Duties
The primary function of a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist/Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner (CPP) is to assure the safe and appropriate use of medications and be an advocate of rational drug therapy through the following: evaluation of the appropriateness of drug therapy based on patient specific factors; individualization of drug therapy; evaluation, dispensing and providing medications, and drug information. Incumbent has responsibility to develop, organize, and manage the Clinical Pharmacist Specialty Program within the assigned Mental Health areas.
The Incumbent has full responsibility to develop necessary services such as physician consultation, patient monitoring, and patient counseling and medication management clinics within Mental Health Care framework. The incumbent is responsible to serve as preceptor for Doctor of Pharmacy candidates and Post Graduate Pharmacy residents. The CPP serves as a pharmacy representative for the WPB VAHCS and as a special consultant for the mental health service. The CPP must be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to complete the duties of the position, including the necessary skills to provide care appropriate to the population of the patients served.
Duties may include but are not limited to:
- Works independently under a scope of practice, providing medication management and medication reconciliation for those patients who are consulted for outpatient mental health: substance abuse, PTSD, and smoking cessation clinics. Provides mental health medication information/provider consultation for patients admitted to the inpatient mental health ward if required.
- Serves as a mid-level provider who functions to implement a pharmacotherapeutic plans the ability to initiate, modify, or discontinue medications (excluding controlled substances) as clinically indicated in the treatment of mental health conditions including schizophrenia, depression, PTSD, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, smoking cessation, substance abuse and other chronic disease states including (but not limited to): atypical antipsychotic medication monitoring etc.
- Works collaboratively with physicians, nurses and other health care providers to achieve positive patient centric outcomes.
- Interviews patients in assigned area, conducting medication histories, formulating and implementing a pharmaceutical care plan for those screened patients who meet the established criteria of needing pharmaceutical care, and documents this information in the patient's electronic record Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS).
- Documents a pharmacy education note in the patient's electronic record after educating/counseling has taken place.
- Provides drug information to all health care professionals, as requested.
- Provides appropriate selection of drug therapy based upon relevant lab values and the pharmaceutical principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; monitoring for efficacy, side effects and clinical outcome; and advises prescribers as appropriate.
- Interfaces with providers, including physicians, physician's assistants (PA), Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP) and other healthcare providers in the design of the veteran's treatment regimen based on patient-specific information that includes establishing a therapeutic endpoint, electing an appropriate drug and related therapy, and establishing an appropriate dosage regimen to achieve optimization of rational and cost-effective drug therapy.
- Reviews request and determines in collaboration with the psychiatrist/prescriber the use of nonformulary
and/or restricted medications.
- Monitors drug levels of patients on assigned unit who are receiving drugs with narrow therapeutic indices and makes recommendations for dose changes using approved pharmacokinetic parameters such as lithium.
- Reports Medication Errors in Joint Patient Safety Reporting (JPSR) and Adverse Drug Events
within 24 hours of their occurrence.
- Serves as an authoritative information source on drugs and their utilization in therapy, with special emphasis on medications used for mental health disorders.
- Evaluates the drug literature by analysis of experimental design and methodology, in order to compare and contrast therapeutic regimens and roles for new drugs, with a special emphasis in medications used in psychiatry.
- Recognizes/lists important medical problems, disease states, symptoms or abnormal laboratory values that may necessitate altering the therapeutic regimen or which may be induced or accentuated by drug therapy.
- Orders lab tests as indicated for appropriate patient monitoring.
Work Schedule: Variable tours of duty with rotational weekends and holidays on a fair and equitable basis per the needs of the service.
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: PD40195F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Requirements
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.
- You may be required to serve a trial period.
- 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). 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).
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: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
- English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).
- Education (TRANSCRIPTS SUPPLIED):
- (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 (DOCUMENTATION SUPPLIED): 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.
- NOTE: Individuals who have or have had multiple licenses and had any such license revoked for professional misconduct, professional incompetence or substandard care, or who surrendered such license after receiving written notice of potential termination of such license by the State for professional misconduct, professional incompetence, or substandard care, are not eligible for appointment to the position unless such revoked or surrendered license is fully restored (38 U.S.C. § 7402(f)). Effective November 30, 1999, this is a requirement for employment. This requirement does not apply to licensed pharmacists on VA rolls as of that date, provided they maintain continuous appointment and are not disqualified for employment by any subsequent revocations or voluntary surrenders of State license, registration or certification.
Licensed Pharmacists 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).
Grandfathering Provision. All licensed pharmacists employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
- (1) Employees grandfathered into the GS-660 occupational series may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
- (2) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration, that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
- (3) If a licensed pharmacist who was retained under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.
Grade Determinations for Clinical Pharmacy Specialist - GS-0660-13 (Above full performance):
- Experience: In addition to the Basic Requirements, Pharmacists assigned to the GS-13 grade must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-12):
- Assignments: For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher the 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.
- Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA's): Pharmacist 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: Highly desirable for the candidate to have ASHP-accredited PGY-2 Mental Health Residency or at least 1 year of clinical practice experience in outpatient mental health setting.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit
https://www.va.gov/OHRM/QualificationStandards/HT38/0660-LicensedPharmacist.pdf
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: See
VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
Benefits
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.
Review our benefits
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.
How You Will Be Evaluated
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
- Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
- All other VA Agency employees.
- All Federal Employees from other Agencies
- Current/Past VHA Health Professional Trainee (HPT) Graduates
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the
VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.
Required Documents
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
- Resume
- SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.
- Cover Letter
- License
- Other (1)
- Resume
- SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
- Transcript
Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.
If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from
schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
How to Apply
All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 07/18/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12756232.
- To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
- Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
Next steps
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.
NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.