This position is located within the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service at the Orlando VA Medical Center in Orlando, FL. The Pathology Specialist is the leader and authority for the operations of the Surgical Pathology section including Autopsy services which provides diagnostic interpretation of human disease and cause of death investigations via postmortem analysis.

Duties

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** The major duties include but are not limited to: Provides authoritative management for all daily Surgical Pathology functions, working independently to perform these highly complex functions or in collaboration with one or more pathologist(s); Develops and implements policies and procedures to provide maximum protections against chemical, biological and environmental hazards to laboratory staff; Evaluates, modifies and recommends new methods or revises standard techniques to improve or enhance accuracy, timeliness or proficiency of analyses; Relies on a thorough understanding of the gross appearance of pathologic processes in a wide variety of patient samples, allowing to comfortably adapt traditional methods to handle unique cases containing unknown abnormalities; Plays a central role in the education and training of residents in pathology and other medical specialties, as well as medical students, medical technology and histotechnology students regarding the practice of Surgical Pathology and Autopsy Pathology; Oversees and performs work during intraoperative diagnosis using frozen section technique and during autopsy procedures to assure proper processing of human tissue specimens for complete diagnostic information to ensure a reliable final diagnosis; Ensures approved turnaround times are met or exceeded for specimens processed while patients are waiting under anesthesia; Supervises all activities related to the Autopsy Service; Creates, maintains and revises Standard Operating Procedures for Autopsy Procedure Manual; Oversees inventory of supplies in the autopsy suite and maintains required quality control regarding tissue disposal and instrumentation maintenance; Responsible for quality control, quality assurance and accreditation associated with the surgical pathology; Ensures statistical and administrative data (workload recording) and other information requested are properly collected, recorded and presented to administration by designated deadlines; Oversees documentation of incident reports, collaborates with supervisors from other services to address issues and follows up on corrective actions and feedback to employees/providers; and, Performs all other duties as assigned. Preferred Experience/Certification: American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Certified Pathologist's Assistant. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, you must meet the following Basic Education Requirement for the 0601 series: Basic Education Requirement: You must have successfully completed a Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree, with a major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the Pathology Specialist. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. ~AND~ In addition to the Basic Education Requirement above, to qualify for this position at the GS-11 level, you must meet one of the following: Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the Federal service that has given you the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of a Pathology Specialist, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience is experience performing gross examination and sectioning of surgical pathology specimens and preparing specimens for microscopic examination and pathologic diagnosis; removing and dissecting organs to demonstrate the presence or absence of disease and/or atomic variation; maintaining the surgical pathology and autopsy area; assisting in the sectioning of patient autopsy and/or assisting pathologists with completing autopsies; and properly disposing of human tissues and chemicals. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. ~OR~ Education: Successful completion of three (3) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree that provided the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of the Pathology Specialist position. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. ~OR~ Combination: A combination of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the second year) and specialized experience, as described above, which may be used to meet total experience requirements for this grade level. The education portion must include graduate courses that provided the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of the Pathology Specialist position. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: PATHOLOGY QUALITY ASSURANCE TECHNICAL COMPETENCE ANALYSIS AND PROBLEM SOLVING MEDICAL INFORMATION IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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. 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; religious; 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. Physical Requirements: The work of the position requires above average manual dexterity, visual acuity, color vision, regular and recurring physical exertion such as the use of a manual cryostat, climbing stairs, standing for long periods of time while performing gross examinations, bending when performing frozen sections and lifting 5-gallon containers and moving human bodies. Intense concentration in noisy and congested areas is required. Significant time using a computer is required. It is imperative that the person in the position has a high degree of tolerance and ability to work under stress which at times can be irregular and sometimes constant. Additionally, the demand for accuracy and timeliness in results to pathologists responsible for patient care is an ever-present responsibility and a constant concern. At times, immediate action is required to produce information, solve a technical issue or interact with another VA employee. 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

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 Orlando VA Medical Center 13800 Veterans Way Orlando, FL 32827 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]