Pharmacy Technician

COVERAGE. The following are requirements for appointment or placement as a Pharmacy Technician in Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The requirements will apply to all VHA pharmacy technicians employed in the General Schedule (GS) 0661 series performing a variety of pharmacy duties under the supervision of a pharmacist. Under the supervision of a pharmacist, pharmacy technicians perform routine pharmacy functions including filling, preparation and dispensing of prescriptions, sterile compounding preparation, management of automated dispensing equipment (ADE), inventory management and multiple types of customer contact services. Advanced pharmacy technicians serve in specialized roles within the pharmacy department and are often involved with program management of their specialty area. These roles include, but are not limited to, pharmacy technicians who specialize in controlled substance management, sterile compounding, inventory/ budgeting/purchasing, automation, informatics, quality management, research, clinical and call center. Lead and supervisory pharmacy technicians are also advanced roles in this series. Pharmacy technicians work in a variety of settings in VHA. BASIC REQUIREMENTS. a. Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. b. Education or Experience. (1) None required. (2) For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level. c. Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either: (1) Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). OR (2) National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT). d. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service. e. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy Technician candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f). GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for appointment, VA HR staff must use the following criteria to determine the appropriate grade assignment of candidates. Pharmacy Technician, GS-07. (1) Experience. Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. (2) Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either: (a) PTCB as a CPhT. OR (b) NHA as a ExCPT. (3) Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of pharmacy technician principles, practices, concepts and theories providing for sound independent work. (b) Knowledge of the computerized prescription process and input of prescriptions and medication orders or electronic equivalent. (c) Ability to resolve pharmacy/medication issues with other members of the healthcare team, Veterans and external customers. (d) Ability to train developmental pharmacy technicians and students. (e) Ability to dispense medication or sterile products following all regulations, policies and procedures to ensure safe medication distribution. (f) Ability to troubleshoot automated dispensing equipment (ADE) or technology platforms/databases. (4) Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Pharmacy technicians at this level are nationally certified and ca