Pharmacist (Clinical Specialist) Acute Care and Community Living Center

Summary

The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS) works independently at the highest level of clinical practice within Acute Care and Community Living Center within VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System as an integral part of the interdisciplinary healthcare team.The CPS utilizes professional judgment and clinical expertise to solve complex problems and provides comprehensive clinical, information and educational services to providers, staff, and Veterans.

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Duties

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The Acute Care CPS may be assigned to specific physician teams as integrated members working collaboratively with the other members of the health care team to provide optimal drug therapy management. Responsibility for review of the medication profile, completion of progress notes, and verification of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) medication orders will be incurred in this position. The CPS acts as a liaison between their service area and Pharmacy Service including outpatient pharmacy, inpatient pharmacy, and clinical sections.

Clinical:

• Works collaboratively with assigned teams to develop, modify, monitor, and document patients' drug therapy to include, but not limited to pharmacokinetics, anticoagulation, nutrition therapy, renal dosing, ordering and interpreting laboratory data, and assessing response to therapy.
• Attends scheduled multi-disciplinary rounds and is viewed as the team's primary resource for drug information, drug selection, drug monitoring, collaborative drug management, and safe and effective use of medications.
• Works collaboratively with multi-disciplinary team to assist in providing high quality transitions of care.
• Coordinates and ensures proper orders are placed for needed supplies for discharge (for example: dressing, trach, ostomy supplies, enteral feedings and supplies, home iv supplies, diabetic care supplies)
• .Orders laboratory tests when necessary to ensure safe and effective drug use.
• Provides routine patient specific medication reviews taking into consideration the patients' age, admitting diagnosis, clinical course, physical exam, lab data, and other pertinent medical information. Pertinent information is shared with the medical team and/or documented in the medical chart and the encounter completed as appropriate.
• Performs Antimicrobial Stewardship functions in area of practice. Additional Antimicrobial Stewardship functions and proactive oversight of antimicrobials may be assigned outside area of primary practice.
• Age specific:
• a. Able to evaluate drug therapy and monitor for age specific characteristics of the adult and geriatric patient.
• b. Aware of polypharmacy in the adult and geriatric patient and can make therapeutic recommendations to promote safe, effective and
• Clarifies medication regimensa. Performs medication reconciliation of patients' profiles prior to admission and/or discharge from medical center.
• Has expertise in the principles of clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and is knowledgeable and able to make dose adjustment recommendations based on objective laboratory findings.
• Assesses patients on parenteral and enteral nutrition. In conjunction with nutrition, parental formulations are reviewed for appropriateness based on laboratory parameters
• Reviews hospital treatment course, home medication list, physician discharge note, and outpatient medication orders when preparing a patient for discharge from the hospital.
  a. Resolves any discrepancies, questions, or concerns with discharging provider prior to patient's discharge.
  b. Provides patienUcaregiver medication counseling at discharge emphasizing new medications and medication changes during hospital stay and appropriately documents the encounter.
• c. Considers age specific changes that may result in altered vision, hearing or physical/cognitive impairments.
• d. Provides written medication list to patienUcaregiver as part of discharge counseling to facilitate continuity of care.
• The CPS is responsible for maintaining his/her professional competency by keeping abreast of current medical and pharmaceutical literature, new drugs and therapies, and applies this knowledge in his/her daily duties.
• Designs, implements, and monitors therapeutic drug plans to achieve desired outcomes by direct interactions with patients and providers in assigned areas.
• Prescribes medications per the pharmacist's approved scope of practice.
• Reviews and evaluates requests for non-formulary/prior authorization and restricted dug consults for appropriateness in compliance with established criteria where applicable and provides therapeutic alternatives as necessary.
• Documents clinical interventions as appropriate.

VA Careers - Pharmacy :

Work Schedule : Monday-Friday (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) Negotiable

Telework : Not available. Ad hoc only

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 94069-0

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

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 :

• Citizenship: Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)
• 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: View phone number on click.appcast.io, or through their Web site at: ( 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).
• Grandfathering provision: 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 : 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 Pharmacist (Full Performance Level)

Experience or Education: In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must meet one of the following:

• 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level; or
• Completion of an ACPE-accredited Pharm.D. Program.

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

• Knowledge of professional pharmacy practice.
• Ability to communicate orally and in writing to both patients and health care staff.
• Knowledge of laws, regulations, and accreditation standards related to the distribution and control of scheduled and non-scheduled drugs and pharmacy security.
• Skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.

GS-13

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.

Physical Requirements: The work environment is an inpatient pharmacy, an outpatient pharmacy, or a patient care area environment (including the Surgical Suite or Emergency Department). There may be extremes of temperature, distractions, noise from equipment or patient care activities. Handles frozen and refrigerated products often. May be required to use heating equipment. Exposure to negative and positive air pressure rooms is also possible. Must be able to don/doff protective garments and use equipment as necessary for assignment. May work with cleaning and disinfecting products occasionally. Must have the use of fingers; both hands required; Twisting and grasping of bottles and vials or syringes occurs frequently. Some lifting (25 lbs.), stretching and forward and overhead reaching is involved. Walking and standing 8-12 hours; repeated bending 8 hours; both legs required. May have to kneel to retrieve product(s) from lower cabinets or the floor. Must be able to rapidly coordinate mental and muscular duties simultaneously. Computer keyboard activity and computer monitor use is frequently performed. May be required to operate robotic packaging machinery and automated dispensing devices. Fine motor skills (for packaging and counting) and excellent visual acuity (for expiration date, tablet identification, and prescription interpretation) are required. Near vision correctable @ 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 distinguish shades of colors. Hearing acuity is required for phone communication, patient counseling and professional communication (hearing aid use is permitted). May be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials or other parts of the facility, carrying of light objects such as books and reports. May occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. Must be a mature, flexible sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations and able to shift priorities based on patient needs. Works closely with others. May have protracted or irregular hours of work. Shift rotation is commonly required.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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