Clinical Pharmacist

Summary

This position is an in patient focused, intermittent (PRN) position that serves at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado VISN 4.2. The clinical pharmacist will be responsible for veterans receiving care on an inpatient unit, interventional platform, dialysis, imaging, emergency department, residential rehabilitation programs, community living center, and outpatient clinics.

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Duties

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Duties and Responsibilities:

Customer Service: Demonstrates appropriate and proactive interpersonal skills to achieve the goals of the service. Acts as a team member and is supportive of the group's efforts at all times. Demonstrates an ability to work under a variety of circumstances to maximize group productivity and quality.

Clinical: The clinical pharmacist provides appropriate recommendations for the selection of drug therapy based upon the pharmaceutical principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; monitoring for efficacy, side effects, toxicity, adverse effects, and clinical outcomes; and advises prescribers as appropriate. Provides consultation for patient-specific therapeutic drug monitoring. Communicates relevant findings and/or recommendations, both orally and in writing, to other pharmacists and health care providers in charge of the patient. Participates in patient care rounds, reviews charts, evaluates pertinent laboratory data, drug-drug and drug-nutrient interactions, monitors for adverse drug effects, and screens for allergies. Performs medication reconciliation at all transitions of care, including updating the medication profile to reflect an accurate, active list of VA and non-VA medications. Assesses drug safety and efficacy, including evaluation of physical symptoms. Reports adverse drug events (ADE), near misses, and medication errors in alignment with VA ADERS reporting program. Participates in medical emergencies including code teams (if BLS or ACLS certified) and emergency preparedness activities. Facilitates pharmacy service policies and procedures to manage recalls and medication shortage situations, including substituting alternate dosage strengths and instructions of the same medication to equal the prescribed dose and schedule.

Dispensing: Reviews all medication orders for appropriateness, drug selection, dosage, route of administration and the amount, prior to dispensing. Ensures all medication orders are entered into the electronic patient medical record. Fills all orders in a timely fashion; review of the patient's allergy history, drug-drug, drug-nutrient, drug-laboratory and drug-disease state interactions and assessment for clinical relevance should be performed and dealt with appropriately. Reviews medication profiles and monitors for compliance or potential abuse. Selects, compounds, dispenses and fills a range of drugs including extemporaneous preparations, special formulations, ophthalmics (subconjunctival and intravitreal injections), narcotics, investigational drugs, oncologic agents, etc., in both outpatient and inpatient areas. Quality assurance procedures shall be followed. Maintains adequate drug stock, inspects drug storage areas, supervises pre-packing and the operation of automated dispensing equipment. Supervises the activities of support personnel. Ensures drugs dispensed are completely and correctly labeled and packaged in full compliance with Federal rules and regulations.

Education: The pharmacist is responsible for maintaining his/her professional competency by keeping abreast of current medical and pharmaceutical literature, new drugs and therapies, participating in continuing education programs, and applies this knowledge in his/her daily duties. Provides education to health care providers regarding medication use. Assumes an active role in the overall pharmacy-training program consisting of students, externs, interns, residents, and professional and non-professional staff members.

Work Schedule : 0700-1530, 1430-2300, 1900-0700; weekends included

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)

Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66 .

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework : Available, Ad-hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 55649A

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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation/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 1 or 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 :

• 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.
• 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.

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 f, the following criteria must be met:

GS-11

Experience, Education, and Licensure. None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-12

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.

Preferred Experience: VA experience, Inpatient or Emergency Department experience, board certification (BCPS), completion of post graduate year-1 residency.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-12.

Physical Requirements: The work involves long periods of sitting, standing, walking, and computer usage. The work requires regular and recurring

bending, lifting, stooping, stretching, lifting. The incumbent must be a mature, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, demonstrating a positive attitude, compassion, courtesy and concern for staff and patients. The incumbent must be able to perform all activities of the position without restriction. This position requires lifting up to 25 pounds, visual acuity to confirm drug order and packaging correctness, standing for periods of 30 minutes or greater, dexterity for manipulating compounding equipment.

Education

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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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.