The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS) in Primary Care is assigned in the Primary Care functioning as a specialist in medication therapy management. 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 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. 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. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 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-13: 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: a. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions. b. Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area. c. Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise. d. Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy. e. Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. Preferred Experience: PGY-2 Primary Care Residency or PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency. Comprehensive knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy such as quality assurance/utilization review, informatics systems, drug information, etc. This level of knowledge is usually characterized by at least 1 year of experience in a specialized clinical area or advanced training/certification. Comprehensive knowledge of pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, pharmacoeconomics, and pharmacotherapeutics. This level of knowledge is characterized by at least 1 year of experience in a specialized clinical area or advanced training/certification. Extensive skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. Ability to design specific treatment regimens based on specific disease states for mental health patients to establish appropriate therapeutic outcomes. References: VA Handbook 5005/55 Part II Appendix G15 dated June 7, 2012. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13. Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting/carrying (15-44 pounds); straight pulling/pushing (1 hour); reaching above shoulder; use of fingers; both hands required; walking/standing (2 hours); repeated bending (2 hours); both legs required; ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; depth perception; ability to determine basic colors; ability to distinguish shades of colors; hearing (aid may be permitted). ["The clinical pharmacy specialist functions at the highest level of clinical practice as a provider with prescribing privileges as outlined in the individual's scope of practice for Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS). The 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. Administrative: Concurrently reviews medication usage as part of the overall quality assurance program and specifically focuses on reducing the number of prescriptions per patient. Assists the Pharmacy Supervisors in the identification and development of new clinical responsibilities for Outpatient Clinical Pharmacists and in the planning to meet their staff development requirements. May be required to perform administrative duties required for performance measures or improvement activities, compliance with accrediting organizations, or other duties as assigned. May be required to participate in emergency preparedness activities because of national health disasters. Clinical: Interfaces with primary care physicians in the design of the veteran's treatment regimen. Independently works in the assigned clinic area as a mid-level provider designing medication therapy management (MTM) for patients. Serves as an authoritative information source on drugs and their utilization in therapy. Evaluates the drug literature by analysis of experimental design and methodology, to compare and contrast therapeutic regimens and roles for new drugs. Designs dosage regimens for current pharmacokinetics principles and specific patient parameters. From a verbal or written patient presentation of signs, symptoms, laboratory tests and diagnoses, recognize and list important medical problems, disease states, symptoms, or abnormal laboratory values, which may necessitate altering the therapeutic regimen. Establish and expand the patient database through interpreting the drug history, medical history, physical examination, and progress notes. Designs a therapeutic regimen or plan, based on patient-specific information. Monitors and assesses therapeutic and adverse effects of drug therapy. Orders appropriate laboratory and other tests to effectively monitor patients' medication therapy. Provide consultation on selection of appropriate OTC medications as part of the total therapy. Provides the primary care providers a focal resource for discussion of anticoagulation and other therapeutic problems requiring intervention. Monitors use of non-formulary medications and offers alternatives to medical staff. Education & training: Serves as a preceptor to students of Affiliated Schools of Pharmacy. Serves as a preceptor to pharmacy residents. Designs, implements, and supervises the clinical education and training for the staff pharmacists. Performs in-service training as scheduled. Research: Independently designs secure funding and conduct clinical research within the scope of Primary Care/Internal Medicine. Actively collaborates with the Ambulatory Care Section in the design and implementation of research protocols, collection of data and participates in the analysis and interpretation of the results. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Telework: Available based on the needs of the organization and supervisory approval Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]

Return to Search Results