Health Technician (Podiatry) for Surgical Care within Phoenix VA. This position is located at the 32nd Street Facility. They will perform a variety of specialized clinical procedures, preliminary and follow up clinical examination and evaluation of patients, podiatric work-ups, laboratory and/or other diagnostic tests as clinically indicated.

Duties

Duties may include, but are not limited to: Perform a variety of specialized clinic procedures such as preliminary examination and evaluation of patients. Perform a variety of standardized and routine procedures that are non-invasive. Writes history, finding, and treatments in outpatient records in the appropriate format. Set up instrument trays, finalizes preparation of sterile field, skin prep, and draping of patients. Prepare podiatric work-up, x-rays, laboratory or other requests, as required. Performs clinical assessments and provides various forms of non-invasive treatments through delivery of direct patient care for nail fungi, nail trimming, toenail debridement, callus and corn removal, slant backs for ingrown toenails, application of topical medications, foot soaks, and basic podiatry care within scope of work and under the direct supervision of the attending podiatrist. Performs direct patient care duties with the use of medical instrumentation such as scalpels, nail cutters, curettes, tissue nippers and other required instrumentation. Identifies significant clinical changes in patients and promptly reports findings to the assigned physician. Applies wraps/dressings for ulcers and podiatric wound care, performs sports medicine taping for soft tissue injuries, applies foot padding for hammertoes, corns, calluses, diabetic ulcers, bunions, post-operative, and podiatric specific diseases, disorders, injuries, and preventative medicine. Provides direct patient care utilizing podiatric medical equipment in a clinical setting to perform non-invasive procedures in the Podiatry clinic. Performs post-operative dressing application and removal and may be instructed to remove splints and/or casts and refurbishment of orthotics casing (add layers, glue, and file down). Preforms triage, vital sign measurement, and documentation upon intake. Sets up for procedures, aids during procedures: passes medical instruments, needles, medicines, and ointments. Completes appropriate CPRS progress notes and charting of all patient care provided, ensuring appropriate workload capture and encounter generation for treatment and visits are documented timely and accurately. Performs administrative functions as necessary for clinical operations such as: consult management, documentation and encounter completion review, clinical chart reviews, scheduling and clinic utilization review, and other administrative management functions as necessary for effective clinical operations. Provides patient education on home care and prevention of podiatric illnesses and infections. Interacts with patients, visitors, staff, students, and volunteers in a courteous, helpful, cooperative, and compassionate manner contributing to the effective operation of both the service and the Medical Center. Identifies and reports problems which negatively impact patient treatment and/or public relations in a timely manner through appropriate supervisory channels. Responds positively and in a timely manner to customer requests for service or information seeking to continually improve customer satisfaction. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:00 am to 3:30 pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Podiatry)/PD10456A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/06/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Performs clinical assessments, and provides various forms of non-invasive treatments through delivery of direct patient care for nail fungi, nail trimming, toenail debridement, callus and corn removal, slant backs for ingrown toenails, application of topical medications, foot soaks, and basic podiatry care within scope of work and under the direct supervision of the attending podiatrist; Applies wraps/dressings for ulcers and podiatric wound care, performs sports medicine taping for soft tissue injuries, applies foot padding for hammertoes, corns, calluses, diabetic ulcers, bunions, post-operative, and podiatric specific diseases, disorders, injuries, and preventative medicine; Responsible for triage and vital sign measurement and documentations upon intake. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have: Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. One full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-7. Two full years of graduate education or a master's degree meets the requirements for GS-9. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Clinical Data Collection/DocumentationCustomer ServicePatient CareTechnical Competence 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: Work requires frequent walking, standing, stooping, lifting, bending, stretching, pushing, turning and at time carry heavy loads. Incumbent must utilize good mechanics. Manuel dexterity in handling instruments is required. Ability to lift at least 50 pounds. 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Carl T Hayden Veterans' Administration Medical Center 650 East Indian School Road Phoenix, AZ 85012 US
• Name: Merry Caguioa
• Phone: (858)253-0326
• Email: [email protected]