The incumbent is assigned to work in the Neuropsychology Clinic and Psychological Assessment Units of the Psychology Section at the VA Caribbean Healthcare System. The Psychology Technician provides support for psychological testing of Veterans, to include evaluating patients through various psychological and neuropsychological techniques. The incumbent also provides psychoeducational services to Veterans and their families under the supervision of staff psychologists.

Duties

Some of the duties and responsibilities of this position include (but are not limited to): Performs psychological and neuropsychological assessment procedures to include conducting structured interviews, evaluation of suicidal and homicidal potential. Administers standard tests of intelligence, achievement, standard tests of memory, cognitive functions, personality, and traditional cognitive screening tools. Administers and scores traditional measures for purpose of assessment of emotional status, personality, and/or functional capability. Operates equipment such as tape recorders, slide projectors, and specialized assessment equipment, as well as has sufficient computer sophistication for purposes of data entry, scoring, and the like. Organizes the caseload and scheduling of referrals in a manner to provide timely assessment and expeditious handling of priority referrals. Provides patients and/or significant others with a rationale for specific testing procedures. Ensures the cooperation of patient during the entire assessment and procedure . Demonstrates sensitivity to disabled patients and the ability to adapt assessment approaches or procedures in a manner to meet any special problems. Provides psychoeducation to Veterans and their families as well as staff members. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday. 7:30 am - 4:00 pm Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Psychology Technician/PD672-12256-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not required Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/11/2024. 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS- 8 position. 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. This occupational series has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) which is a minimum qualification requirement. To be considered for the position, you must ensure that the experience is reflected in your resume and/or if applicable, transcripts must be uploaded to support education requirement or substitution. The IOR for this occupational series is: Basic Requirements: This occupational series has basic requirements identified in VA Handbook 5005. To be considered for the position, you must ensure that the experience is reflected in your resume and/or if applicable, transcripts must be uploaded to support education requirement or substitution. Education: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a major in an appropriate social or biological science, which included or was supplemented by 12 semester hours in psychology. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. AND Experience: Two (2) years of technical work under the direction of a professional psychologist in a program of professional services, training or research. Performance of these tasks requires a practical understanding of some of the general principles, theories, methods and techniques of psychology in order to carry out duties which are performed under the supervision of a professional psychologist. These duties may include one or more of the following: (1) assist in research as in systematic collection of psychology research data, recording and collecting of data, preparing tabular or graphic presentation of data, in accordance with a predetermined research plan; (2) assist counseling psychologist in contacting potential employers for purpose of making vocational placement, providing follow-up consultation, administering and scoring of interest, achievement and aptitude tests, securing work history and other relevant vocational information; (3) assist neuropsychologist in administering and scoring of selected tests of a neuropsychology battery in accordance with clearly defined procedures; (4) assist psychologists in completing behavior rating scales or in conducting behavior modification. OR Substitution of Graduate-Level Education for Experience: Two (2) full years of graduate-level study (36 semester hours) in psychology in an accredited college or university may be substituted for experience and meets in full the requirements at the GS-9 level. 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying one year of full-time study NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Carefully read the following descriptions of the required specialized experience for the position. Your resume must support your response. Applicants must have one (1) full year of specialized experience related to this position. This experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-08 grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized Experience: Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: performing clinical, consultative, and teaching functions under the supervision of a clinical psychologist; reviewing and summarizing pertinent psychosocial data for clinical psychologist; facilitating brief counseling and care management that may include behavioral therapy and psycho-educational group therapies; conducting assessment and evaluation interview; assisting clinical psychologists with the administration and scoring of selected tests and screening protocols; maintaining and operating the computerized psychological assessment program; Obtaining missing information from providers, patients and medical records; preparing timely summaries of relevant data collected; preparing room for intervention, readying equipment, training and instructing providers and patients, and facilitating the clinical interaction. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have: 2 full years of graduate education or a master's degree. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR, Combination of Experience & Education: Applicants may also combine experience and graduate level education beyond one and a half years ( beyond 27 semester hours) to qualify at this level. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Selective Placement Factor: Must be proficient in written and spoken Spanish/English.(required). Preferred Experience: Experience in administration and scoring of Neuropsychological and Psychological Tests. Experience working with individuals with cognitive disorders. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)Education and TrainingHealth InformaticsTechnical CompetenceTherapy and Counseling 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 is sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items such as papers, books, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. 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 San Juan VA Medical Center 10 Calle Casia San Juan, PR 00921 US
• Name: Maria Peralta Urbaez
• Phone: 786-721-2594
• Email: [email protected]