Pharmacists are professional positions requiring specialized training and experience and New York State licensure, that formulate, prepare, dispense, and control drugs and other pharmaceuticals for a hospital, infirmary, or other State facility. Most of these positions are classified in the Departments of Correctional Services and Health and the Offices of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
The levels in this series are distinguished primarily by their completion of education requirements and licensure.
PHARMACY INTERN: performs pharmacist duties, under the close supervision of a Pharmacist, while completing pharmacy school or pending licensure.
PHARMACIST 1: appointee must have a New York State license and current registration to practice pharmacy; performs the full range of pharmacy duties.
PHARMACIST 2: appointee must have a New York State license and current registration to practice pharmacy and complete additional post-graduate education and training; performs the full range of pharmacy duties.
Pharmacists 3 and 4 supervise the staff and operations of large pharmacies at hospitals and other facilities and perform the full range of Pharmacist duties. They may also be responsible for pharmacy operations at different geographic locations.
Pharmacy Aides perform routine manual and clerical activities to receive, store, inventory, repackage, and issue pharmaceuticals. Activities are performed under the direct supervision and control of a licensed Pharmacist.
Pharmacy Consultants review requests from providers for Medicaid coverage of drugs and therapeutic aids, advise and interpret State policies and rules and regulations about the program, and review and resolve claims from providers.
Receives and dispenses prescriptions for patients.
Assures that all pharmaceuticals are properly stored and labeled.
Provides advice to medical staff about drugs and pharmaceuticals, including advising about new drugs and drug therapies, the proper use and dosage of drugs, and pharmaceutical treatment for specific medical or patient problems.
Manufactures and packages bulk quantities of medications for patient use.
Supervises other Pharmacists and support staff assigned to the pharmacy.
Estimates future drug and budgetary needs by analyzing and interpreting prescription trends, evaluating stock and usage levels, and conducting cost studies of comparable drugs.
May be responsible for all pharmacy operations and staff at an assigned facility.
Pharmacists work with considerable independence, receiving only limited technical supervision and completing their assignments and resolving problems with limited guidance. Their work must conform to established pharmaceutical standards and criteria and various State and federal regulations. Scientific and technical guidance is available from manuals and texts.
Pharmacy Interns work under the close and continuing supervision of licensed Pharmacists who closely review all work performed and prescriptions dispensed by Interns.
Pharmacists continuously apply a complex body of pharmaceutical knowledge and rules and regulations in the performance of their duties. Additionally, this occupation undergoes constant change, requiring the Pharmacist to maintain high levels of current knowledge about changes and developments in pharmaceuticals, drug therapy, and statutory and regulatory controls that govern the work.
There is a high level of responsibility in work performance, with Pharmacists legally responsible for the control and dispensing of drugs to patients. The consequences of errors are great: mistakes may result in severe harm to or death of the patient and injury to the reputation of the facility.
Pharmacists are regarded as experts in drug science by medical staff and patients and their caregivers. They are relied on to provide a wide range of drug information, advice, and consultative services about pharmaceuticals, including alternative medications, potential drug reactions, new drugs and drug therapies, experimental drugs, and comparative costs of treatments and drugs.
Pharmacists have frequent oral communication with physicians, other treatment staff, subordinate staff, and patients and their caregivers to answer questions, clarify information, and provide advice about drugs, drug therapies, proper dosages, potential side effects, proper storage and usage of prescriptions, and regulatory and statutory controls over drugs.
They use written communication to disseminate information about new drugs and therapies, the proper storage and handling of drugs and other pharmaceuticals, and new developments and trends in the pharmaceutical and chemical field. They maintain records about patient pharmaceutical history, the storage, dispensing, and usage of drugs, and inventory and control. They prepare a variety of reports related to the pharmacy operation.
Supervision of others is not required to classify Pharmacists.
Pharmacists 1 and 2 may supervise other Pharmacists, Pharmacy Interns, Pharmacy Aides, and support staff by performing the full range of supervisory duties. They may be assigned to supervise all staff and operations at a pharmacy.
Pharmacy Interns do not supervise.
PHARMACY INTERN
Open Competitive: completion of the next to last year of pharmacy school or completion of pharmacy school.
PHARMACIST 1
Open Competitive: graduation from pharmacy school and New York State license and current registration to practice pharmacy.
PHARMACIST 2
Open Competitive: graduation from pharmacy school and New York State license and current registration to practice pharmacy and 50 hours of post-licensure continuing education, or six post-graduate credit hours in pharmacy, or an equivalent combination.