Clarification from the agency

current, permanent Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employees only.

Videos

The audiologist conducts the full range of audiological assessments to evaluate the type and degree of hearing loss; he/she determines the patient's need for amplification, predicts and measures the effectiveness of amplification, and determines need for and type of aural rehabilitation and counseling of the hearing-impaired veterans with hearing loss and their families.

Clinical

• Incumbent provides the full range of audiology evaluation, assessment, and treatment services to a wide range of veterans. Works independently, exercises clinical judgment in dealing with complex clinical decisions and daily problems, and coordinates with other disciplines concerning total patient care using professional knowledge and skill in applying a wide range of concepts, principles, and methodology.
• Uses contemporary knowledge and skills acquired through education and experience to evaluate patients presenting with complex problems, develop coherent treatment strategies, and to perform functions associated with contemporary audiology scope of practice.
• Exercises independent clinical judgment and adapts clinical procedures and techniques to accommodate age-specific and unique patient conditions, needs, and expectations.
• Consults with physicians and other health care practitioners related to diagnostic evaluation and treatment.
• Evaluates patients to determine nature, type, and severity of hearing and balance disorders using a full range of diagnostic tests and techniques, past, family, and social history, record review, and consultation with family and other health care practitioners.
• Provides hearing aid evaluations, assessments, selection, fitting, orientation, training, and follow-up services. Evaluates functional status before and after intervention and verifies acoustic performance of hearing aids using electroacoustic, real-ear, and functional measurements.
• Performs Compensation and Pension examinations including detailed past, family, social, military, and occupational history, comprehensive evaluation
• of type and severity of hearing loss, tinnitus evaluation, special auditory and vestibular tests, and opinions on the relationship between conditions and military service when requested.
• Plans, coordinates, and implements a full range of patient-focused treatment services designed to optimize function.
• Documents in the medical record, evaluates, diagnosis and clinical opinion, treatment plans, outcomes of treatment, changes in functional status, and patient/family education.
• Attends interdisciplinary team meetings; participates with other health care practitioners to address the global needs of the patient, advises on diagnosis and treatment.
• Instructs the veteran on the use of Debrox (ear cleaner) in the clinic and follows the procedure stated in the standing order for the distribution of Debrox. The provider will direct the veteran to pick-up the Debrox at the Pharmacy on the same day or have it mailed to the veteran.

Education

• Assists in orientation/training of medical staff.
• Assists in orientation and training of new staff.
• Assists in the training and supervision of students, trainees, externs, and fellows, providing feedback on progress toward established educational goals.
• Keeps current with theory and practice through continuing education programs, journals, textbooks, and other literature, and in-service programs.
• Provides patient and family education including informed consent.

Administrative

• Participates in developing guidelines and protocols, new patient programs, and evaluation of existing programs.
• Maintains patient records and other data required by the clinic, service, and medical center.
• Maintains, supplies, equipment, and clinical areas to optimize safety and efficiency.
• May be requested to serve on service-level committees or task forces or to represent to service/ section on medical center, network, or national committees.
• May perform ancillary assignments, including program management duties on an occasional basis, where the complexity and amount of work is not substantial.
• Follows applicable informed consent, HIPAA rules on privacy and protecting patient rights.

Oversight

• The incumbent may provide professional oversight to students, interns, or trainees from accredited academic affiliates while they are in a training environment at VA NJHCS. This may include clinical rotations and fourth year clinical internships.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 07:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 25708F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a)
• Education.

(1) Doctor of Audiology (AUD) from an audiology program recognized by the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education (ACAE) or Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). HR office staff and management officials may verify a program's accreditation from ACAE at acaeaccred.org and CAA at caa.asha.org. OR
(2) Other doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an institution accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

NOTE: Effective January 1, 2007, the CAA in Audiology and Speech- Language Pathology of ASHA accredits only doctoral degree or AUD programs in audiology.

• Licensure. Individuals must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice audiology at the doctoral level in a United States state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia.
• Loss of Credential. Management officials, in collaboration with HR Office staff must immediately relieve employees who fail to maintain the required 4 licensure of the duties and responsibilities associated with this occupation which may also result in separation from employment.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grandfathering Provision. Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held, including positive education and licensure, where applicable. For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment specific requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:
(1). Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or be changed to a lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or be newly placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
(2). Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
(3). Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.(4) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional licensure that meets all the basic or assignment specific qualification requirements of this standard must maintain the required credential as a condition of employment in the occupation.

Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. Such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.

Grade Determinations:
In addition to the basic requirements for employment, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria for appointments at grade levels specified.

Experience. In addition to the requirements at the GS-11 level, completion of one year of professional experience comparable to the next lower grade level.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the KSAs required at the full performance level, the following KSAs are required:(a) Skill in determining nature, type, and severity of hearing/communication/vestibular disorders.(b) Skill in counseling patients and family members regarding management of hearing/communication/vestibular disorders. (c) Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional audiology to other health care professionals.(d) Ability to independently apply professional contemporary audiologic treatments to the full range of patient populations.

Assignment. This is the full performance level for staff audiologists. At this level, audiologists are licensed to practice independently in the provision of audiologic services, consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate. Audiologists serve as consultants to other health care professionals and are recognized subject matter experts (SME) on matters related to hearing, tinnitus, and balance disorders. The supervisor may assign staff audiologists to any VHA program and setting, such as inpatient or outpatient medicine, primary care, surgery, hearing health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, geriatrics, compensation, and pension. Audiologists diagnose audiologic disorders, conduct audiologic, or neuro-audiologic assessments; treat auditory disorders through various modalities; and provide adjunctive interventions for the treatment of medical disorders. Audiologists consult with medical center staff on various patient care issues. Staff audiologists may be involved in program evaluation, teaching, training, and research activities. Among the modalities provided are individual, family, and group audiologic rehabilitation.


Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS12.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

Creditable Experience.
(1). Current Professional Audiology Practice. Individuals may obtain creditable, audiologic work experience through paid or non-paid employment providing audiologic work or by participating in a supervised 2 postdoctoral audiology training program (that is, fellowship or residency). Audiologic work experience must occur after all academic requirements are met and the doctoral degree is awarded. "Professional audiology practice" includes but is not limited to the following audiology-oriented job duties: providing professional clinical services, conducting research, carrying out education, training activities, and carrying out the program.
(2). Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is postdoctoral experience performing the duties of a professional audiologist and must be directly related to the duties to be performed. Qualifying experience must also be comparable to or exceed professional audiology experience at the next lower level.
(3). Part-time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full-time work week. For example, an audiologist employed 20 hours per week or on a half-time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.
(4). Postdoctoral Degree Fellowships. Postdoctoral fellowships or residencies are training programs in an advanced area of clinical practice. Training that an individual gained as a fellow or resident after the college or university awarded the doctoral degree is creditable experience.

How you will be evaluated

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, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.