This is an Open Continuous Announcement. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis and qualified candidates will be considered as vacancies become available. Applications will remain on file until December 31, 2023. NOTE: This posting will remain open until no longer needed but no later than December 31, 2023. *Recruitment/Relocation Incentives may be authorized for the services with the highest need.

Duties

This announcement will be used for filling multiple vacancies for GS-5/6/7 Intermediate Care Technician (Medical Assistant) across the Veterans Health Administration. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)- Intermediate Care Technician (ICT) Program is a program designed to hire former military corpsmen, combat medics and medical technicians into positions at VA Medical Centers as an integral part of the medical team. ICTs operate within clearly-defined clinical competencies. For the purposes of this job announcement ICTs may work in multiple clinical settings based on facility needs, these include but are not limited to Primary Care, Specialty Clinics, Community Based Outpatient Clinic, Employee Occupational Health and COVID Screening/Swabbing Stations. *Recruitment/Relocation Incentive may be authorized only for selected locations. *Primary Care Clinics: The PACT ICT is responsible for providing direct and/or indirect patient care to assigned group of patients. Will have knowledge, skill and experience to carry out assignments involving point of care testing, providing treatments, vaccinations, performing diagnostic studies and patient/family education. ICT demonstrates active collaboration and communication. (all locations). *Women's Health Clinic: ICT is responsible for providing direct and/or indirect patient care to assigned group of patients. Will have the knowledge, skill and experience to carry out assignments involving point of care testing, providing treatments and vaccinations, performing diagnostic studies and patient education. Will also be responsible for chaperoning medical procedures. Only applicants identifying as female will be considered. *COVID Screening and Swabbing: ICT is responsible for asking screening questions for COVID and influenza symptoms of patients, visitors, and contractors. Schedules and location (screening or swabbing) are determined by needs of the VA. Works in various environments such as parking garage, outside in tents and or offices. Conducting swabbing/testing for COVID and potentially other illnesses. Administer intramuscular injection vaccination for vaccination for vaccine clinics. Swabbing for pre-procedural patients, employees, and unit surveillance. Swabbing takes place in the covered garage and other outdoor settings. *Homeless PACT: Works as an integral part of the Homeless PACT Team and provides quality care to homeless Veterans. The population includes Veterans with a wide array of complex social, mental health, and medical needs. May be required to travel off site along with the PACT provider to community settings in which patients are seen. *Relocation/Recruitment Incentive may be authorized. *Employee Occupational Health tasked with the care of VHA employee's providing physicals for pre-placement, injury, DEMPS, annual requirement for position and work related illness. EOH cares for injured employee's and follows care through the OWCP process. Tasked with testing, case management of positive cases, contact tracing and tracking COVID trends within our facility. Duties include worksite surveillance programs, employee wellness, work-related immunizations and providing a safe work environment. Staff will primarily be testing employee's for COVID-19 unit base surveillance. Administering COVID-19 and flu immunizations. Assisting in clinical triage as needed and other duties. *Emergency Department tasked with providing patient care in various roles. Those roles include Float Technician, First Look Technicians and Fast Track. The ED ICT as First Look Technician will monitor patients in the waiting room and use clinical judgment be watchful for deteriorating patients and escalate their placement in the Emergency Department. The ED ICT as Float Technician, will assist in the set up, treatment and transport of patients within the Emergency Department. Other tasks in this role include establishing peripheral intravenous access, lab collection, IV monitoring, medical emergency team responder and numerous other scope-appropriate tasks and procedures. The ED ICT in Fast Track works under the direction of an NP or an ARNP to treat stable patients that present to the Emergency Department. Skills include, ECG placement, cardiac monitoring, simple wound closure, casting and splinting, peripheral intravenous access, ordering imaging, and administration of facility-approved IM injections, IV infusions and medications. Work Schedule: Full Time, Tours of duty vary. May Include nights, weekends, holidays. Tours will be discussed by the hiring manager. Position Description Title/PD#: Intermediate Care Technician (Medical Assistant)/PD99968S, PD99363S, and PD99362S Recruitment/Relocation Incentives: May be authorized for selected services with the highest need.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for this job
• Subject to a background/suitability investigation
• May serve a probationary period
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• A complete application package; Resume, Transcripts, etc
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.
