The Pharmacy Technician (Inpatient) at the Jesse Brown VAMC functions in various areas of the pharmacy, e.g. inpatient pharmacy and various storage areas under the supervision of the inpatient pharmacy technician supervisor. Pharmacy technicians provide various technical support services within the inpatient pharmacy department. This position involves providing services related to inpatients.

Duties

Inpatient Pharmacy Technicians typically carry out the full range of technical support functions, processing and filling outpatient prescriptions for scheduled and non-scheduled federal legend drugs and medical devices, over-the-counter products and supply items. Preparation and distribution of unit dose medications and ward stock items and intravenous admixtures including cytotoxic chemotherapy; stock management; operation, maintenance, re-stocking and troubleshooting of automated dispensing equipment; patient and customer relations. Preparation and maintenance of various logs, records and reports. Required to perform some or all of the functions; however, the relative percentages of time spent performing each specific function varies with the area of administrative assignment. Demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to complete the duties of the position including that necessary to provide care appropriate to the population of the patients served. Knowledge and skills are identified in the Competence Assessment Checklist of the position and include the knowledge and skills in:

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. English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a. 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). ****NOTE: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE AND KSAs MUST BE WELL DOCUMENTED IN YOUR RESUME. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL DISQUALIFY YOU FROM FURTHER CONSIDERATION. **** GS-03 GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Education and Experience: One year of post-secondary education. OR, Six months of general experience. OR, Student Technician. A student enrolled in an approved nationally accredited pharmacy technician program for an occupation identified in 38 U.S.C. 7405(a)(1)(A) or (B) may be appointed on a temporary full-time, part-time or intermittent basis under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 7405(a)(1)(D) for a period not to exceed two years or the duration of the individual's program. Assignment: Employees at the entry-level are developmental trainees. The pharmacy technician trainee is performing routine pharmacy duties under direct supervision of higher graded technicians to learn the basic functions of pharmacy operations. GS-04 GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Education and Experience: Completion of two years of post-secondary coursework related to pharmacy (e.g., 12 semester hours of science and mathematics courses). OR, Completion of one of the following: i Six months of experience, that demonstrated knowledge of medication or medical field practice. OR, Successful completion of a military or nationally recognized pharmacy technician education/training program. American Society of Health System Pharmacists® (ASHP), American Pharmacist Association (APHA), Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), PTCB or NHA are examples of acceptable professional organizations recognizing such training programs. NOTE: Training courses recognized by PTCB and NHA are not actual certifications. OR, One year of experience equivalent to next lower grade level. AND, Demonstrate Knowledge, Skill, and Abilities: In addition to the education or experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 1. Ability to follow policies and procedures. 2. Ability to maintain appropriate files. 3. Ability to communicate with patients and other health professionals. 4. Ability to follow both written and verbal instructions. 5. Ability to operate office software/equipment to include, computers, software applications and printers. Assignments: Employees at this grade level serve in a pharmacy technician developmental position. Pharmacy technicians at this level perform duties such as dispensing prescriptions at the pharmacy window and prepacking medications. GS-05 GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Education or Experience: Successful completion of four years post-secondary education with courses related to pharmacy (e.g., 48 semester hours of science, mathematics, pharmacy) or a bachelor's degree. OR, An associate's degree in pharmacy technician or technology (48 semester hours of concentrated pharmacy technician training). OR, One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-04. AND, Demonstrate Knowledge, Skill, and Abilities: In addition to the education or experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 1. Knowledge of basic pharmacy operations. 2. Knowledge of pharmaceuticals to perform duties in pharmacy functional areas. 3. Knowledge of pharmaceutical nomenclature (including generic, chemical and proprietary names of drug). 4. Ability to fill prescriptions. 5. Ability to use pharmacy information systems or basic pharmacy dispensing equipment with oversight. Assignments: Pharmacy technicians are expected to exercise greater judgement, require less supervision and operate in accordance with all established policies and procedures. Pharmacy technicians at this grade level will fill orders and dispense/ deliver medications using automated systems. These technicians require oversight of assigned duties by full performance level technicians and or pharmacists. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G28 Pharmacy Technician Qualification Standard. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-05. Physical Requirements: There may be some walking, standing, sitting, bending, and carrying of light items.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 820 South Damen Avenue Chicago, IL 60612 US
• Name: Yasmin Scott
• Phone: 910-488-2120 X1499
• Email: [email protected]