Clinical Specialist Jobs

About The Position

Requirements

• Graduate from an ACPE-accredited college or school of pharmacy with a BS in Pharmacy and/or Pharm.D.; foreign pharmacy graduates must provide FPGEC certification, including passing the FPGEE and TOEFL iBT.
• Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia, and maintain any required current registration.
• Be proficient in spoken and written English.
• For the GS-13 grade, have one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-12).
• Communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.
• Demonstrate expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for the program area.
• Solve problems and coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in the program area or area of clinical expertise.
• Demonstrate expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or pharmacy specialty.
• Monitor and assess drug-therapy outcomes, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.
• Meet applicable U.S. citizenship requirements; non-citizens may be appointed only when qualified U.S. citizens cannot be recruited under VA policy.
• Pass applicable pre-employment screening, including background/security investigation and physical evaluation; applicants selected for testing-designated positions are subject to pre-appointment urinalysis.
• Participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program as required for VA Health Care Personnel.
• Complete the required application and onboarding requirements and serve a one- or two-year trial period.

Nice To Haves

• Geriatrics or long-term care experience.

Responsibilities

• Review medical orders for appropriateness of the drug, dosage, schedule, duration, and directions.
• Conduct polypharmacy reviews to identify opportunities to reduce medication and therapeutic duplications and improve medication-administration compliance.
• Make clinical medication therapy management decisions using computerized medication profiles and patient records, consultations, medication histories, laboratory reports, and information about allergies and adverse drug reactions.
• Provide medication and therapeutic consultations for assigned patients.
• Monitor patient compliance and medication-therapy outcomes, including ordering specific laboratory tests when appropriate.
• Coordinate and provide direct disease-state management as a mid-level provider.
• Document clinical and operational activities as assigned.
• Support departmental medication and fiscal management activities and programs.
• Support formulary compliance, medication conversions, treatment and pathway compliance, and drug-utilization evaluations.
• Participate in the design, implementation, and reporting of clinical and pharmacoeconomic studies and evaluations as assigned.
• Support adherence to the formulary and handle untoward situations with appropriate assertiveness and poise.
• Review and adjudicate non-formulary medication orders consistent with departmental guidelines and policy.
• Provide medication-related education to medical and non-medical residents, interns, students, and patients as assigned.
• Evaluate and synthesize primary and secondary clinical drug literature to support clinical decisions and patient or provider education.
• Participate in Clinical Pharmacy Section educational programs and staff-development lectures.

Benefits

• Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), with a potential award up to $200,000 for one to five years, subject to eligibility and program approval.
• Competitive salary and regular salary increases; a higher step rate may be considered for higher or unique qualifications or VA special needs.
• 37–50 days of annual paid time off per year, consisting of 13–26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, and 11 paid federal holidays.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave after 12 months of employment, in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster-care placement of a child.
• Eligible full-time employees may receive a childcare subsidy after 60 days of employment, subject to income and other eligibility limits.
• Traditional federal pension, with five-year vesting, and federal 401(k) contributions of up to 5%.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term life, and long-term care insurance; many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement.