This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/476760900. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
The VA Central Iowa Health Care System provides a full continuum of care between the Des Moines Campus and our Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) and is one of the Medical Centers that make up the VA Midwest Health Care Network (VISN 23). Employee selected may be expected to perform duties at other duty sites within VA Central Iowa Health Care System based on the needs of the organization.
As a VA professional, your opportunities are endless. Not only is it the largest, most technologically advanced integrated health care system in the Nation, but we also provide many other services to Veterans through the Benefits Administration and National Cemeteries. VA professionals feel good about their careers and their ability to balance work and home life. VA offers generous paid time off and a variety of predictable and flexible scheduling opportunities. For more information on the Department of Veteran Affairs, go to http://www.vacareers.va.gov/
VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.
08/10/2017 to 10/27/2017
$60,210 - $111,560 per year
GS 00
1 vacancy in the following location:
Not required
No
Agency Employees Only
Full-time - Full Time
00
No
CIH-17-1998803-SC-BU-OCA
476760900
Clinical Responsibilities:
1. Serves as the lead clinical consultant to the medical center staff on health behavior coaching. Maintains awareness of an provides consultant on the evidence basis for health behavior interventions, to promote health and prevent disease, and effective coaching methods by medical center staff. The incumbent will maintain awareness of current policy and clinical resources, and utilize training opportunities provided by relevant VHA national program offices by monitoring program office websites and policy publications, and consulting with relevant program office staff as needed relative to health behavior. These may include but are not limited to the VHA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and the Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards.
2. In collaboration with the Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Program Manager (HPDP-PM), plans, develops, adapts, implements and assesses efficacy of health behavior interventions for the promotion of general health and to address health risk behaviors as part of disease prevention and chronic disease management (e.g., weight loss and maintenance, tobacco use cessation, promoting patient self-management interventions targeting issues such as increasing participation in regular exercise, healthy eating, sleep hygiene) in close collaboration with the Health Promotion/Disease Prevention manager and others.
3. Supports and contributes to existing smoking and tobacco use cessation clinical initiatives in primary care and smoking cessation specialty programs or clinics, evaluates the need for possible expansion services, and supports the lead clinician in tobacco use cessation programs (and may serve in this role, if needed).
4. Contributes to behavioral health programs such as MOVE!.
5. Performs specialty health psychology assessment/intervention (e.g., pre bariatric surgery, MOVE! patients with particular behavioral issues, patients with unique or complex problems impacting their health promotion/disease prevention self-management plans).
6. Provides supervision of psychology trainees conducting direct clinical care.
7. Consults with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues involving health behavior.
8. Remains involved in program evaluation and/or research activities.
9. Provides administrative duties including: a) Scheduling of Veterans and related issues; b) Returning Veteran's phone calls; c) Report writing; and d) Attending organizational meetings.
Work Schedule: Variable
Functional Statement: Clinical/Counseling Psychologist - Health Behavior Coordinator
Physical Requirements:The work is primarily sedentary, but it requires periods of walking, standing, bending, or climbing and employee may carry light items such as books, instruments, laptops and other similar materials. The candidate selected must successfully complete a pre-employment physical examination prior to appointment.
Basic Requirements:
Citizenship: U.S. Citizen. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g this part.)
Education: (1) Have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not the specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, and applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology).
OR
(2) Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re-specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re-specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions:
(a) the re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and
(b) the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship.
AND
(3) Internships
(a) Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
OR
(b) New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was as intern;
OR
(c) VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement;
OR
(d) Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they area currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.)
Licensure: Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.
GRADE DETERMINATIONS: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates:
GS-11:
Experience: None beyond the basic requirements.
GS-12:
Experience: At least 1 year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist but with less intense supervision than at the GS-11 grade level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
1. Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.
2. Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.
3. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.
4. Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).
5. Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration.
GS-13:
Experience: At least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
1. Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.
2. Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health.
3. Knowledge of clinical research literature.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G18 at http://vaww1.va.gov/ohrm/HRLibrary/Dir-Policy.htm
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.
Your application, résumé and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.
NOTE: The Professional Standards Board (a peer-review group) will review the selected candidate's education and experience and recommend the grade and salary at which the candidate will be placed. For internal selectees eligible for promotion, the board will determine grade and HR will determine the step in accordance with policy.
All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s):
Applicants may also submit the following supporting document type(s),which may not be required for all applicants:
to make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, etc. You will not be contacted for additional information.
Faxing Applications or Supporting Documents: You are encouraged to apply online. Applying online will allow you to review and track the status of your application. If you are unable to apply online or unable to upload your supporting documents to your online application, follow the directions located at the following site: Fax Options. The Vacancy ID of the job opportunity announcement is 1998803.
NOTE: If you applied online and your application is complete, do not fax the paper application (1203-FX) as this will overwrite your prior online responses and may result in you being found ineligible.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
All applicants are encouraged to apply online.
To apply for this position, you must complete the View Occupational Questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below.
The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on Friday, October 27, 2017 to receive consideration.
1. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USAJOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
2. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.
To verify your application is complete, log into your USAJOBS account, https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login, select the Application Status link and then select the more information link for this position. The Details page will display the status of your application, the documentation received and processed, and any correspondence the agency has sent related to this application. Your uploaded documents may take several hours to clear the virus scan process.
To return to an incomplete application, log into your USAJOBS account and click Update Application in the vacancy announcement. You must re-select your resume and/or other documents from your USAJOBS account or your application will be incomplete.
After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. During our review, if your résumé and application package do not support your questionnaire answers, we will adjust your rating accordingly. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email (if provided); otherwise, applicants will receive a notification letter via the U.S. Postal Service. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You
may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USAJOBS
account and clicking on Application Status. For a more detailed update
of your status, click on more information. Information regarding applicant
notification points
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/476760900. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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Vacancy Identification Number (VIN): 1998803
OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate care to Veterans?