Agencies with Pharmacists

Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
More than 100 pharmacists currently work in the BOP. Practice settings range from ambulatory care sites to 500-bed tertiary care hospitals. Both urban and rural sites throughout the U.S. are available, with BOP opening 24 new prisons in the next 3 years. A wide range of professional opportunities exist for new as well as experienced pharmacists. Determining drug selection criteria, performing pharmacy interventions, and providing patient interaction and education are important responsibilities. Every BOP pharmacy is computerized. Every pharmacist can make a critical impact on the quality of health care in each facility.

Federal Bureau of Prisons Pharmacy Home Page

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Indian Health Service (IHS)
Many new pharmacy graduates begin their PHS careers in the Indian Health Service. Today, there are approximately 560 pharmacists in the IHS and of this number 405 are in the PHS Commissioned Corps. Clinical pharmacy services are provided to 1.3 million American Indians and Alaska Natives living on or near reservations located in 34 states. The largest number of facilities are in the southwest. Pharmacists provide health care working as team members and play an important role in the provision of pharmaceutical care for patients. The majority of IHS facilities are computerized and have private consultation rooms.

• At inpatient facilities, services provided include pharmacokinetics, physician rounding, unit dose and IV additive services.
• At ambulatory facilities, pharmacists provide primary care, review the patient's health record for appropriateness of drug therapy, make interventions with providers, and counsel all patients on their medications.

Many pharmacists choose to remain in the IHS for their entire career. However, there is the opportunity for pharmacists to move between agencies.

Indian Health Service Pharmacy Home Page

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The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Health Service Corps (IHSC)
The IHSC Pharmacy Program consists of 16 pharmacies located throughout the continental United States. IHSC is responsible for providing health care services to persons in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The pharmacy team is made up of approximately 20 pharmacists and 26 pharmacy technicians, in addition to the pharmacy leadership team of the IHSC chief pharmacist and regional pharmacy consultants. Pharmacists also serve in a variety of additional professional capacities within IHSC including administrative leadership, program management, personnel management, and communications. IHSC pharmacists manage their pharmacies locally and routinely collaborate with the other IHSC pharmacists and technicians across the country, including participation in policy development and formulary reviews. IHSC pharmacists have the opportunity to provide direct patient care services through comprehensive and targeted collaborative practice agreements with IHSC physicians to augment the overall clinical services provided, including but not limited to HIV care, transgender care, cardiovascular care, and mental health care.

IHSC Home Page

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Food and Drug Administration
The FDA employs over 300 pharmacists to ensure the safety of drugs and related products. Locations range from FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, to one of 150 cities nationwide with FDA operations. While the FDA hires a few new graduates, most positions are filled by pharmacists with at least two years experience in clinical practice. FDA pharmacists may work:

• • • in pharmacology, toxicology, radiopharmacology, and pharmacokinetics;
    • on new drug applications and adverse reaction reports;
    • as field inspectors and consumer safety officers; or
    • on expert advisory committees and review panels.

FDA Homepage

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National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Most NIH pharmacists work at the Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, a 450-bed research hospital and laboratory complex. Pharmacists and pharmacy residents team with physicians to design, implement, and evaluate over 1,200 investigational drug regimens each year. Their needs include:

• • • staff pharmacists with 1 year of hospital experience;
    • specialized pharmacists with a postgraduate degree and 1 year of clinical work in their specialty;
    • trained radiopharmacists, to work in nuclear medicine.

Also, the NIH's Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease and of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, as well as its National Cancer Institute, employ pharmacists in clinical and administrative posts.

NIH Clinical Center Pharmacy Home Page

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Office of the Surgeon General

Office of the Surgeon General Home Page

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Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA)
The Health Resources and Services Administration directs national health programs that improve the Nation's health by assuring equitable access to comprehensive, quality health care for all. HRSA works to improve and extend life for people living with HIV/AIDS, provide primary health care to medically underserved people, serve women and children through State programs, and train a health workforce that is both diverse and motivated to work in underserved communities. Thirty-five pharmacists currently work in HRSA.

Roles for pharmacists in HRSA include the study of national pharmacy manpower requirements and in development of health professions' education infrastructure. Pharmacists are also involved in the provision of medications for the treatment of HIV/AIDS to medically underserved people.

Health Resources and Services Administration Home Page

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recognized as the lead federal agency for protecting the health and safety of people - at home and abroad, providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships. CDC serves as the national focus for developing and applying disease prevention and control, environmental health, and health promotion and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States.

CDC Homepage

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United States Coast Guard (USCG)
The Public Health Service is charged with the responsibility to provide health care to the men and women of the United States Coast Guard.

USCG Home Page

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Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
The Department of Homeland Security leverages resources within federal, state, and local governments, coordinating the transition of multiple agencies and programs into a single, integrated agency focused on protecting the American people and their homeland. More than 87,000 different governmental jurisdictions at the federal, state, and local level have homeland security responsibilities. The comprehensive national strategy seeks to develop a complementary system connecting all levels of government without duplicating effort. Homeland Security is truly a national mission.

DHS Home Page

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