Who May Apply:
Positions are open to:
- Recent graduates who were awarded a degree by an institution of higher education not more than 2 years before the date of appointment of the applicant.
- Current students who will graduate no later than May 2018.
- For a person who has completed a period of obligated service in a uniformed service of more than four years, the degree may be awarded by an institution of higher education not more than four years before the date of appointment of the applicant.
In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is
in this document.
Basic Requirement for Health Physicist:
A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in natural science or engineering that included at least 30 semester hours in health physics, engineering, radiological science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus.
OR
B. Combination of Education and Experience: Courses, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or other education.
OR
C. Certification: Certification as a health physicist by the American Board of Health Physics, plus appropriate experience and other education that provided an understanding of sciences applicable to health physics comparable to that described in paragraph.
In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:
Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes assisting in implementing radiation safety programs; or, assisting in analyzing materials for radioactivity or exposure levels; or, assisting in identifying radiation hazards in the workplace; or, investigating incidents related to radiation and/or radioactive material. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-05).
OR
Education: One full year of graduate level education in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: natural science, physical science, or engineering.
OR
Superior Academic Achievement: Successful completion of all the requirements for a bachelor's degree (or will complete by May 2018) with Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.). In order to be creditable under this provision, Superior Academic Achievement must have been gained in a curriculum that is qualifying for the position to be filled, such as that identified in Education above. Superior Academic Achievement is based on:
(1) Class Standing - Applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses; OR
(2) Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.) - Applicants must have a grade-point average of either (a) 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on your official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or (b) 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.; OR
(3) Honor Society Membership - Applicants may be considered eligible based on membership in one of the approved national scholastic honor societies listed by the Association of College Honor Societies (https://www.achsnatl.org/).
OR
Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) by 18. Add the two percentages.