Pharmacy Technician

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Providence (RI); On-site; USD 52,000 - 66,000; Full time

Job summary

The Providence VA Medical Center is seeking a Pharmacy Technician for a full-time, 40-hour-per-week position in Providence, RI. The role requires proficiency in English and eligibility for national certification.

The incumbent will work under VA guidelines, handling prescriptions and medication orders, and supporting sterile compounding and dispensing processes. Qualified applicants may be considered while completing requirements; active certification via PTCB or ExCPT is preferred for higher

Qualifications

• Knowledge of pharmacy technician principles, practices, concepts and theories that support independent work.
• Knowledge of the computerized prescription process and input of prescriptions or electronic orders.
• Ability to resolve pharmacy/medication issues with healthcare team, Veterans and external customers.
• Ability to train developmental pharmacy technicians and students.
• Ability to dispense medication or sterile products following regulations and policies.
• Ability to troubleshoot automated dispensing equipment or technology platforms/databases.

Skills

Pharmacy tech principles

Prescription processing

Issue resolution

Training others

Dispensing meds

Troubleshooting ADE

Education

None required

Job description

This announcement is for a Pharmacy Technician, located at the Providence, VAMC in Providence RI. This position is full time/40 hours a week.

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. Pharmacy Technician candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7402(d).
• Education or Experience.
  • None required.
  • For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level.
• Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:
  • Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). OR
  • National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT).

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 Determination- GS-07:

Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-06). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• Knowledge of pharmacy technician principles, practices, concepts and theories providing for sound independent work.
• Knowledge of the computerized prescription process and input of prescriptions and medication orders or electronic equivalent.
• Ability to resolve pharmacy/medication issues with other members of the healthcare team, Veterans and external customers.
• Ability to train developmental pharmacy technicians and students.
• Ability to dispense medication or sterile products following all regulations, policies and procedures to ensure safe medication distribution.
• Ability to troubleshoot automated dispensing equipment (ADE) or technology platforms/databases.

Preferred Experience:

Sterile compounding experience. At least 3 years of Inpatient pharmacy experience.

Reference:

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