Clinical Pharmacy Specialist

The Eastern Oklahoma VA Healthcare System seeks two Clinical Pharmacy Specialists (CPS) to provide direct patient care in Acute Care Medicine, Inpatient Rehabilitation, Intensive/Critical Care, Post Surgery, and the Emergency Room. Key responsibilities include managing medication therapy, consulting on treatments, designing therapeutic plans, performing physical assessments, and ordering lab tests. Candidates must be knowledgeable in best pharmacy practices and guidelines to ensure optimal care.

Tulsa (James Mountain Inhofe VAMC) - Tulsa (James Mountain Inhofe VAMC) facility
VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws
Total Rewards - Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

• Provide clinical pharmacy services under a Global Scope of Practice, including initiation, modification, and discontinuation of medications based on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles to optimize therapeutic outcomes.
• Conduct patient-specific therapeutic drug monitoring and continuously evaluate medication regimens for appropriateness, duplication, route and method of administration, adherence, interactions, efficacy, toxicity, and adverse effects.
• Assess clinical symptoms, physical findings, laboratory data, allergies, and other relevant patient information to evaluate drug safety and efficacy and recommend appropriate therapeutic interventions.
• Communicate medication-related findings and recommendations to prescribers and other healthcare professionals orally and in writing.
• Provide medication counseling to patients and caregivers, obtain medication histories through patient interviews, and serve as a drug information resource for healthcare professionals and patients.
• Provide clinical pharmacy consultations, including renal dose adjustments, formulary alternatives, and non-formulary medication reviews.
• Implement Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee policies, including therapeutic interchanges and automatic substitutions, with appropriate patient and provider education.
• Manage medication recalls and shortages by recommending appropriate alternative strengths, dosing instructions, or therapeutically equivalent medications.
• Report adverse drug events, near misses, and medication errors in accordance with the VADERS reporting program and facility policies; document clinical interventions and medication-related outcomes.
• Participate in Medication Utilization Evaluation (MUE) activities and develop or conduct drug-use evaluations to improve medication safety, effectiveness, cost efficiency, and patient outcomes.
• Assist in formulary management and promote appropriate medication utilization in accordance with established policies and clinical guidelines.
• Identify, document, and report cost-reduction and cost-avoidance opportunities and participate in pharmacoeconomic evaluations.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary healthcare teams to develop and implement programs that improve medication use and pharmaceutical care.
• Participate in research and quality improvement initiatives involving drug therapy outcomes, pharmacoeconomics, and medication management.
• Serve as a role model and preceptor for pharmacy students and residents; support staff development and provide educational in-services to pharmacy, nursing, medical staff, and other healthcare personnel.
• Enter medication supply orders for patient care in accordance with facility policies.
• Maintain current BLS and/or ACLS certification, as required, and the competencies necessary to provide backup pharmacy staffing coverage.

Work Schedule: Full-time, Four 10-hour shifts per week, with scheduled hours of either 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., depending on operational needs.
Compressed/Flexible: Available
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Situational (Ad-hoc) as determined by agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 623-57393-A

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 2 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 1.
• Grandfathering Provision. 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).
• English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).

GRADE DETERMINATIONS: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Note: One year of experience equivalent is met if you are a current/past/upcoming VHA Health Professions Trainee (HPT) Graduate.

GS-13 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist

1. Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have one (1) year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.
2. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. 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.

Preferred Experience: Experience managing complex patients using evidence-based pharmacotherapy; precepting learners or mentoring pharmacy staff; at least three years of clinical pharmacy experience; strong interdisciplinary collaboration; and provider education.

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

This vacancy is above the full performance level.

Physical Requirements: The job requires moderate levels of lifting, walking, bending, stooping, standing, pushing, and pulling.

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 evaluation/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.