Clinical Psychologist - Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC)

Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

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Duties

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

Psychologist: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Psychology-Career-Flyer.pdf

Major duties include but are not limited to:

Clinical Duties:

• Providing screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of depressive and anxiety-related disorders, as well as other mental health conditions, with an emphasis on the application of time-limited, evidence-based approaches.
• Assessing and providing treatments for subclinical symptoms of dysphoria and anxiety, adjustment difficulties, or misuse of substances.
• Providing services to the families of Veterans with cognitive decline being served by HBPC, when such care is directly related to the overall treatment plan for the Veteran and will allow better care for the Veteran and allow the family to sustain the Veteran in the home environment.
• Providing screening for cognitive deficits to address specific functional questions or to determine if a referral for a complete neuropsychological evaluation is needed.
• Performing capacity/competency assessments when there are questions about a patient's ability to make medical decisions, perform other specific functions, or live independently.
• Assessing patients' understanding of advanced directives and other forms of consent and assisting staff in determining how to present treatment options and other such material to patients in a format they can understand.
• Providing individual interventions to support patients that are coping with feelings of grief and loss associated with physical health changes and other life transitions.
• Providing psychoeducational and supportive interventions, in conjunction with the Veteran, for spouses, family members/caregivers, and others that are crucial to keeping the Veteran at home.
• Providing effective interventions with couples or families, when appropriate, to relieve relationship difficulties, provide support to caregivers of Veterans with dementia or other significant frailty, and/or promote collaboration with the HBPC team, for the benefit of the Veteran.
• Facilitating transition and adjustment to new living situations, and providing seamless intervention services, as appropriate.
• Providing behavioral modification interventions to manage pain, physical health challenges, address sleep problems, facilitate weight loss, promote tobacco cessation, and enhance medical compliance.
• Promoting communication/interactions between medical team members, patients, and their families to facilitate the medical treatment process.
  
  

Administrative Duties:

• Responsible for identification of patient problems requiring consultation with other multi-disciplinary medical center staff and making appropriate referrals.
• Fully accountable for practice, including scheduling and documenting patient visits, measuring outcomes to interventions, and meeting productivity standards.
• Adheres to operational policies and procedures for the treatment team established by the BH Clinic and HBPC Program.
• Complies with national and local performance measures including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for all patients.
• Complies with all CPRS documentation procedures including timeliness standards for documentation and proper patient check out procedures.
• Supervise, teach, and mentor psychology trainees and participate in the doctoral internship program.
• Coordinators or points of contact for a variety of specialty programs. Administrative oversight of the program.
  
  

Other Duties:

• Serve as a behavioral health representative on BH and Medical Center committees and workgroups. May be asked to participate in the selection panels for vacant psychologist positions or other positions as assigned.
• May act as a consultant on psychological issues for BH providers.
• Attends and participates in interdisciplinary treatment team meetings as well as other applicable team meetings.
• Participates in peer review processes, assessing the quality of professional psychology standards provided within the medical center and, at times, other VAs.
• Advocates for the delivery of trauma-informed care across programs.
• All staff are encouraged to participate in systems redesign activities and are allotted time to participate in activities that will contribute to the overall efficiency, quality, and satisfaction of Veterans and employees.
• Serve as a clinical supervisor as part of the APA accredited doctoral internship training program.
  
  

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday: 8:00am - 4:30pm

Compressed/Flexible:Available

Telework: Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized for highly qualified candidates

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.Contact vhavisn04hredrp@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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Requirements

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.
• 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.
• 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).
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.
  
  

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:

• Citizenship. Be a 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 3.g, this part.)
• 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. 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 completed a re-specialization program meeting both of the following conditions: a) the re-specialization 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. OR,
• Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• Internship Requirement. You must 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,
• 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. (
  
  NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification). 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 one-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 one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program.
• Licensure. Candidates 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 GS-12 grade under the authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405 (c)(2)(B) 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. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment.
• 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.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates:

• Staff Psychologist, GS-11 (Entry Level):
• Education. No beyond the basic requirements.
• Staff Psychologist, GS-12 (Developmental Level):
• Experience. At least one year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist but with less intense supervision than at the GS-11 grade level.
• Demonstrated 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.
• Staff Psychologist, GS-13 (Full Performance Level)
• Experience. At least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.
• Demonstrated 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, professional psychological treatments to a 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.

Preferred Experience: Experience working with the geriatric population

References: VA HANDBOOK 5005, PART II, APPENDIX G18



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: The work is mostly sedentary and requires sitting, standing, bending and carrying light items (15 lbs.) such as charts, papers and books. Occasional lifting of heavier loads, as in assisting the moving of a patient from a wheelchair to a chair is required. A significant amount of standing and walking up to 4 hours per day is also required. Must perform rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously.

Education


IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.



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. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

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.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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Erie VA Medical Center

135 East 38th Street

Erie, PA 16504

US