• Continuous filing dates have been added.
• Edited bulletin to update pay scales.

Upcoming Filing Cutoff Dates:

• 2/28/2025
• 4/30/2025
• 6/30/2025
• 8/29/2025
• 10/31/2025
• 12/30/2025

Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) must be received or postmarked by the filing date indicated above. Applications postmarked, personally delivered or received via interoffice mail after the filing date will be processed in the next group.

The information below will help you determine which classification(s) is(are) appropriate for you. Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualifications as stated on this bulletin to compete in this examination.

Open and Open, Non-Promotional Examination(s):

• PHARMACEUTICAL CONSULTANT II, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES (SPECIALIST) - Open

For all Classifications, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 12 months:

Exam Code(s):

2015

For PHARMACEUTICAL CONSULTANT II, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES (SPECIALIST), once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 12 months:

Exam Code(s):

• EX-02015

Submit an Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) to apply for this examination.

Electronic applications can be submitted through your account at www.CalCareers.ca.gov.

You may apply by mail to:

• Department of Health Care Services
  Selection Section
  MS 1300
  P.O. Box 997411
  Sacramento, CA 95899-7411
  

Indicate the Examination Code and Classification(s) on your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678).

You may drop off your application and any applicable or required documents at:

• Department of Health Care Services
  Selection Section
  1501 Capitol Ave
  Suite 71.1501
  Sacramento, CA 95814
  8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Indicate the Examination Code and Classification(s) on your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678). All applicants must provide proof of identification. Accepted forms of identification are: 1) a photo identification card or 2) two forms of signed identification.

Electronic applications are highly encouraged

If you require assistance or alternative testing arrangements due to a disability, indicate on your application that you need reasonable accommodation. You will be contacted by a representative of the testing department to make the necessary arrangements. If you have not been contacted by the time you receive notification of testing, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

If you are unable to submit your application or complete the test due to a disability, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

All applicants must meet the education and/or experience requirements as stated on this exam bulletin to be accepted to the examination.

Unless otherwise stated in the Minimum Qualifications, qualifying experience may be combined on a proportionate basis if the requirements stated below include more than one pattern and are distinguished as "Either" 1, "or" 2, "or" 3, etc. For example, applicants possessing qualifying experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 1 and additional experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 2 may be accepted to an examination as meeting 100% of the overall experience requirement.

Possession of a valid certification of registration in pharmacy issued by the California State Board of Pharmacy.

AND

Either I

Two years of experience performing the duties of a Pharmaceutical Consultant I, Department of Health Care Services.

Or II

Three years of experience within the last five years in the practice of community or hospital pharmacy (exclusive of internship) including one year of administrative, supervisory, or consultant experience either as owner or manager of a pharmacy, in a public health or welfare agency, or as a Chief Pharmacist in a medical clinic or hospital. (Experience as a registered pharmacist in teaching, research, or drug manufacturing may be substituted for up to one year of the required general experience.)

Possession of a valid certification of registration in pharmacy issued by the California State Board of Pharmacy. And

Either I

Two years of experience performing the duties of a Pharmaceutical Consultant II, Department of Health Services (Specialist) or a Pharmaceutical Consultant II, Department of Health Services (Supervisory).

Or II

Four years of experience performing the duties of a Pharmaceutical Consultant I, Department of Health Services.

Or III

Five years of experience within the last seven years in the practice of community or hospital pharmacy (exclusive of internship) including at least three years of administrative, consultative, or supervisory experience in a public or private health insurance program as a licensed pharmacist responsible for the specialized review of pharmacy-related issues.  The experience must provide the high level of skill required

to manage a broad range of administrative and pharmacy-related issues associated with the Medi-Cal Program.

This examination consists of the following component(s):

A final score of 70% must be attained to be placed on the eligible list.

No written test is required, and no interview will be conducted. An E&E examination is based solely upon information provided with the application. Information provided with the application will be assessed compared to a standard developed in relation to the elements of the job, and linked to the knowledge and abilities required on the job.

