Job Summary

The Primary Care Clinical Pharmacy Practitioner is an Advanced Practice Provider who functions autonomously under an approved, Scope of Practice. This position is intermittent with varying hours per week based on service needs. This role may care for Veterans at our Golden, Aurora, Rocky Mountain Regional Medical Center, Englewood, Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo clinics. Location is negotiable as long as it is within the health care system's area of catchment.

Job Description

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.) (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. 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: GS-13 (a) Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. (b) 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. 1. 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: PGY-2 Pharmacy Residency or PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency with at least one year of experience in Ambulatory Care clinical experience +/- BCPS/BCACP/BGCP. Multiple years of experience in Ambulatory Care clinical experience +BCPS/BCACP/BGCP. 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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13. Physical Requirements: A. Due to the open, shared nature of PACT team workspaces, the incumbent must be able to work effectively amid multiple simultaneous conversations occurring nearby, including discussions of direct patient care by other team members that may be incidentally overheard. The incumbent is expected to maintain patient confidentiality regardless of open workspace configuration, consistent with the Privacy Act and HIPAA minimum necessary standards. B. The incumbent must be able to concentrate, exercise independent clinical judgement, and accurately perform telehealth (phone and VVC) patient encounters in a moderate-noise environment characterized by ambient conversation, phones ringing, and general clinic activity. C. Primary care work areas experience frequent foot traffic from patients, providers, nursing staff, and other healthcare personnel throughout the workday; the incumbent must be able to maintain focus and workflow efficiency despite a frequent interruption practice setting. D. The position requires prolonged periods of sitting, typing, and computer screen use, as well as extended telephone and headset use for phone clinics and virtual encounters. E. The incumbent must have visual acuity sufficient to review laboratory results, medication lists, and clinical documentation accurately, and auditory acuity sufficient to conduct telephone/VVC clinical encounters and detect patient-reported symptoms or distress, as errors in perception could directly affect patient safety. F. The incumbent must be able to move between clinic rooms, workstations, and other areas of the medical center or CBOC as needed to attend patients, consult with team members, or attend meetings; occasional walking, standing, and use of stairs/elevators may be required. G. The incumbent may occasionally lift and carry reference materials, a laptop/mobile workstation, or other light equipment, generally not exceeding 15-20 pounds. H. The incumbent must be able to manage the cognitive demands of rapid task switching between direct patient care, documentation, and interruptions from team members, while maintaining accuracy in independent clinical decisionmaking.