The Salisbury VA Health Care System, Salisbury, NC has an immediate opening for a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (Oncology). The Pharmacy Oncology team covers oncology services at our three locations, Salisbury VAMC, Charlotte HCC and Kernersville HCC. The oncology service is Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) certified. This position includes teaching opportunities within the Oncology Fellowship Program affiliated with local major academic institution. 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 VHA Policy. 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. (NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree programs; today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy) 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 (TOEF iBT). Licensure. Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d) and 7407(d). Applicants 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). PREFERRED EXPERIENCE: Completion of a PGY2 Oncology Residency and/or current direct patient care and management of oncology patients and/or BCOP. Grade Requirements: Creditable Experience Knowledge of Professional Pharmacy Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with professional pharmacy practice. Professional practice means paid/non-paid employment as a professional or unlicensed graduate pharmacist as defined by the appropriate licensing board. Residency and Fellowship Training. Residency and fellowship training programs in a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for-year basis. The pharmacy residency program must be accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). A fellowship program that is not accredited by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) will need to have comparable standards for experience to be creditable (Professional Standards Board refers to the Deputy Chief Consultant for Professional Practice for the determination). Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to pharmacy experience at the next lower level. Experience as a Graduate Pharmacist is creditable provided the candidate was used as a professional pharmacist (under supervision) and subsequently passed the appropriate licensure examination. Part-time Experience. Part-time experience as a professional pharmacist is credited according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, a pharmacist employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: GS-13 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, you must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. [GS-12 Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 1. Knowledge of professional pharmacy practice. 2. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to both patients and health care staff. 3. Knowledge of laws, regulations, and accreditation standards related to the distribution and control of scheduled and non-scheduled drugs and pharmacy security. 4. Skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.] (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. 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 (GS-13): 1. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions 2. Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area. 3. Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise. 4. Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy. 5. Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/55PART II APPENDIX G15, LICENSED PHARMACIST QUALIFICATION STANDARD The 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: This position is mainly sedentary. ["The duties of the Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (Oncology) include, but are not limited to: Customer Service:\n(1) Consistently responds to patients, family members, caregivers, visitors, and co- workers requests for questions or assistance in a prompt, timely, and cooperative manner.\n(2) Consistently communicates with all customers in a courteous, tactful, and helpful manner. Provides oral and written material promptly when asked and is always responsive to the customer's needs.\n(3) Work relationships with co-workers and all members of the organization must be consistently courteous and cooperative to assure the effective operation of the pharmacy service.\n(4) Must demonstrate the ability to function as a team member and contribute positively to the missions of both the pharmacy service and medical center. Clinical:\n(1) Develops and maintains an in-depth knowledge of a specialized area of pharmacy practice appropriate to oncology and chemotherapy.\n(2) Develops professional relationships with non-pharmacy professional personnel, and projects the highest level of pharmacy professional practice.\n(3) Monitors patient therapy utilizing advanced skills in physical assessment, pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.(4) Reviews and evaluates prescribed drug therapy for appropriateness, effectiveness, cost-benefit, adverse drug reactions, allergies, drug disease interactions, and communicates and documents recommendations to providers and pharmacists as necessary. This includes evaluation and approval/disapproval of non-formulary requests.\n(5) Appropriately renders pharmaceutical care to the respective oncology or support clinics and documents care in the medical record.\n(6) Acts as a pharmacotherapy expert within certified field and provides expertise to other providers, pharmacists, nurses, and other disciplines as appropriate.\n(7) Designs and performs relevant drug use evaluations under direction of the Clinical Pharmacy Coordinator.\n(8) May initiate and/or participate in research studies in oncology.\n(9) Will achieve and maintain board certification in an appropriate pharmacy specialty area allowing the incumbent to practice within an advance scope of practice which includes prescriptive authority in collaboration with physician providers. The incumbent will also be considered an associate member of the medical staff.\n(10) Primary provider for extending medication therapy until next medical appointment, when patients are out of medications (limited to non-controlled substances).\n(11) Primary provider to initiate, modify or discontinue patient's medication therapy, as a consultation for intensive medication therapy management services. Provides patient-specific drug therapy modifications to maximize patient response and minimize drug interactions, adverse drug effects, and polypharmacy while providing cost-effective treatment. The assessments are based on clinical reviews and objectives measures. Clinical pharmacy specialists will determine a referral to the physician is necessary when disease progression occurs or adverse drug events require treatment interventions.\n(12) Orders, performs, reviews and analyzes appropriate laboratory tests and other diagnostic studies necessary to monitor and support the patient's drug therapy. Follows-up with patients on lab or test results to discuss the plan of therapy (i.e. changes in medication therapy, monitoring and evaluation, additional testing requirements, referral to primary care or specialty care physician).\n(13) Provides patient care that is appropriate to the cognitive, physical, emotional, and chronological maturation needs of the patients.\n(14) Primary provider to consult to other VA providers in Geriatrics and Extended Care, on the appropriate VA National Formulary medications to consider for patients that are choosing to transfer their care to VA. Administration:\n(1) Works with the Clinical Pharmacy Coordinator to oversee and manage all oncology and other investigational protocols. Will maintain appropriate IRB and R&D required training.\n(2) Works with the P&T Committee and Patient Safety to regularly track and monitor the safety of the medical center oncology program including chemotherapy ordering, prescribing, distribution, administration and monitoring.\n(3) Acts as a liaison between pharmacy and oncology and other relevant specialty clinic professional and administrative personnel.\n(4) Actively assures that policy and procedures of the Service and medical center are followed.\n(5) Assists the Chief of Pharmacy, Clinical Pharmacy Coordinator, and pharmacy supervisor(s) in developing policies and procedures.\n(6) Represents pharmacy on assigned committees. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; Hours 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.\nCompressed/Flexible: Not Available\nTelework: Not available\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]