The position health technician (Audiology) is located in the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Service (ASPS), Audiology Section, in the VA Northern California Health Care System (VANCHCS). The duties and responsibilities are carried out in all clinical and other patient care areas involved with the Audiology service. The health technician supports the function of the clinical programs in Audiology.

Duties

Functions or Scope of Assigned Duties: Primary responsibility is for patient care, supporting diagnostic and treatment procedures, patient charting and patient education, which do not require a full professional audiology education or knowledge and skills represented by audiology licensure. Support functions include both direct patient care and administrative duties. In addition, the incumbent must be able to mentor and train new health technicians (Audiology). This position functions above the full performance level for the Health Technician (Audiology) position and serves in an advanced role. Under supervision of a licensed audiologist, the incumbent performs a full range of duties and is responsible for day-to-day clinical support services of staff audiologists at the assigned location as well as participating in the programmatic development and advanced support of the facility-wide audiology program. The incumbent is expected to exercise independent judgement and will often provide guidance to less experienced staff members and will require minimal direct supervision. This advanced position functions above the full performance level and therefore requires the performance of higher-level duties which must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. The higher-level duties associated with this advanced-level position may include, but are not limited to: a) Mentors and trains new health technicians in audiology b) May develop and implement the technician role for a program in a focused area of audiology Audiology specific duties include, but are not limited to: a) Prepares patients for advanced testing procedures (vestibular, neurodiagnostic, etc.) performed by the audiologist b) Completes electroacoustic analysis on all new hearing aids and those returned from repair c) Verifies hearing aid settings are correct upon receiving hearing aid repairs by connecting to Noah and programming previously stored settings into hearing aids d) Conducts hearing and tympanometric screening, and otoacoustic emission tests (without interpretation) via store-and-forward technology. e) Serves as technical experts in the operation and maintenance of specialized Administrative duties include, but are not limited to: a) Coordinate activities of the clinic with medical support services throughout the organization. b) Participate in performance improvement activities aimed at improving the efficiency of the patient process, specifically hearing aid manufacturer trainings. c) Manages clinic inventory including devices to be fit, loaner devices, and clinic supplies. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am to 4:30pm Telework: Not Available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: FS# XXXXX-F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Requirements

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. Citizen of the United States. After a determination is made that it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens, non-citizen personnel may be appointed on a temporary basis under authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405, without regard to the citizenship requirements of 38 U.S.C. 7402 or any other law prohibiting the employment of or payment of compensation to a person who is not a citizen of the United States. Candidates must meet all other requirements for the grade and position concerned. English Language Proficiency. A candidate will not be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C. chapters 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English. See chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part Education and Experience: (1) Experience. One year of experience in a health care field that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work such as but not limited to a medical or clinical assistant (or technician) or health technician. OR (2) Education. Four academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation. OR (3) Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. Examples are listed below: (a) Six months of experience in the health care field and two years of education above high school that included at least six semester hours in health care related courses such as, biological science, surgical technician courses, nursing assistant or other courses related to the position; or an associate degree in a health care related field; or (b) Six months of experience in the health care field and successful completion of a course for health care technicians, hospital corpsmen, or medical service specialists given by the U.S. Armed Forces. GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical), GS-7 (Advanced) (1) Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. (2) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs. (a) Ability to use independent technical judgment to analyze, evaluate and resolve problems. (b) Knowledge of quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement. (c) Ability to function effectively between competing priorities. (d) Knowledge of proper maintenance and troubleshooting of telehealth equipment. (e) Ability to work with a team to provide technical guidance, plan, organize and coordinate activities of a health technician in order to effectively complete job duties of assignment such as distributing workload, monitoring the status and progress of work, monitoring accuracy of work. (f) Ability to assist in Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) development, outcome management and strategic planning. (g) Ability to perform successful knowledge transfer regarding the use of telehealth technologies. Preferred Experience: Minimum 1 year of experience with the following: a. Hearing aid troubleshooting/in-house repairs b. Direct support of audiologist during patient care c. Hearing aid orientations d. Pairing/troubleshooting bluetooth connections with hearing aids e. Pairing/troubleshooting assistive listening devices (such as remote mics and tv connectors) with hearing aids References: VA Handbook 5005/96, Part II, Appendix G50. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-07. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

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.

Contacts

• Address VA Northern California Health Care System 10535 Hospital Way Mather, CA 95655 US
• Name: AARON POWELL
• Phone: (916) 843-9150
• Email: [email protected]