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.
- 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.)
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). 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: 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.
Grade Determinations: At the GS-15 level, Chiefs of Pharmacy must meet the following:
1. Individuals are assigned as Chiefs of Pharmacy at Complexity Level 1a, 1b or 1c VHA facilities; or
2. Individuals are assigned as Chief of Pharmacy at Complexity Levels 2 or 3 and must meet the
criteria noted in 2a and b below.
a. Must meet all of the following requirements:
(1) Manages a complex medical center based pharmacy program that is defined as
having multiple practice settings (e.g. hospital ambulatory care, long-term care, behavior health care) that require Joint Commission review as separate standards.
(2) In addition to the medical center pharmacy, has responsibility for pharmacy services
at one or more of the following: CBOCs, Rural Health Program, domiciliary, or provides
dispensing and/or clinical services to State Veterans Home.
(3) Presence of advanced clinical pharmacy programs that include pharmacist(s) that have
approved scopes of practice with prescriptive privileges.
(4) Pharmacy provides clinical pharmacist services to three (3) or more specialty areas
such as, but not limited to, hemodialysis, oncology, operating room or an emergency
department.
b. In addition to the requirements listed in 2a above, must meet at least two of the following:
(1) An ASHP Accredited Pharmacy Residency Program.
(2) A Research Program that is accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP).
(3) Actively involved in committees or advisory/work groups at the VISN and/or National level.
(4) An ongoing pharmacy student rotation in both the intermediate and advanced practice experience settings.
Preferred Experience:
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit
https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.