Special care should be taken to submitting a complete description of your education and experience relevant to the typical tasks, scope, and minimum qualifications stated on this bulletin. Supplemental information will be accepted, but competitors should read this bulletin carefully to determine what kind of information will be useful to those individuals completing the evaluation

In addition to evaluating the applicant's relative knowledge, skill and ability as demonstrated by quality and breadth of education/experience, emphasis in each test component will be on measuring competitively, relative to job demands, each applicant's:

Knowledge of:

1. Drugs and medical supplies required in the operation of a pharmacy
2. Pharmaceutical chemistry
3. Drug utilization
4. Pharmacy economics
5. Drug purchasing, pricing, and inventory control
6. Principles of statistics
7. Medical care administration
8. Pharmaceutical manufacturing methods and drug distribution
9. Interrelationships of federal, state, and local professional and voluntary health and welfare agencies, and of programs and services of such agencies
10. Policies, standards, and regulations applicable to the Department's pharmaceutical programs

Ability to:

1. Recognize, assess, and develop solutions to problems involved in the pharmaceutical aspects of medical care programs
2. Evaluate the quality and scope of pharmaceutical services provided under the program
3. Interpret and apply policies and standards for the pharmaceutical aspects of medical care programs
4. Establish and maintain effective and cooperative working relationships
5. Analyze situations accurately and take effective actions
6. Report on the effects of proposed changes in the pharmaceutical aspects of the programs
7. Communicate effectively
8. Formulate policies and standards for the pharmaceutical aspects of medical care programs

A Departmental Open eligible list for the PHARMACEUTICAL CONSULTANT II, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES (SPECIALIST) Classification will be established for:

• Department of Health Care Services

The names of successful competitors will be merged onto the eligible list(s) in order of final score regardless of test date. Eligibility expires 24 months after it is established. Applicants must then retake the examination to reestablish eligibility.

Veterans' Preference will be granted for this examination. Veterans' Preference is an assistance program for veterans, veteran widows and widowers, and spouses of 100% disabled veterans who seek employment with the state. Veterans' Preference is also extended to currently serving military members nearing their retirement or separation date.

You are not eligible for Veteran's Preference if you are:

• A veteran who has been dishonorably discharged or released.
• A veteran, widow or widower of a veteran, or spouse of a 100 percent disabled veteran who currently has permanent civil service status. (Permanent civil service status is the status of an employee who is lawfully retained in his/her position after completion of the applicable probationary period. This does not include limited term).

Veterans' Preference is codified in Government Code Sections 18973 – 18979.

Veteran status is verified by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR). Directions to apply for Veterans' Preference are on the Veterans' Preference Application (Std. Form 1093), which is available at www.CalCareers.ca.gov, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Career Credits are not granted for examination(s) administered on an Open basis or a Promotional basis.

• Department of Health Care Services

Questions regarding this examination should be directed to:

California Relay Service: 1-800-735-2929 (TTY), 1-800-735-2922 (Voice). TTY is a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, and is reachable only from phones equipped with a TTY Device.

Examination and/or Employment Application (STD 678) forms are available at the California Department of Human Resources, local offices of the Employment Development Department, and through your CalCareer Account (www.CalCareers.ca.gov).

If you meet the requirements stated on this examination bulletin, you may take this examination, which is competitive. Possession of the entrance requirements does not assure a place on the eligible list. Your performance in the examination described in this bulletin will be rated against a predetermined job-related rating, and all applicants who pass will be ranked according to their scores.

Department of Health Care Services reserves the right to revise the examination plan to better meet the needs of the service, if the circumstances under which this examination was planned change. Such revision will be in accordance with civil service laws and rules and all applicants will be notified.

General Qualifications: Applicants must possess essential personal qualifications including integrity, initiative, dependability, good judgment, the ability to work cooperatively with others, and a state of health consistent with the ability to perform the assigned duties of the class. A medical examination may be required. In open examinations, investigation may be made of employment records and personal history and fingerprinting may be required.

Eligible Lists: Eligible lists established by competitive examination, regardless of date, must be used in the following order: 1) sub-divisional promotional, 2) departmental promotional, 3) multi-departmental promotional, 4) service-wide promotional, 5) departmental open, 6) open. When there are two lists of the same kind, the older must be used first. Eligible lists will expire in one to four years unless otherwise stated on the bulletin.

High School Equivalence: Equivalence to completion of the 12th grade may be demonstrated in any one of the following ways: 1) passing the General Education Development (GED) Test; 2) completion of 12 semester units of college-level work; 3) certification from the State Department of Education, a local school board, or high school authorities that the competitor is considered to have education equivalent to graduation from high school; or 4) for clerical and accounting classes, substitution of business college work in place of high school on a year-for-year basis.

Accepted applicants must provide proof of identification at each in-person test session. Acceptable identification consists of a photo identification card or two forms of signed identification.