory, or drug disease interactions f) Clinical and pharmacokinetic laboratory data to evaluate the efficacy of drug therapy and to anticipate side effects, toxicity, or adverse effects g) Physical signs and clinical symptoms relevant to the patient's drug therapy 3) Performs continuous evaluation of prescribed medications to assure optimal drug therapy. 4) Provides medication counseling to patients. 5) Serves as a drug information resource by providing up-to-date drug information to prescribers, other health care professionals, patients and caregivers. 6) Reports adverse drug events (ADE), near misses, and medication errors in alignment with VA ADERS reporting program. 7) Recommends formulary alternatives as appropriate. 8) Provides pharmacokinetic consultation, including dosing vancomycin and aminoglycosides, in accordance with local policy. 9) Participates in quality assurance programs through submission of medication errors. 10) Implements P&T Committee policies including therapeutic interchanges and automatic substitutions to include appropriate patient and provider education. 11) Enters supply orders appropriate for patient care per facility policy. 12) Adjudicates Community Care prescriptions, including assessing authorizations, determining eligibility, prescription evaluation (including appropriateness of prescription), nonformulary management, PDMP inquiries, and other relevant interventions. 13) Serves as a role model and preceptor to pharmacy students and residents. Non-Routine duties which may be assigned: 1) Completes medication histories including patient interviews. 2) Supports medication reconciliation at all transitions of care, including updating the medication profile to reflect an accurate, active list of VA and non-VA medications based on current policy and/or individual scope of practice. 3) Assesses drug safely and efficacy, including evaluation of physical symptoms. 4) Participates in the medical center medication utilization evaluation (MUE) program. 5) Provides support to discharge processes through medication reconciliation, discharge counseling, and documentation. 6) Duties that support pharmacy operations that fall within or below grade level. Duties assigned above grade level may not be or exceed 25% of the employee's time. Dispensing 1) Reviews all medication orders for appropriateness, drug selection, dosage, route of administration and the amount, prior to dispensing. 2) Ensures all medication orders are entered into the electronic patient medical record. 3) Fills all orders in a timely fashion; review of the patient's allergy history, drug-drug, drug-nutrient, drug-laboratory and drug-disease state interactions and assessment for clinical relevance should be performed and dealt with appropriately. 4) Reviews medication profiles and monitors for compliance or potential abuse, alerting the Clinical Pharmacist and assisting in resolving problems as encountered. 5) Selects, compounds, and fills a range of drugs including extemporaneous preparations, special formulations, ophthalmic (subconjunctival and intravitreal injections), narcotics, investigational drugs, oncolytic agents, etc., in both outpatient and inpatient areas. Adequate quality assurance procedures shall be followed as applicable. 6) Maintains adequate drug stock, inspects drug storage areas, assists with prepacking and the operation of automated dispensing equipment. 7) Supervises the activities of support personnel. 8) Ensures drugs dispensed are completely and correctly labeled and packaged in full compliance with Federal rules and regulations. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm w/occasional Night, Weekend and holiday hours. Telework: Ad-Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

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. (NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree program. Today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy). TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED (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). YOU MUST SUBMIT A COPY OF FPGEC CERTIFICATION WITH THE APPLICATION PACKAGE 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.YOU MUST SUBMIT A COPY OF CURRENT LICENSE WITH THE APPLICATION PACKAGE. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 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: GS-12 Clinical Pharmacist (Full Performance Level) Experience or Education. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must meet one of the following: 1. Have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11) which includes Knowledge of Professional Pharmacy Practices, Residency accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and Fellowship Training Program accredited by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) OR 2. Completion of an ACPE-accredited Pharm.D. program. Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following 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: At least one year direct work experience. Must have knowledge of drug/drug, drug/food interactions, drug/disease state interactions, allergic reactions and the knowledge and ability to utilize qualitative and quantitative techniques for collecting, analyzing and interpreting a wide variety of data. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G15, Licensed Pharmacist Qualification Standards http://vaww1.va.gov/ohrm/HRLibrary/Dir-Policy.htm The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: Light Lifting (under 15 lbs); Light Carrying (under 15 lbs); Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers; Both hands required; Walking (up to 1 hours); Standing (up to 2 hours); Repeated kneeling (up to 1 hour); Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; Near vision correctable at 13" to 16"; Ability to distinguish colors; Ability to distinguish shades of colors; Hearing (aid permitted); mental and emotional stability.

Education

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

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 Birmingham VA Medical Center 700 South 19th Street Birmingham, AL 35233 US
• Name: James Brinson
• Email: [email protected]