• 5 CFR 330.502 - General restriction on movement after competitive appointment applies.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within the 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. Minimum Qualification: English Language Proficiency: Individuals serving in direct patient care positions must be proficient in [both] spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). GS-05 grade level: One one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. Examples of specialized experience: obtaining patient health history, chief complaints, medication history, and identification of health-related conditions that may impact the patient's health status; evaluating patients for emergent/non-emergent medical conditions; ordering and/or performing appropriate diagnostic studies. (i.e. vital signs, EKG, etc.) Your experience must be detailed in your resume to receive full credit. OR, Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-05 level. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position. GS-06 grade level: 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. Specialized experience includes Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. Examples of specialized experience: obtaining patient health history, chief complaints, medication history, and identification of health related conditions that may impact the patient's health status; evaluating patients for emergent/non-emergent medical conditions; ordering and/or performing appropriate diagnostic studies (i.e. vital signs, EKG, etc.); performing interventions based upon patient symptoms and established protocols/standards; assisting in behavioral/psychiatric situations; assisting Physicians with complex, specialized, and potentially-life threatening procedures. Your experience must be detailed in your resume to receive full credit. Applicants may not substitute education for the experience required for the GS-06 level. (Education substitutions are not applicable at this grade level) GS-07 grade level: One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. Examples of specialized experience: obtaining patient health history, chief complaints, medication history, and identification of health related conditions that may impact the patient's health status; evaluating patients for emergent/non-emergent medical conditions; ordering and/or performing appropriate diagnostic studies (i.e. vital signs, EKG, etc.); performing interventions based upon patient symptoms and established protocols/standards; assisting in behavioral/psychiatric situations; assisting Physicians with complex, specialized, and potentially-life threatening procedures; administration of: Oxygen, Basic IV fluids, nebulized medications, limited PO meds, IM meds/immunizations/vaccines; independently recognized life threatening situations and act to correct these according to established national or facility protocols. Your experience must be detailed in your resume to receive full credit. OR, Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-07 level. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). Successfully completed one (1) full year (18 semester hours) of graduate education that is directly related to the work of the position and have submitted transcripts with my application. (Transcripts Required) NOTE: As a general rule, education is not creditable above GS-5 for most positions covered by this standard; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position Preferred Qualification: ICTs are advanced Health Technicians who have graduated from intensive specialized military medical training programs and served as combat medics, medical technicians, and corpsman. They possess fundamental knowledge, background and experience in emergency medicine, critical care, medical readiness, field medicine, bedside care, and primary care. Veterans, transitioning servicemembers, National Guard, and Reserve military Corpsmen, Combat Medics, and Medical Technicians interested in Intermediate Care Technician (ICT) positions. 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: The work involves extended periods of bending, standing and walking. The work requires recurring physical exertion with assisting patients. Work Environment: On a regular and recurring basis, employee is exposed to infection, exposure to communicable diseases and contagious diseases. The incumbent's assignment requires him/her to comply with special safety and health precautions by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) according to universal precautions.

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.

Preferred formal education under one of the following:

• Military Training Records, Transcripts and/or Certifications for medication administration
• Hold an active and unrestricted Medical Assistant Certification
• Successfully passed one of the following exams
  • Certified Medical Assistant Exam through the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA); or
  • Registered Medical Assistant Exam through American Medical Technologists (AMT); or
  • Clinical Medical Assistant Exam through the National Health Career Association (NHA); or
  • National Certified Medical Assistant Exam through the National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT).
  • Clinical Medical Assistant Certification Examination through the American Medical Certification Association (AMCA).
• Completion of a medical assistant program offered by a school accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) or a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
• Completion of a medical assistant program offered by a school accredited by a regional or national accrediting organization recognized by the US Department of Education, which includes a minimum of 720 clock hours of training in medical assisting skills, including an externship of no less than 160 hours

Contacts

• Address VA Puget Sound Health Care System 1660 South Columbian Way Seattle, WA 98108 US
• Name: Maria Dela Cruz
• Phone: 253-582-8440 X75434
• Email: [email protected]