Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to all US Citizens. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Videos

Individuals selected will work at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma until the Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) they are selected for opens.

Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

VA Careers - Psychologist: https://youtube.com/embed/77qHlLw9Xck

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional


Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Diagnoses mental disorders.
• Treats mental disorders with a wide range of patients using a variety of modalities, including: individual, family and group psychotherapy, triage/crisis management, and other interventions such as behavioral health and community interventions.
• Conducts psychological assessments.
• Conducts initial intakes/biopsychosocial assessments and treatment planning in accordance with Joint Commission/VA requirements and service/clinic-level SOP.
• Practices measurement-based care using the Collect, Share, Act model, in accordance with Joint Commission/VA requirements and service/clinic-level SOP.
• Consults with OKC VA Health Care System staff on a wide variety of patient care issues.
• Ensures the physical and information security of testing materials and PII/PHI.
• Consults with referring provider/team and other OKC VA HCS psychologists, as necessary, on a wide variety of patient care issues. - Participates in regularly scheduled Program/Clinic team meeting(s).
• Evaluates and makes disposition of patients to treatment programs in the OKC VA Health Care System, as well as referral to community programs and vocational placement. Serves as a consultant to other staff in evaluating and assisting Veterans with complex vocational problems. Places consults for Veterans when clinically indicated.
• Provides independent psychological services at all levels of complexity and consults with peers and supervisors as appropriate.
• Ensures coding is in accordance with the OMHSP MH Coding Guidelines.
• Ensures secure storage and proper retention/disposal of psychological assessment data in accordance with current VA Records Control Schedule.
• Places RTCs in accordance with VHA directives and scheduling guidelines to ensure accurate patient appointment scheduling.
• Obtains PMDB training in accordance with workplace setting per the annual Workplace Behavioral Risk Assessment.
• Assists with other activities as assigned by OKC VA Health Care System Management. Academic/Teaching/Training:
• Provides training and/or clinical supervision to various disciplines and levels of training (unlicensed graduate psychologists, psychology trainees, psychology technicians, psychiatry residents, and medical students).
• Involved in Psychology Training Program(s) and Training Committee(s).
• Provides leadership guidance and consultation to staffs of units to which assigned.
• Serves as a consultant to other OKC VA Health Care System staff and trainees and assist in their formulation of the psychological characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding their patients.
• Involved in program evaluation and research activities, as supported by the service.
• Participates in active program monitors and outcome measurements within programs assigned using a data-driven quality assurance process.

Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact vhaedrpprogramsupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
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)
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: Situational (ad-hoc) per agency policy.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 54066-A; 54067-A; 54068-A
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination / 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 1 or 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:

• English Proficiency
  • Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. ? 7403(f).
• Citizenship
  • Must be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with 38 U.S.C. ? 7407(a).
• Basic Education- To qualify based on Basic education you must 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. 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.

OR

• 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:
  • The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; AND
  • 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.

OR

• A doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

Internships

• 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

• 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 an intern.

OR

• 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

• 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 are 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.

OR

• Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally- accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a 1 year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a 1 year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program

NOTE: Psychologists who meet the requirements of this revision and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the requirements of this qualification standard.

Licensure:

• Must 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.

Exception.

• Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a "graduate psychologist" at the GS-11 or GS12 grade for a period not to exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such a psychologist provide care only under the supervision of a psychologist who is licensed.

Grade Determinations:

GS-11 Staff Psychologist (Entry Level)

• Experience-
  • None beyond the basic requirements

GS-12 Staff Psychologist (Developmental Level):

• Experience.
  • At least 1 year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11).

GS-12 Staff Psychologist Knowledge Skills and Abilities- In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.
• Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.
• Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.
• Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).
• 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 Staff Psychologist (Full Performance Level)

• Experience.
  • At least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.

GS-13 Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's)-In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• Knowledge of and ability to apply advanced professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.
• Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health.
• Knowledge of clinical research literature and fluency in scientific information discovery.
• Knowledge of and ability to apply structured scientific paradigms to research involving existing protocols and established scientific methods, including knowledge of research design and analysis as applied to their area of expertise, that has resulted in recognition at the local and regional level and that is developing into national recognition (e.g., speaking at national conferences and/or publishing in nationally-distributed scientific journals).
• Ability to perform essential research tasks of scholarship and research execution, including research participant relations and management, research documentation, data acquisition and maintenance, human subjects protection, budget oversight, supervision of project staff, and collaboration.
• Ability to formulate results within a scientific framework and organize scientific reporting.
• Knowledge of methods and ability to increase the basic research skills of others via research mentoring.

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS 13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS 11 to GS 13.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

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.