This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/487742700. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
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.
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 Veterans 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.
Relocation and recruitment incentives are not authorized.
Applications that are received by 11:59 PM (EST) on October 26, 2015, will be considered first. If no selection is made from the first group of applications, applications that are received after October 26 will be reviewed and referred for consideration upon receipt.
Learn more about this agency01/03/2018 to 01/23/2018
$99,632 - $129,523 per year
GS 13
1 vacancy in the following location:
75% or less - Program requires travel to Veteans home
No
Permanent - Excepted Service Permanent
Full-time - Full Time
No
JP-18-JHM-2027837-BU
487742700
This position is located at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in Houston, Texas, VA Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) located in Rehabilitation and Extended Care Line.
The VA Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) program provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary primary care services in the homes of veterans with complex and chronic, disabling disease. In addition to primary care interventions, HBPC provides palliative care, rehabilitation, disease management, and care coordination services. HBPC targets veterans in advanced stages of chronic disease, particularly those at high risk for recurrent hospitalization or nursing home placement.
The incumbent will diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological and/or neuropsychological assessments, treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities and provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders. Among the modalities provided are individual, family, and group psychotherapies, and other interventions such as biofeedback, psychological hypnosis, and environmental interventions. The incumbent will consult with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues, participate in program evaluation and/or research activities. The incumbent reports to the HBPC Medical Director for clinical practice and the HBPC Program Director for program and administrative issues. The HBPC psychologist functions in accordance with the policies, principals, professional ethics and techniques of accepted Psychology practice to include the American Psychological Association, professional licensing code, and state law. Additional guides are available in the form of Veterans Administration directives; program guides, bulletins and circulars; Medical Center Memoranda; accreditation agencies utilized the VA Medical Center (JCAHO, CARF, etc.). Incumbent is expected to independently make use of guides in a creative flexible manner and must use sound judgment in selecting techniques or introducing new practices and methods, adapting these as necessary to fit the needs of the patient population with which he/she serves.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am -4:00pm or 8:00am
to 4:30pm (unless otherwise specified)
Travel to patients homes required.
Functional Statement Title: Psychologist (Home Based Primary Care)
Physical Requirements:
A pre-placement physical examination will be completed prior to appointment to determine the physical and mental fitness of candidates. The examination will be concerned with the mental and physical ability of the applicant to satisfactorily perform the duties of the proposed assignment and will include requisite laboratory and other screening as required by Federal regulatory agencies. Applicants must have the mental and physical ability to perform core privileges required by the specialty position in addition to any specialty privileges requested.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS. The basic requirements for employment as a VHA psychologist are prescribed by: Public Law 96-151 codified in Title 38, U.S.C. § 7402. To qualify for appointment, all applicants for the position of psychologist in VHA must meet the following:
Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. (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. 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.
OR
Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a respecialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the respecialization program) meeting both of the following conditions:
(a) the respecialization 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: You must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the respecialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship.
AND
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 an 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 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. (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, Commonwealth of the United States or the District of Columbia.
English Language Proficiency. Psychologists must be proficient
in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II,
chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j
Note: The GS-13 level psychologist exercises independent
judgment in the practice and provision of psychological services, with full
clinical privileges, and requires minimal supervision and oversight.
GRADE REQUIREMENTS
Creditable Experience
Current Professional Psychology Practice. To be creditable, psychological work experience can be obtained through paid or non-paid employment providing psychological work or through participating in a supervised postdoctoral psychology training program (i.e., fellowship or residency). Psychological work experience must have occurred after the doctoral degree was obtained and must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics associated with current professional psychology practice. "Professional psychology practice" includes but is not limited to the following psychology-oriented job duties: providing professional clinical services, conducting research, carrying out education and training activities, carrying out program evaluation activities, clinical consultation, supervision and administration.
Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is post-doctoral experience as a professional psychologist directly related to the duties to be performed. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to or exceeding professional psychology experience at the next lower level.
Part-time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full-time workweek. For example, a psychologist employed 20 hours per week, or on a ½ time basis, would receive 1 full-time workweek of credit for each 2 weeks of service.
Post-Doctoral Degree Fellowships. Training as a fellow or resident is considered to be creditable experience on a year-for-year basis.
Grade Determinations. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates:
REQUIREMENTS:
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 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.
TRANSCRIPTS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN ORDER FOR QUALIFICATIONS TO BE
DETERMINED. INDIVIDUALS WHO DO NOT SUBMIT TRANSCRIPTS WILL BE RATED
INELIGIBLE.
All qualifications and specialized requirements must be met by the closing date
of this announcement.
Individuals selected for the position of Psychologist are subject to completion
of the credentialing and privileging process at the MEDVAMC.
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 job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
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: A Professional Standards Board (a peer-review group) will recommend the grade and salary for new appointments.
All applicants are required to submit the following supporting document type(s):
·Other (VA Form 10-2850c - Application for Associated Health Occupations)
·Resume
Applicants may also submit the following supporting document type(s),which may not be required for all applicants:
Please use this checklistto 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, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.
Veterans' Preference: When applying
for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference on the
Occupational Questionnaire in the section provided and provide a legible
copy of your DD214(s) and/or documentation related to your active duty
service which shows dates of service, character of service (honorable,
general, etc.), or dates of impending separation. Additionally,
disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as
widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15
"Application for 10 Point Veterans Preference" with required proof as
stated on the form. For more information, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx.
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 2027837.
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 Tuesday, January 23, 2018 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 can be found in the USAJobs Resource Center.
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/487742700. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
Vacancy Identification Number (VIN) 2027837