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. 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.

Duties

The mission of the VISN 1 New England MIRECC is to improve mental health treatments and access to services for dually diagnosed Veterans who have mental health and addiction issues. The work of the VISN 1 New England MIRECC focuses on Veterans with co-occurring addictions and mental illnesses as well as related issues such as VA-compensated disabilities, homelessness, criminal justice histories, and medical co-morbidities. The VISN 1 MIRECC aims to better understand the prevalence and consequences of co-occurring addictions and mental illness, improve the treatment of dually-diagnosed Veterans by developing innovative new treatments, devise more effective ways to deliver established treatments, and create more effective programs by training VA health care professionals in therapies with proven efficacy. This Psychologist (MIRECC Director) position is located in Mental Health Service at the VA Bedford Healthcare System location. This position is a full-time at 40 hours per week. Duties may include, but are not limited to: Manages and directs the work of the staff of the Bedford Site of the VISN 1 MIRECC to accomplish MIRECC program goals and objectives in research, education, and clinical efforts; Translates management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled work operations for the VISN 1 MIRECC; Assures that all aspects of the VISN 1 MIRECC Bedford Site are functioning optimally. This includes strategic planning, setting operational priorities and deployment of resources, managing budgets, engaging in quality improvement, performance measure outcomes, and encouraging and improving research, education, and clinical activities associated with the VISN 1 MIRECC; Provides leadership, guidance and consultation to the MIRECC staff at Bedford; Serves on Medical Center or Healthcare System, VISN, and/or National VA committees or task forces, as endorsed by supervisors. These include the VISN 1 Mental Health Clinical Trials Network, and VISN and VACO committees and workgroups involving topics related to MIRECC research topics or findings; Mentors young investigators and staff to ensure they have the resources to become productive VA researchers; Develops and supports MIRECC research fellowship programming, including establishing guidelines and funding, application processes, award processes, and management and oversight of the fellows; Develops new research projects consistent with the mission of the MIRECC, and seeks to implements those projects; Helps monitor QA outcomes for the MIRECC, including study progress tracking sheets; Responsible for timely completion of all research activities, including project design, data collection, data storage, data analysis, project write-up, and project presentations; Provides staff and student didactic training and consultation as requested in content areas of scholarly and/or clinical expertise; Provides leadership guidance and consultation to clinical staff; Serves as a consultant to other medical center staff and trainees and assist in their formulation of the psychological characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding their patients, particularly in-patient veterans being treated for acute psychiatric problems; Involved in academic activities related to the dissemination of MIRECC research findings; Provide a full range of therapeutic interventions including group and individual psychotherapy, behavioral interventions, and brief evidence-based treatments, in settings that are related to MIRECC studies and activities. Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm Compressed/Flexible:Not Eligible Telework: Available for Ad-Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: F06335 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Contact Karen Chapman J., [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Notifications This position is in the Excepted Service. Due to a critical staffing shortage, 38 U.S.C. ? 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference for this job announcement. Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. Current or formal Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) will be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment.

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: a. United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. b. Education (1) 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. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology). OR (2) Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re-specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the 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 (3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. 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 (pre1979) 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.) OR (e) 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. c. Licensure. 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. d. Board Certification. Persons hired to psychology positions in the VHA who completed an internship that was not accredited at the time the program was completed must be 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. The board certificate must be current and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirement for continuing education. e. 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.May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: GS-14 Psychology Clinician Investigator. At least three years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-13 grade level. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): Knowledge of, and ability to apply, appropriate scientific methods in the design and execution of basic and applied research. Ability to coordinate work across multiple settings. Ability to convey scientific concepts and methodological principles to individuals with diverse levels of technical expertise. References: VA Handbook 5005/103, Part II, Appendix G18. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-14. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-14. Physical Requirements: No special physical qualifications are required to perform the work. The work requires the ability to move around the office and facility. See VA 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 Bedford Healthcare System 200 Springs Road Bedford, MA 01730 US
• Name: Molina Vantha
• Phone: 781 687 2000
• Email: [email protected]