Clinical Pharmacist

The clinical pharmacist is a licensed professional with knowledge and proficiency in pharmacy practice including pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacotherapeutics. The incumbent is responsible for analyzing real and potential drug-related medical problems and implementing corrective action to ensure that patients receive optimal drug therapy.

The pharmacist provides appropriate selection of drug therapy based upon the pharmaceutical principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; monitoring for efficacy, side effects and clinical outcome; and advises prescribers as appropriate.
-Provides patient-specific therapeutic drug monitoring and communicates relevant findings and/or recommendations to other health care providers in charge of the patient both orally and in writing. Monitoring will include prospective review and intervention in:
i. Therapeutic appropriateness of a patient's drug regimen
ii. Therapeutic duplication in the patient's drug regimen
iii. Appropriateness of the route and method of administration
iv. Degree of patient compliance with the prescribed drug regimen
v. Drug-drug, drug-food, drug-laboratory, or drug disease interactions
vi. Clinical and pharmacokinetic laboratory data to evaluate the efficacy of drug therapy and to anticipate side effects, toxicity, or adverse effects
vii. Physical signs and clinical symptoms relevant to the patient's drug therapy
-Performs continuous evaluation of prescribed medications to assure optimal drug therapy.
-Provides medication counseling to patients and caregivers (when applicable).
-Completes medication histories including patient interviews.
-Serves as a drug information resource by providing up-to-date drug information to prescribers, other health care professionals, patients and caregivers.
-Participates in patient care rounds, review charts, evaluates pertinent laboratory data, drug-drug and drug-nutrient interactions, monitors for adverse drug effects, and screens for allergies.
-Performs medication reconciliation at all transitions of care, including updating the medication profile to reflect an accurate, active list of VA and non-VA medications. This may include adding non-VA medications or discontinuing duplicate medications or those the patient is not taking.
-Assesses drug safety and efficacy, including evaluation of physical symptoms.
-Reports adverse drug events (ADE), near misses, and medication errors in alignment with VA ADERS reporting program and e-PER reporting program.
-Participates in the medical center medication utilization evaluation (MUE)program.
-Recommends formulary alternatives and completes non-formulary consults as assigned.
-Participates in medical emergencies (if BLS or ACLS certified) and emergency preparedness activities.
-Provides pharmacokinetic consultation, including dosing vancomycin and aminoglycosides, in accordance with local policy.
-Implements P&T Committee policies including therapeutic interchanges and automatic substitutions to include appropriate patient and provider education.
-Manages recalls and medication shortage situations by substituting alternate dosage strengths and instructions of the same medication to equal the prescribed dose and schedule.
-Enters supply orders appropriate for patient care per facility policy.
-Manages various actions, as appropriate, for medication orders to include: flagging prescriptions, managing view alerts, using the "hold medication "function, and generating unsigned discontinued orders using Service Reject.
-Extends refills until next scheduled appointment under the provider's name per facility policy.
-Serves as a role model and preceptor to pharmacy students and residents.
-Other duties as assigned.

VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws

Work Schedule: Tours of duty will vary based on the need to the department to cover vacations or special projects and could be any shift between 7 am to 11pm
Compressed/Flexible: Not Available
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

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. 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.).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.

Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English.

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-11 Pharmacist (a) Experience, Education, and Licensure. None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-12 Clinical Pharmacist (Full Performance Level)
(a) Experience or Education. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must meet one of the following: 1. 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, or 2. Completion of an ACPE-accredited Pharm.D. program.
(b) Assignment. A pharmacist in this assignment handles routine medication-related activities in accordance with local, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN), and national policies and regulations. These include, but are not limited to: reviewing, interpreting, and verifying medication orders for appropriateness; processing and filling medication orders; interacting with and making recommendations to other clinical staff regarding medication therapy ordered to ensure safe and effective care; reviewing the patient's medications, allergies, labs, and other pertinent information from the medical record to identify and solve medication-related problems; contacting providers as appropriate; documenting recommendations and interventions; providing refill extensions and partial medication supplies; taking health and medication histories; performing medication reconciliation; providing drug information; assisting in formulary management including therapeutic substitutions, nonformulary reviews and medication usage evaluations; documenting and assessing adverse drug events (ADEs); assisting in medical emergencies; providing oversight of technical staff in all aspects of medication distribution. Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities (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.

Work Schedule: "This Position is being advertised as an Intermittent Position. Intermittent employment is defined as non-fulltime employment without a regularly scheduled tour of duty. A position with an intermittent work schedule is sporadic and unpredictable so that a tour of duty cannot be regularly scheduled in advance." to be listed above DUTIES and under Work Schedule in OVERVIEW.

Preferred Experience: Inpatient and Outpatient Pharmacy

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-12.

Physical Requirements: There may be some walking, standing, sitting, bending, and carrying of light items.

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/.

• 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.
• 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.