Summary The Health Technician in Specialty Care Clinics is a multi-skilled position established to provide direct patient care and provide support in the specialty clinics. Responsibilities Duties include but not limited to: Report deviations in vital signs to provider and nurse. Provide timely care to ensure care of all patients in clinic. Communicates urgent concern for patients with providers and other staff members. Communicates care, per provider, to all patients and families. Prepare patients for clinic visits, vital signs, and orthostatic vital signs. Assists providers and nurses with other procedures as needed. Maintains and fills liquid nitrogen canisters for cryotherapy treatment. Utilize a range of office and medical equipment for patient care, electrocardiograms, and bladder volume index machines. Assists in surgical site preparation per provider direction. Assists with suture, staple, and steri-strip removal per provider direction. Set up sterile fields. Assist with safe lifting of patients to provide care. Restock clinic rooms daily and check for outdated supply items. Transfer Patients Documents all care in the electronic health record. Ensure sterility and integrity of reusable medical equipment. Ensure clinical equipment is in working order. Take surgical grade pictures of lesions site and location, documentation and download information into patients records. Handel all specimen collection and pathological labeling of specimens per protocol. Provide pre and post handling or reusable medical equipment. Work Schedule: Tour of Duty ranges from the hours of 7:00am - 5:30pm. Shift will be 8 and a half hours long. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Medical Assistant)/PD70217A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. 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 Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Required Documents" below for details. 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. 5 CFR 330.502 - General restriction on movement after competitive appointment applies. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 10/07/2024. ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for the 0640 occupational series. All applicants, regardless of grade level must meet minimum education requirements. For this occupation, the education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. OR Education and Training: For GS 5- Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Ability to assist medical and nursing staff through technical and specialized support services which aids in the diagnosis or treatment of patients; knowledge of clinical, laboratory, and administrative work; observation and communication skills; ability to assess need for professional intervention; ability to take vital signs; knowledge of surgical procedures and medical terminology; ability to obtain laboratory specimens and prepares them for transport; knowledge of basic instruments and diagnostic or treatment procedures; ability to gather diagnostic information for medical providers by monitoring patients using specialized machines including but not limited to continuous pulse oximetry monitoring, and 12-lead EKG; support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. (EXPERIENCE MUST BE DETAILED IN RESUME IN ORDER TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT) OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have completed a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position. from an accredited school, college or university. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED). OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to 1 year of specialized experience. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED). Physical Requirements: Physical and mental stamina are required. The duties involve working under considerable stress, tense situations and with patients who are stressed and worried about their medical conditions. Work involves long hours of standing, stooping, bending and stretching without a break during procedures which require concentration. Manual dexterity and agility are required to correctly assemble instruments. Strain is incurred in staying alert on long cases under difficult situations. Working Conditions: Work is performed under bright surgical lights in rooms that are often warm while wearing hot moisture proof barrier gowns, gloves and masks. Frequently work must be performed in an uncomfortable positions. Work involves high risk of regular and recurring exposure to blood and body fluids, air-borne contaminates. There is high risk for needle sticks or other punctures by contaminated sharps. There is risk of falls from slick floors (irrigating fluids) and electrical cords. Universal precautions, sterile technique and personal protective equipment must be utilized vigilantly. May be expected to stay beyond shift if clinics or procedures are running late. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education 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 "Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act." 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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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. 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. 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. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.