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

Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Psychology-Career-Flyer.pdf The HBPC Program is a unique home care program that provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary primary care in the homes of Veterans with complex medical, social, and behavioral conditions for whom routine clinic-based care is not effective. The incumbent is responsible for providing home based primary care appointments to Veterans in both the State College and Dubois locations. The incumbent provides a full range of psychological services for Veterans referred to or enrolled in the HBPC Program, to include mental health prevention, assessment, treatment, management, and professional consultation. Specific duties include: Providing screening for emotional-behavioral problems to prevent psychological problems and/or diagnose such problems per the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM5) criteria; Providing behavioral medicine interventions to manage physical pain and other disabilities, to address sleep problems and promote positive sleep practices, to facilitate weight loss and good nutritional habits, to cease smoking, and/or to reinforce or enhance medical compliance; Providing treatment for such psychological problems as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, grief, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and substance abuse, with an emphasis on time-limited, evidenced-based approaches when possible and appropriate; Developing behavior management/modification plans and strategies to address dementia-related behaviors and other cognitive impairments to decrease the need for adjunct psychotropic medication for behavioral control; Providing psychoeducation, counseling, and other supportive measures to the spouse and other family members, home health aides and other caregivers, and/or other VA and non-VA staff crucial to keeping the Veteran at home; Providing screening for cognitive deficits to address specific functional questions and/or to determine if more comprehensive neuropsychological testing is needed; The incumbent provides various administrative and other assigned duties, to include the following: Assists the Chief of Mental Health and HBPC Program Director in the design, development, and implementation of clinical programs designed to meet HBPC staff psychologist mission requirements; Adheres to operational policies and procedures established by the Chief of Mental Health and HBPC Program Director; Assists the Chief of Mental Health and HBPC Program Director in the execution of ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects to monitor the effectiveness of the HBPC psychologist service and other HBPC Program and Mental Health Service components; Facilitates liaisons with other health care programs in order to effectively coordinate services; Complies with national and local performance measures, including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for all patients; Complies with all CPRS documentation procedures, including timeliness standards for documentation and proper patient check out procedures, to include entering diagnostic and procedure codes; Work Schedule: 8:00-4:30 pm, Monday - Friday; Alternate and compressed tours available Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized EDRP Authorized: May be authorized. Learn more Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of existing pay, higher or unique qualifications, or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Available - Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 / Psychologist Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: 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: Have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology) OR; Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re-specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re-specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions: (1) The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and, (2) The specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship OR; Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. Internship: Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed OR; New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern ORVHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement OR; Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.) OR; Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program. Licensure: Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia. English Language Proficiency: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English Grade Determinations: GS-13 Staff Psychologist (Full Performance) Experience: At least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level. (Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations; Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies; Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures; Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties); Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration). Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations. Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health. Knowledge of clinical research literature. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G18 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

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

Contacts

• Address James E Van Zandt VA Medical Center 2907 Pleasant Valley Boulevard Altoona, PA 16602 US
• Name: Andrea Vick
• Phone: 5736731031
• Email: [email protected]