This position is currently located at the Wilmington, DE VA Medical Center and is supervised by the Prosthetic department. The incumbent Therapist that serves at this level is a professional who is responsible for developing, coordinating, and maintaining day to day functioning of Wheelchair Clinic, home evaluations, and clinical education.

Duties

Major Duties: Incumbent specializes in wheelchair/seating and mobility, independently conducts treatment of patients with the varied diagnoses including but not limited to: Progressive neurological disorders, Cardio-pulmonary disorders, joint contractures, joint injury, polytrauma, SCI and TBI. Incumbent will be able to perform wheelchair/seating and mobility assessment in various clinical settings based upon need. - Conducts comprehensive patient examinations to identify seating and positioning problems and establish treatment goals utilizing latest evidence based Occupational Therapist practice and seating and mobility products. - Evaluates patient response to seating and positioning interventions and modifies the treatment plan to provide optimum outcome. - Provides in-home assessments for HISA grants, mobility equipment, and complex DME usage inside the home. The therapist will ensure the environment is most appropriate for the individual to accomplish ADL's and IADL's. - Provides educational in-services, resources and training for optimal seating and mobility which include evidence base interventions. - Conducts examinations, treatment planning and interventions, documentation, and follow-up evaluation in all Wilmington, DE VA Medical Center areas including outpatient, Community Living Center, in-home, acute care and Tele-Rehabilitation. - Capable of working with veterans across the lifespan and from all backgrounds. - Able to recommend and deliver the appropriate prosthetic equipment to meet the patient's clinical needs. Provides educational and therapeutic services in the area of life skills, community reentry, functional activities, ADL's and IADL's, and evidence based modalities such as therapeutic media for the purpose of improving and/or compensating for mental and physical disability. Utilizes therapeutic use of self effectively and provides case management regardless of the etiology of deficits when feasible. Develops and carries out a full range of therapy treatment using a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional treatment techniques and modalities. - Evaluates patients to identify specific therapy treatment areas. Demonstrates advanced knowledge of contemporary therapy treatments across multiple areas of practice and demonstrates the ability to apply this advanced knowledge to provide clinical guidance to staff within the department and within the Wilmington VA Medical Center and VISN 4. - Independently and/or collectively solves complex treatment problems related to occupational therapy, by adapting and modifying treatment plans, activities, and procedures to meet the needs of the patients with complex disabilities. - In collaboration with the patient, the treatment team and significant others, incumbent establishes short-term and long-term therapy patient treatment goals. Work Schedule: M-F, 7:30a-4:00p, 8:00a-4:30p Compressed/Flexible:YES Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

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. Degree programs may be verified by contacting the American Occupational Therapy Association website or at their office address: American Occupational Therapy Association, P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. Foreign Graduates. Graduates] of foreign occupational therapy programs meet the requirements of subparagraph [3b(2)] if they have a current, full, active and unrestricted license Certification. Candidates must possess a current NBCOT certification as an OT. 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. English Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates .Occupational Therapist (Clinical Specialist), GS-13Education, Experience, and Licensure. Completion of one year of experience equivalent to at least the [GS-12 grade level and directly related to the position being filled [and one of the following:(a) A minimum of 2,000 hours of clinical practice directly in the advanced practice area. This time must be within the past five years;(b) Certification in an area recognized by the AOTA;(c) Completion of a fellowship/residency or advanced degree program in the advanced practice area; or(d) An additional advanced degree in a related field Demonstrated KSAs. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:(a) Knowledge of contemporary occupational therapy across multiple areas of practice.(b) [Ability to provide clinical guidance in the advanced practice area to other OT practitioners.(c) Knowledge of advanced specialized evaluation, interventions and services to independently develop treatment strategies for area of specialization.(d) Skill in developing protocols and procedures for intervention programs based on current occupational therapy theory, recent research, and practice.(e) Ability to provide consultation to other health care practitioners and outside groups about occupational therapy scope of practice for area of specialization.(f) Ability to implement, revise/update evidence based occupational therapy services and programming in area of specialization.: References: December 13, 2019 VA Handbook 5005/127 PART II APPENDIX G14 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13 Physical Requirements: The position requires that the incumbent be of good health physically due to the daily activity demands of this position. At times, this position will qualify as moderate to heavy regarding physical demands due to patient handling requirements. Incumbent must be able to assist patients whose functional capabilities can be severely limited due to injury or illness. Assist may vary from close supervision to maximum assist for transfers or bed mobility activities. Any physical limitation(s) of the incumbent may endanger and predispose to injury, both the patient and therapist. Activities such as standing, walking, lifting, bending, reaching, squatting, crawling, etc., are all part of the daily physical demands

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 Wilmington VA Medical Center 1601 Kirkwood Highway Wilmington, DE 19805 US
• Name: Rhonda Williams
• Email: [email protected]