The Therapy Assistant provides direct therapeutic care to a diverse patient population with a variety of patient diagnoses to include but not limited to: geriatric, dementia, long term care, geriatric-psychiatric, orthopedic, neuromuscular disorders: and ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients. Is required to interpret physician's orders and provide the initial assessment necessary to independently initiate care.

Duties

Operates equipment and designs recreation therapy programs in accordance with standard Recreation Therapy practices. Performs general evaluation tests related to recreation therapy assessment. Knowledge of indications and contraindications of all employed modalities and treatment techniques is required. Based on observation of patient's response, judges whether or not the treatment program is having the desired effect, and in concert with the supervisor, modifies or discontinues the treatment program. All assessments, modifications, or discontinuances are annotated in the patient's records. Maintains equipment in proper working condition by cleaning and adjusting, and reports any malfunctioning equipment to the Supervisor. Exercises responsibility for the comfort and well being of patients. In addition to determining treatment objectives, judges whether the treatment is causing an adverse effect on other conditions not under treatment. Interviews and observes patients to assess aptitudes and interests. Independently utilizes effective interviewing techniques to obtain objective and factual information pertaining to the patient's interests and aptitudes. Observes the patient to confirm initial assessment. Administers, scores, and interprets various tests under the limited guidance of the supervisor, independently administers, and/or interprets a variety of creative and motor skills tests to a wide range of patient populations. Evaluates the assigned patients' mental, emotional, social, and physical capabilities to determine the patients' needs in Recreation Therapy. Work Schedule: Sunday-Thursday 7 am to 3:30 pm. Rotating evenings, weekends and holidays. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Therapy Assistant/PD07666A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/06/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-6 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: work as an assistant to one of the specialized therapies such as occupational, physical, manual arts, corrective, or educational therapy; or experience gained as an assistant or aid in patient care, social work, or psychology where the duties involved actual participation in physical medicine and activities of a hospital or clinic. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. Graduate education or an internship meets the specialized experience required above GS-5 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position per OPMs guidance on Technical and Medical Support Assistants. One full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-7. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond. 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 for this position: CommunicationCritical ThinkingTechnical CompetenceTechnical Credibility 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. 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

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Canandaigua VA Medical Center 400 Fort Hill Ave Canandaigua, NY 14424 US
• Name: Joseph Wittmann
• Phone: 718-584-9000 X5764
• Email: [email protected]