Clarification from the agency

All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens but non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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Electroencephalograph (EEG) Technicians operate the electroencephalograph and other devices such as evoked potential equipment to record the electrical activity of the brain. Registration is offered by the American Board of Registration of EEG, CNIM & EP Technologists (ABRET) or the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Techs (AAET).

DUTIES:

• Provide independent performance of a full range of procedures.
• Delivers high quality studies for the most complex and non-routine procedures in difficult or demanding environments such as research, intraoperative monitoring, or intensive care monitoring or intensive care monitoring.
• Interprets study results and brings to the attention of the physician or supervisor more subtle abnormalities that may require intervention.
• The technician will highlight portions of recordings of clinical importance for review by the clinical neurophysiologist and will accurately describe the concurrent behavior of the patient.
• Positive interaction with other health care staff to inform them of the indications for testing; the value, possible outcomes, and limitations of testing; and the policies of the laboratory are expected.
• Obtain multiple sleep latent tests on patients with possible narcolepsy or other disorders of excess sleepiness.
• Incumbent may instruct patients in use of CPAP and Autopap and or BiPAP equipment and troubleshoot problems that patient has with this equipment.
• Assists in the education of students (medical students, polysomnography students) and residents and fellows.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm.
Compressed/Flexible: Not Qualified.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Qualified.
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Qualified.
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement).
Telework: Not Available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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 evaluation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education. There are no specific educational requirements for this occupation. Education may be substituted for experience only at the GS-4 and GS-5 levels. See the grade requirements part of this standard for information regarding educational substitutions.
• Licensure or Certification. Licensure or Certification is not required for this occupation; however, it is strongly desirable at GS-6 or above as evidence of possession of the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities. For certain functional areas at the higher levels or supervisory assignments, specific certifications appropriate to the specialty are indicated in this standard under "Titles and Certification/Registrations.
• English Language Proficiency. Medical Instrument Technicians must be proficient in spoken and written English.
• Certification. No certification or registration is required; however, it is desirable that employees at this level have BCLS (Basic Cardiac Life Support) and ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) certifications.

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).

Grade Determinations

GS-8. Experience. At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to the duties of the positions to be filled. This would be experience which provided knowledge of the more complex procedures, the pharma-cology related to this occupation, and knowledge of related acute disorders and diseases and their effects on organs and methods of treatment.

In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Ability to interpret testing data to evaluate critical information for surgeons and other medical staff during testing procedures.
2. Knowledge of anatomy and physiology of the nervous system and the ability to understand the relationship of EEG and evoked potential testing in detecting states of disease and health.
3. Knowledge of behavior assessment during seizure attacks in order to insure adequacy of recordings during seizure discharges.
4. Knowledge of a variety of advanced EEG equipment and peripheral equipment such as equipment for brain mapping, video EEG telemetry systems with seizure detection computers, and spike analysis software.
5. Knowledge of anticonvulsant medications and their effects on the EEG as well as other frequently used pharmaceuticals.
6. Ability to adapt neurodiagnostic devices, parameters, and procedures to complex, unusual, and often critical situations.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience performing routine EEGs on both inpatient and outpatient populations
• Experience conducting portable EEGs
• Experience performing EEGs and EEG monitoring in ICU settings
• Experience with long-term EEG monitoring
• Certification as an EEG Technician preferred
• Experience performing evoked potentials also preferred

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

This position is at the full performance level of GS-08.

Physical Requirements: Needs ability to move portable EEG equipment to different units in the hospital, ability to carry reach above shoulder, use fingers and hands walk up to 1hr standing up to 3 hours, repeated bending up to 1 hour.

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; 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.