Duties

Summary

Come be a part of a Mental Health Initiative for our nations' Veterans!
The Salem VA Medical Center is looking for a Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) Psychologist for the Lynchburg HBPC Team to provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary primary care services in the homes of Veterans with complex, chronic, and disabling diseases. Targeting Veterans in advanced stages of chronic disease, particularly those at high risk of recurrent hospitalization or nursing home placement.
Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

Major duties and responsibilities include:

• Provides a full range of psycho-diagnostic services including assessment and
  uses the most appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care.
• Provide screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of depressive and anxiety-related disorders, as well as other Axis I conditions, with an emphasis on the application of time-limited, evidence-based treatment approaches.
• Provides a full range of therapeutic interventions.
• Consults with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues.
• May be involved in program evaluation and/or research activities.
• Performs evaluations for wide array of patients representing diverse diagnostic entities.
• Assess and provide treatments for sub-clinical symptoms of depression and anxiety, adjustment difficulties, and excessive use or misuse of alcohol or other drugs (for which the patient may have a lower than normal tolerance due to their medical conditions and the potential for negative interactions with prescribed medication).
• Provide psychological prevention services to patients at significant risk for psychological problems.
• Provide services to the families of veterans with dementia 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. For example, family members may be trained to better manage behavioral problems associated with dementia. Such training may allow the HBPC team to reduce use of psychoactive medication as a means of controlling behavioral problems.
• Provide 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. At all times, the necessity for and benefit of the intervention for the Veteran should be documented and included as part of the Veteran's treatment plan.
• Facilitate transition and adjustment to new living situations (e.g., nursing home, assisted living facility), and providing seamless intervention services, as appropriate.
• Provide psychoeducational and supportive interventions in conjunction with the veteran for spouses, family members/caregivers, and others who are crucial to keeping the Veteran at home.
• Participates fully in peer review, assessing the quality of professional psychology standards provided in the organization.
• Oversees the establishment of program monitors and outcome measurements within programs assigned using data-driven quality assurance processes.
• Meets the needs of customers while supporting VA missions. Communicates and treats customers in a courteous, tactful and respectful manner. Provides the customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedures. Handles conflict and problems in dealing with the customer constructively and appropriately.
• Assures that appropriate referrals to specialty programs, including community resources, are accomplished.
• Fully accountable for practice, including entering patient visits, measuring outcomes to interventions, and meeting productivity standards.
• Serves as a consultant to other medical center staff and trainees and assists in their formulation of the psychological characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding their patients.
  
  Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:45 AM - 4:30 PM
  Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to a background/security investigation.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/26/2019.
Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship - Be a citizen of the United States.
• English Language Proficiency Requirement - Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English.
• Education Requirement - 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 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 you were retrained is consistent with the assignment you are am applying for; OR, have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• 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.

Grade Determinations:
Staff Psychologist GS-13
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 (KSAs). The candidate must demonstrate all of 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.
Assignment. This is the full performance level for staff psychologists. At this level, psychologists are licensed to practice independently in the provision of psychological services, consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: Light lifting (under 15 pounds); Light carrying (under 15 pounds); Use of fingers; Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; Hearing (aid permitted); Mental/Emotional stability.

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

Additional information

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

This is a random drug testing position.

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

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.

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.

If you are unable to apply online, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

RESUME REMINDER- Your resume must include the following information for each job listed:

• Job title Duties (be as detailed as possible)
• Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008)
• Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week)
• Series and Grade, if applicable, for all Federal positions you have held
• Please be aware that your answers will be verified against information provided on your resume. Be sure that your resume clearly supports your responses to all of the questions by addressing your work experience in detail. Recommended: Even though we do not require a specific resume format, your resume must be clear so that we are able to fully evaluate your qualifications. To ensure you receive appropriate consideration, please list the duties you performed under each individual job title. If we are unable to match your experiences with the positions held, you may lose consideration for this vacancy. We cannot make assumptions regarding your qualifications.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, résumé, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

NOTE: The Professional Standards Board (a peer-review group) will review the selected candidate's education and experience and recommend the grade and salary at which the candidate will be placed. For internal selectees eligible for promotion, the board will recommend grade and HR will determine step in accordance with policy.

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.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
Yes

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume

VA Form 10-2850c - Application for Associated Health Occupations can be found at: http://www.va.gov/vaforms/search_action.asp?FormNo=2850&tkey=&Action=Search .

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this checklist to ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• OF-306
• Other (1)
• Resume
• SF-15
• Transcript

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

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.