Career Center

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. Learn more 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.) [TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION] (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). [YOU MUST SUBMIT COPY OF FPGEC CERTIFICATION WITH THE APPLICATION PACKAGE]. 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. Grandfathering Provision. All licensed pharmacists employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. 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 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist Experience. 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: Completion PGY 1 Pharmacy residency preferred, Completion of PGY 2 Psychiatry Pharmacy residency preferred or 3+ years mental health pharmacy experience, or Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) certified preferred but not required References: VA Handbook 5005/55, Part II, Appendix G15, Licensed Pharmacist Qualification Standards, dated June 7, 2012. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. Physical Requirements: Work is generally sedentary. Typically, the Pharmacist sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items such as papers, books, small pieces of equipment and supplies, or driving an automobile. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. ["VAPAHCS operates over 800 beds located across three inpatient facilities and seven outpatient clinics and is home to a variety of regional treatment centers, including a Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center, Spinal Cord Injury Center, a Comprehensive Rehabilitation Center, a Traumatic Brain Injury Center, the Western Blind Rehabilitation Center, a Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, a Homeless Veterans Rehabilitation Program, and the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. We are affiliated with Stanford University School of Medicine, as well as the University of the Pacific School of Pharmacy. The Pharmacy Service has 191 FTEE pharmacists and technicians, 1 PGY2 Psychiatry resident, and 7 PGY1 residents. The VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) currently has ONE Mental Health Clinical Pharmacy Specialist position available. The CPS will manage the outpatient mental health clinic for patients in the Monterey Clinic. The position is located at the Monterey Outpatient Clinic. Hours are M-F, 0800-1630. The Mental Health Clinical Pharmacy Specialist will: provide direct patient care to patients requiring mental health management through the use of their independent scope of practice, which allows for initiation, adjustment and discontinuation of mental health medication therapy (pharmacist has their own appointment grid) provide consultation to psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and other health professionals on mental health management issues in support of national, VISN, and local medication use policies and performance measures work collaboratively with the other Mental Health CPSs in San Jose and Livermore to lead mental health management projects as assigned work collaboratively to successfully meet national, VISN and local mental health related performance measures actively participate on the VAPAHCS Clozapine Treatment Team and participate on national, VISN and local committees and work groups as assigned work on quality assurance and process improvement projects as assigned adjudicate prior authorization drug requests (PADR) for non-formulary/restricted mental health medications as assigned serve as a preceptor for the PGY-1 and PGY-2 residency programs and for pharmacy students on APPE rotations VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm\nTelework: Eligible\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nFunctional Statement #: 000000\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized\nEDRP Authorized: Contact V21CCOEEDRP@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance\nPermanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized\nPCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]