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: Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English.
- 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: (312) 664-3575, or through their Web site at: http://www.acpe-accredit.org/.
- Foreign Education:
- 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.
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).
GS 13 Grade Specific Requirements::
GS 13 Experience:
- In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.
GS 13 Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's): In addition to meeting the experience for the GS-12 level, applicants must possess the following Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and 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 a 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: Prior VA Clinical experience/training in chronic disease state management, Healthcare Professional Trainee (HPT), or Clinical Pharmacy experience in medication management.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit
https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
This vacancy is being announced abovethe FPL at a GS-13
Physical Requirements: Physical movements involve completion of routine pharmacy functions which include but are not limited
to: significant computer work/typing involving documenting patient encounters in the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS), prescription order entry and processing, contact of patients (both face to face and via phone). Certain tasks are repetitive in nature and require multiple steps performed in succession for success. The incumbent should be able to lift and carry up to 45 pounds without significant difficulty. Incumbent must be able to stand or sit in one place including repeated bending for considerable time, reach above shoulders, use of fingers, both hands and legs required, during completion of complex tasks. Complexity of mental processes involved is extensive, demanding, and challenging thus requiring the ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously for mental and emotional stability. Glasses are acceptable for vision correction per OF178 as employee needs the ability to read without strain of printed material the size of typewritten characters.