This position is located in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service, Boise VA Medical Center, Boise, ID.

Duties

Duties: 1. Performs as an independent practitioner within the Boise VA Medical Center, primarily in the outpatient setting with the ability to provide/consult with care in the acute and CLC settings including demonstrating advanced skills and techniques for veterans with amputations with varying degrees of complexity. 2. Performs examinations and evaluations of individuals who have or may develop impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions related to conditions of the musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, cardiovascular, pulmonary and/or integumentary systems associated directly or indirectly with limb loss while considering the effects attributable to their unique psychosocial and environmental factors. 3. Provides care coordination across service lines at the Boise VA including triaging consults/referrals related to amputee care to ensure the timely management of veterans needs based on medical acuity/complexity. 4. Collaborates with multidisciplinary Amputee team, PSAS and other facility partners as well as community care healthcare providers/vendors to optimize care for veterans with amputations. 5. Serves as a consultant/mentor for health care providers regarding the delivery of Amputee Physical Therapy Care including departmental and facility level education. 6. Acts as the point of contact to disseminate information from VISN, National and Amputee System of Care (ASoC) directives, initiatives and education. 7. Provides recommendations for prosthesis use and appropriate rehabilitation needs including instruction and education in therapeutic interventions to optimize patient function. 8. Collaborates with PM&R leadership to develop programming, optimize administrative processes and/or obtain equipment/resources related to amputee care. Major Duties of the Physical Therapist: 1. Performs as an independent practitioner, embraces evidenced-based practice standards in diagnosis, examination, management, intervention, treatment and outcome measurement. 2. Collaborates across the continuum of care. Ensures that services are coordinated, including recommending studies of value and being consumer­centered by referring, co-managing, engaging consultants, and independently supervising care. 3. Uses differential diagnosis as a consistent way to screen for systemic diseases and medical conditions that can mimic neuromuscular and musculoskeletal problems. The model covers past medical history, risk factor assessment, clinical presentation, associated signs and symptoms, and review of bodily systems for each patient. 4. Manages patients with multiple personal factors and/or comorbidities that impact the plan of care. Completes an examination of multiple body systems using standardized tests and measures, addressing multiple elements from any of the following: body structures and functions, activity limitations, and/or participation restrictions. Manages patients with unstable and unpredictable clinical presentations. 5. Exercises clinical decision-making of high complexity using standardized patient assessment instruments and/or measurable assessments of functional outcome. 6. Performs PT evaluations and treatments according to established PM&RS/HBPC protocols and/or evidence-based practice guidelines. 7. Makes autonomous clinical decisions in an autonomous and/or Direct Access environment. Includes the ability to independently evaluate and treat patients who seek physical therapy services. 8. Serves as a subject matter expert for other medical center staff in the evaluation and rehabilitative treatment of individuals with, or at risk to develop, limitations related to cardiovascular, pulmonary, neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, and/or integumentary systems. 9. Performs examinations and evaluations of individuals who have or may develop impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions related to conditions of the musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, cardiovascular, pulmonary, and or/or integumentary systems while considering the effects attributable to unique psychosocial and environmental factors. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 0730 to 1600 Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. BASIC REQUIREMENTS. The basic requirements for employment as a VHA physical therapist are prescribed by Public Law 96-151 codified in 38 U.S.C. § 7402. To qualify for appointment, all applicants for the position of physical therapist in VHA must meet the following: a. Citizenship. Candidates must be a citizen of the United States. After a determination is made that it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens, necessary personnel may be appointed on a temporary basis under authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405 without regard to the citizenship requirements of 38 U.S.C. 7402 or any other law prohibiting the employment of or payment of compensation to a person who is not a citizen of the United States. Candidates must meet all other requirements for the grade and position concerned. b. Education and experience. The individual must meet at least one of the requirements below: (1) Bachelor's degree in Physical Therapy AND five (5) years of progressively independent experience as a physical therapist. (2) Master's degree in Physical Therapy AND two (2) years of progressively independent experience as a physical therapist. (3) Doctorate degree in physical therapy. c. Licensure. Individuals hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice physical therapy in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia. Non-licensed PTs, who otherwise meet the basic requirements in this standard, may be given a temporary appointment as a graduate PT at the GS-11 grade level under the authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405 (a)(1)(D) for a period not-to-exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such PT provide care only under the supervision of a PT who is licensed. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment. d. Physical Requirements. Pre-placement and periodic physical examinations are required for hybrid occupations to ensure workers are placed in positions where they can perform the essential functions of their job considering their physical, mental and emotional capacities, without endangering their health or the health of their co-workers. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. f. English Language Proficiency. Individuals appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C. chapters 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA must be proficient in written and spoken English. See Chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: GS- 13 Physical Therapist (Clinical Specialist) (a) Experience. In addition to meeting the basic requirements, one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level and one of the following: 1. Evidence of a minimum of 2,000 hours of clinical practice directly in the specialty area. This time must be between the past two and five years; or 2. Board Certification in the specialty area recognized by the ABPTS; or 3. Completion of a fellowship program; or 4. An additional advanced degree in a related field. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs. (b) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 1. Advanced knowledge and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in a specialized treatment area of physical therapy. 2. Ability to serve as a consultant and subject matter expert for health care providers regarding the delivery of care within a specialized content area of physical therapy (see paragraph 2i). 3. Ability to teach and mentor medical center staff in a specialized content area of physical Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

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 Boise VA Medical Center 500 West Fort Street Boise, ID 83702 US
• Name: Yolanda Gallegos
• Phone: (208) 422-1000 X7376
• Email: [email protected]