Clinical Pharmacy Specialist

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Fort Wayne (IN); On-site; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

The US Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner (CPP) to lead advanced medication management for pain patients and PMOP duties on site in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

This CPP will operate under an approved Scope of Practice, collaborate with the interdisciplinary team, and provide prescriptive services within VA standards to achieve optimal veteran outcomes.

Qualifications

• Graduate of an ACPE-accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a PharmD or BS Pharmacy.
• Foreign graduates must have FPGEC certification including FPGEE and TOEFL iBT.
• Full, current and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in the US or equivalent territory.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and provide comprehensive medication management for pain management.
• Exercise prescriptive authority under an approved Scope of Practice.
• Support PMOP administrative duties and ensure adherence to VA guidelines.

Skills

Clinical pharmacy

Pain management

Prescriptive authority

Education

PharmD or BS Pharmacy

ACPE-accredited education

Job description

The Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner (CPP) serves as an advanced practice provider with prescriptive authority under an approved Scope of Practice. The primary responsibility is to coordinate and provide comprehensive medication management (CMM) for patients requiring pain management as well as Pain Management Opioid Safety Program (PMOP) administrative duties.

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

Creditable Experience

• (1) 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.
• (2) 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).
• (3) 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.
• (4) 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.

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.

Clinical Pharmacist Specialist (GS-13)

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.

In addition, Pharmacists assigned to this position must also demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs):

• Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical 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 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

PGY1/PGY2 preferably within VA or experience in primary care medication management

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-13.

Physical Requirements

Work requires moderate lifting, walking, bending, stooping, standing, pushing, and pulling. Ability to lift/push/pull light loads, carts weighing 40 pounds or more. Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination. Normal range for hearing and vision.