The clinical pharmacist practitioner (CPP) functions at the highest level of clinical practice and works independently under their individual scope of practice to directly care for patients. A CPP functions as a mid-level practitioner for an assigned mental health practice area who may initiate, modify, or discontinue medication. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: designing, implementing, assessing, monitoring and documenting therapeutic plans.
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. 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. NOTE: Individuals who have or have had multiple licenses and had any such license revoked for professional misconduct, professional incompetence or substandard care, or who surrendered such license after receiving written notice of potential termination of such license by the State for professional misconduct, professional incompetence, or substandard care, are not eligible for appointment to the position unless such revoked or surrendered license is fully restored (38 U.S.C. § 7402(£)). Effective November 30, 1999, this is a requirement for employment. This requirement does not apply to licensed pharmacists on VA rolls as of that date, provided they maintain continuous appointment and are not disqualified for employment by any subsequent revocations or voluntary surrenders of State license, registration, or certification. 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: Creditable Experience Knowledge of Professional Pharmacy Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with professional pharmacy practice. Professional practice means paid/non-paid employment as a professional or unlicensed graduate pharmacist as defined by the appropriate licensing board. Residency and Fellowship Training. Residency and fellowship training programs in a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for-year basis. The pharmacy residency program must be accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). A fellowship program that is not accredited by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) will need to have comparable standards for experience to be creditable (Professional Standards Board refers to the Deputy Chief Consultant for Professional Practice for the determination). Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to pharmacy experience at the next lower level. Experience as a Graduate Pharmacist is creditable provided the candidate was used as a professional pharmacist (under supervision) and subsequently passed the appropriate licensure examination. Part-time Experience. Part-time experience as a professional pharmacist is credited according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, a pharmacist employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service. Grade Determinations. In addition to the basic requirements for employment in paragraph 2, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates GS-12 Clinical Pharmacist (Full Performance Level): 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 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. Preferred Experience: Minimum of two years of Outpatient pharmacy experience. 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 GS-12. Physical Requirements: The position requires visual and auditory acuity at a level to provide safe and effective care. Use and function of all normal motor and sensory anatomy for provision of patient care, reading, writing, listening, observing/seeing, heavy lifting, bending, pulling, pushing, stooping, squatting, walking, standing, use of fine motor muscles. Must be able to sit for 3 hours, stand for 3 hours, and walk for 1 hour. The position also requires ability to work on computers for extended periods of time. Requires use of hands for actions such as typing, simple grasping, fine manipulation, and repetitive actions.
Duties include but are not limited to the following: Clinical: In collaboration with other geriatric team members, is responsible for the development of a therapeutic plan which is intended to achieve definite drug therapy outcomes that improve the patient's quality of life. Pharmacist engages in a systematic and comprehensive process to accomplish three primary functions: (1) identification of patient's actual and potential drug­ related problems, (2) resolution of patient's actual drug-related problems, and (3) prevention of patient's potential drug-related problems. Utilizes good time management skills in properly managing clinical work along with drug-related problems that may include the following: 1. Needing pharmacotherapy but not receiving it. 2. Taking or receiving the wrong drug. 3. Taking or receiving too little of the correct drug. 4. Taking or receiving too much of the correct drug. 5. Experiencing an adverse drug event. 6. Experiencing a drug-drug, drug-food, or drug-disease interaction. 7. Not taking or receiving the drug prescribed. 8. Taking or receiving a drug for which there is no valid medical indication. 9. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to: a. The application of a basic knowledge of pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacotherapeutics to assess and monitor patient's response to drug therapy. b. Conducting interviews with patients or their caregivers for the purpose of establishing a medication history. c. Consultation with other health care professionals to ensure the identification, resolution, and prevention of potential and actual drug-related problems. d. Provision of drug information to other health care providers in either verbal or written format. e. Provision of drug information to patients, and counseling of patients on proper medication use. f. Direct patient care activities, including monitoring of drug therapy and adjustment of medication regimen or dose under protocol, in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. g. Documentation of direct patient care activities using the medical record or hospital computer as appropriate. Distributive Functions:1. Screen medication orders and dispense medications, including oral medications, small and large column parenteral with additives, controlled substances, investigational drugs, and chemotherapeutic agents based on the knowledge of current pharmacy practice and standards. 2. Supervise, coordinate, and check work performed by pharmacy technicians, students, and volunteers, and provide back-up for technical staff when necessary. 3. Utilize a broad base of computer knowledge for drug order and prescription entry, as well as retrieval of laboratory results and other patient related data in VA computer systems. 4. Coordinate the patient discharge process with regard to medication, to ensure that the necessary medications are supplied in adequate amounts. 5. Ensure that professional standards, regulations, laws, and applicable guidelines and protocols are met when dispensing medications. 6. Includes automation distributions via Omnicell's or similar dispensing machines. Work Schedule: Mon-Fri: Between 8am to 5:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #:04484F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized