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 position is for an Occupational Therapist in the Occupational Therapy Section of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service (PM&RS) in the VA New Jersey Health Care System. The Occupational Therapist provides rehabilitative services to persons with mental, physical, emotional, or developmental impairments that improves and/or prevents the loss of acute and chronic physical and psychosocial dysfunction and promotes wellness. The Occupational Therapist is responsible for performing occupational therapy assessments and treatment interventions, demonstrates a full professional understanding of the theories of treatment in occupational therapy and their proper application using activity analysis, behavioral interventions, frames of reference, and therapeutic procedures. Incumbent is responsible for administering and delivering professional and independent occupational therapy services in the assigned area as prescribed or requested by the physician or other approved referring clinician. At this grade, the incumbent performs at the full performance level. The duties and responsibilities of this position may be carried out in all program areas throughout the VA New Jersey Health Care System including various clinical, administrative, and patient care areas associated with PM&RS at all campuses, as assigned by the Supervisory Occupational Therapist or their designees and dictated by workload requirements, and in the community as indicated. Some duties include, but are not limited to: Clinical Provides comprehensive assessment of functional and occupational roles using standardized and non­-standardized evaluation tools. Selects and provides direct occupational therapy interventions and procedures with varying degrees of complexity to enhance safety, wellness, and performance in ADL, instrumental IADL, education, work, play, leisure, and social participation. Demonstrates a full professional understanding of the theories of treatment in occupational therapy and their proper application using activity analysis, behavioral intervention, frame of references, and therapeutic procedures. Procures, fabricates, adjusts, adapts, and modifies orthoses, splints, and adaptive equipment for activities of daily living (inclusive of durable medical equipment) Uses physical agent modalities for which competency has been established by the Supervisory Occupational Therapist and/or certification has been obtained per the State of New Jersey Occupational Therapy Advisory Council Statutes. Performs other related duties as assigned including, but not limited to, Maintaining a safe work environment to include non-technical maintenance of equipment, safety checks, cleaning, stocking, etc. Developing safe work habits to prevent injury to patients, co-workers, and self. Monitoring physical agent modality temperatures Administration Adheres to established standards, policies, and procedures set forth by the Section, Service, Facility, VISN and VHA. Participates in quality assurance review including chart reviews, peer reviews, patient care monitoring, and patient satisfaction surveys as directed by the Supervisory Occupational Therapist. Maintains personal productivity and assists the section in maintaining/increasing effectiveness and efficiency in meeting its objectives. Attends departmental meetings, multidisciplinary staff meetings, other meetings effecting patient care, and committee meetings as assigned. Conducts OT related in-service and clinical training. Individuals may perform ancillary assignments, including program management duties on an occasional basis, where the complexity and amount of work is not substantial (less than 25% of the duty time). Other duties, as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm, may require weekends and cross-campus coverage. Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: PD000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Contact [email protected], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education and/or Experience. (1) The individual must meet at least one of the following requirements below: (a) Bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and two (2) years of experience as an occupational therapist; NOTE: The baccalaureate degree must be from an approved program prior to the AOTA January 1, 2005 decision that the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) would only accredit master or doctoral degree programs in occupational therapy. OR (b) Bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and two (2) full years of graduate education in a related field; NOTE: The baccalaureate degree must be from an approved program prior to the AOTA January 1, 2005 decision that ACOTE would only accredit master or doctoral degree programs in occupational therapy. OR (c) Master's Degree or higher in occupational therapy. (2) Individuals must be a graduate of a degree program in occupational therapy approved by the ACOTE or predecessor organizations. This is inclusive of an internship (supervised fieldwork experience required by the educational institution). ACOTE is the only accreditation agency recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Foreign Graduates. Graduates of foreign occupational therapy programs meet the requirements above if they have a current, full, active and unrestricted license referred to in subparagraph [3e] of this appendix. Certification. Candidates must possess a current National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) certification as an Occupational Therapist. State Licensure. Candidates must possess a full, current, and unrestricted state license, to practice occupational therapy in a state, territory or Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or in the District of Columbia. Loss of Credential. An employee in this occupation who fails to maintain [the required state or territorial licensure and the NBCOT certification, both current and in good standing,] must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment. English Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Physical Requirements: Work is sedentary but also demands standing, walking, bending, twisting, and carrying light items. 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). Creditable Experience. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with current professional occupational therapy practice. Creditable experience can be obtained through employment as an OT. This may be evidenced by one or both of the following: (1) Active professional practice. Active professional practice includes paid/non-paid employment as a professional OT, and as defined by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). Experience gained after graduation but prior to licensure/certification is creditable, provided the candidate was utilized as a graduate OT and subsequently passed the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) certification, and the required state regulatory requirements. (2) Completion of a post-graduate fellowship or a post-graduate residency program can be substituted for creditable experience on a year for year basis. Fellowships or post-graduate training programs are typically in specialty areas such as advanced practice, research, mental health, gerontology, enhanced education, health policy, leadership and therapeutic sciences. (3) Quality of Experience. Experience is only creditable if it is post-graduate experience as a professional OT directly related to the duties to be performed. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to professional occupational therapy experience at the next lower level. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full-time workweek. For example, an OT employed 20 hours per week, or on a half time basis, would receive one (1) full-time workweek of credit for each two (2) weeks of service. Content Specialty/Specialty area. Specialized content areas of occupational therapy include, but are not limited to, geriatrics, mental health, neurology, cardiopulmonary, spinal cord injury, amputee, low vision, chronic pain, polytrauma, brain injury, lymphedema, assistive technology, hand therapy, driving and community mobility, and seating and mobility. As health care evolves content specialty will change. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. (1) Education, Experience, and Licensure. Completion of one year of experience equivalent to at the GS-11 grade level and directly related to the position being filled. (2) Demonstrated KSAs. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:(a) Knowledge of occupational therapy principles and techniques consistent with current clinical standards based on OT theory and evidence-based practice. Knowledge is inclusive of physical, occupational, cognitive, and psychosocial functional deficits.(b) Ability to collaborate and communicate orally and in writing with all internal and external stakeholders.(c) Ability to use critical analysis, clinical reasoning, and creativity to independently solve complex problems related to adapting and modifying assessments, treatment plans, activities and procedures to meet the needs of patients.(d) Skill in procuring, fabricating, adjusting, adapting, and modifying orthoses, splints, and adaptive equipment for activities of daily living (inclusive of durable medical equipment).(e) Ability to conduct OT related in-service and clinical training. Selective Factor: Acute care inpatient experience required. Preferred Experience: Includes outpatient coverage. Physical Agent Modalities (PAM) certified. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/127 PART II, APPENDIX G14 OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST QUALIFICATION STANDARD GS-0631, dated December 19, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.

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 New Jersey Health Care System 385 Tremont Avenue East Orange, NJ 07018 US
• Name: Yaneth Ferrer
• Phone: 718-584-9000 X6569
• Email: [email protected]