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

This Mental Health Integration (MHI) Oncology Psychologist position is administratively aligned with the Mental Health Service and is assigned as a co-located, collaborative and integrated care mental health provider in Oncology. The MHI Oncology Psychologist provides brief, evidence-based interventions, education, and consultation services to Veterans, and education and consultation for Specialty Medical Providers and allied team members. The MHI Oncology Psychologist works collaboratively within this specialty medical clinic to promote prevention, brief assessment, early identification, and treatment of most mild to moderate mental health and health behavior concerns. Visits are generally brief, limited in number, and structured so that the Veteran and special medical team views meeting with the MHI Oncology Psychologist as part of the specialty medical service. The MHI Oncology Psychologist is fully integrated into the specialty medical clinic team, engaging in a variety of team-based activities, including huddles, meetings, case review, consultation, and education. Direct service delivery occurs via brief, focused interventions, with a large percentage of those being seen via warm handoff within the medical specialty clinic to ensure same day access. The incumbent will maintain and upgrade professional knowledge and skills by involvement in appropriate continuing education activities. The incumbent will utilize telemental health technology as needed. The MHI Oncology Psychologist provides functional assessment, triage, intervention, education, and consultative services regarding a wide range of possible concerns. Consistent with the VA Whole Health philosophy, the MHI Oncology Psychologist promotes collaboration in support of the Veteran's Mission/Aspiration/Purpose and awareness of the mental and behavioral aspects of health and well-being. The MHI Oncology Psychologist utilizes a Population-Based Care and Public Health approach and maximizing the reach of services to as many Veterans as possible. The MHI Oncology Psychologist accepts referrals from Specialty Medical Providers and allied specialty team members and supports guideline-concordant treatment. The MHI Oncology Psychologist maintains competences in the following core domains: Clinical Practice Management: - Collaborates with Specialty Medical Team members and others as appropriate to support high quality, effective, and coordinated service delivery at the patient and programmatic levels - Maintains daily open access slots and encourages same day warm handoffs within the Specialty Medical Clinic - Completes most individual appointments within 30 minutes - Uses Measurement Based Care (MBC) in accordance with nationally recommended guidelines - Advances clinic capacity to complete suicide risk assessments and intervention within the Specialty Medical Setting. - Provides time-limited, brief, evidence-based, individual or group interventions for a broad range of mental health and health behavior concerns within the Specialty Medical Setting, making exceptions as needed depending on Veteran need and disease-course. Documentation Skills: - Writes clear, concise notes that are optimized for collaboration within the Specialty Medical Team - Notes important elements for team collaboration (e.g., MBC, curbside consultation/team care discussion, liaison with specialty care providers) as appropriate - Notes are completed same day or within 24 hours Consultation and Interdisciplinary Team-Based Skills: - Engages in Specialty Medical Team huddles and meetings to cultivate collaborative team functioning and serves as a subject matter expert for behavioral health considerations - Provides education to Special Medical Team on mental health and health behavior issues, as well as tips to promote effective patient communication, motivational enhancement, and behavior change - Integrates self into routine workflow of the Special Medical Team and seeks opportunities to offer expertise or direct patient care services to support team-based care Academic/Teaching/Training: - May supervise Oncology Psychologist trainees in accordance with training program policies and accrediting agency requirements - May provide staff and student didactic training and consultation as requested in content areas of scholarly and/or clinical expertise Research/ Program Evaluation: - Actively participates in program evaluation required by the funding initiative for the position, and/or may participate in research activities as approved by supervisor. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Available Retention Incentive: After 90 days of employment in this position, you may be authorized for a retention incentive. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 37272F EDRP Authorized: Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.g, this part.) Education 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 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. NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship. [Psychologists who have successfully completed a re-specialization program as described above and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards.] OR Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. AND Internships 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 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 VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement; OR 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 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. 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. Exception. Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a "graduate psychologist" at the GS-11 or GS-12 grade under the authority of 38 U.S.C. ? 7405 [(c)(2)(B)] for a period not to exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such a psychologist provide care only under the supervision of a psychologist who is licensed. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment. Loss of Credential. A psychologist who fails to maintain the required licensure must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may be reassigned to another occupation if qualified and if a placement opportunity exists. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. 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. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: Staff Psychologist, GS-11 (Entry Level) Experience. None beyond the basic requirements. Staff Psychologist, GS-12 (Developmental Level) Experience. At least one year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist but with less intense supervision than at the GS-11 grade level. Demonstrated KSAs. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 1. Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations. 2. Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies. 3. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures. 4. Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties). 5. Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration. Staff Psychologist, GS-13 (Full Performance, Level) Experience. At least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. Demonstrated KSAs. In addition to the experience above, 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. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. An applicant may be selected in the range of GS-11 to GS-13.

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 Bronx VA Medical Center 130 West Kingsbridge Rd. Bronx, NY 10468 US
• Name: Kelli Bencic
• Phone: 716-458-6982
• Email: [email protected]