This Audiologist position is in Audiology and Speech Pathology services at the VA Boston Healthcare System, located at the Jamaica Plain campus. This position is part-time at 24 hours per week.

Duties

Clinical duties and responsibilities a. Provides audiological services to patients who reside in a large geographical area. Those patients displaying unusually severe and/or multiple impairments may be assigned to the position but with some supervision by a more experienced staff audiologist. b. Demonstrates competence in the operation and maintenance of diverse and specialized audiometric equipment, including computer facilities and adjunct components; c. Evaluates patients to determine nature, type, and severity of hearing disorders and tinnitus complaints using a full range of diagnostic tests and techniques, past and current medical history, record review, and in consultation with family and other health care practitioners; d. Provides treatment and rehabilitative services including, but not limited to, fitting and selection of all types of hearing aids; ear impressions; programming of digital hearing aids; selection and fitting of assistive devices and assistive listening devices such as personal and FM amplifiers, telephone amplifiers, etc.; inspection, modification, and repair of amplification devices and ear molds; and hearing conservation for employees at risk for noise exposure. e. Conducts compensation and pension examinations, the results of which will be utilized in the assessment of hearing impairment for adjudication and medico-legal purposes. The incumbent will also counsel veterans and their families, and other persons responsible for his/her care, about the nature, degree, and effect of hearing impairment and treatment options. f. Performs special audiological procedures for a diverse range of disease conditions (site of lesions tests, ABR, and ENG/VNG) for the purpose of differential diagnosis of auditory and balance disorders g. Consults with physicians and higher level health care practitioners related to diagnostic evaluation and treatment; h. Documents in the medical record: evaluations, diagnoses, and clinical opinions, treatment plans, outcomes of treatment, changes in functional status, and patient/family education; i. Completes all documentation in accordance with facility policy. Documentation may include but is not limited to: evaluations, diagnosis, clinical opinion, treatment plans, outcomes of treatment, changes in functional status, and patient/family education. j. Maintains a high degree of professional competence through continued education. k. Responsible for proper use, cleaning, and documentation of pertinent reusable medical equipment in accordance with medical center policies. Administrative a. Participates in developing guidelines and protocols, new patient programs, and evaluation of existing programs. b. Maintains patient records and other data required by the clinic, service, and medical center. c. Maintains, supplies, equipment and clinical areas to optimize safety and efficiency. d. May be requested to service on service-level committees or task forces or to represent to service/section on medical center, network, or national committees. Work Schedule: Part time Position 24 hrs per week Days. Compressed/Flexible:Not Available Telework: AdHoc Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: F00233, F00231 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Language: Proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Licensure. Individuals must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice audiology at the doctoral level in a United States state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia. (1) The Under Secretary of Health, or designee, may appoint a candidate without a license who will be assigned to a research, academic, or administrative position with no patient care responsibilities. In such instances, HR office staff can only appoint these candidates in exceptional circumstances where their credentials demonstrate high professional attainment or expertise in the specialty area. (2) All audiologists who perform compensation and pension examinations perform direct patient care duties and must possess a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice audiology and must meet the experience requirements under Section 2. D. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.85. Exception for Non-Licensed Audiologist. (a) Non-Licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for licensure, may be given a temporary appointment as a graduate audiologist at the GS-11 grade under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(c)(2). (b) Non-Licensed individuals shall only provide care under the supervision of a fully licensed audiologists at or above the full performance level. (c) Non-Licensed individuals may only be appointed at the entry level and may not be promoted/converted to the GS-12 grade level until licensure is obtained. (d) Temporary appointments of non-Licensed audiologists may not be extended beyond two years or be converted to a new temporary appointment. Education: Doctor of Audiology (AuD) from an audiology program recognized by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). The CAA is the only accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation to accredit entry-level audiology programs. HR office staff and management officials may verify the program accredited from CAA at www.caa.asha.org. OR Other doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an institution accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. NOTE: Effective January 1, 2007, the CAA in Audiology and Speech- Language Pathology of ASHA accredits only doctoral degree or AUD programs in audiology. 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria for appointments at grade levels specified. Audiologist, GS-11: Education. None beyond the basic requirements. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the basic requirements, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Knowledge of principles and techniques in the assessment and treatment of auditory and balance disorders. Ability to perform functions associated with contemporary audiology scope of practice as defined by the American Academy of Audiology or the ASHA. Ability to interact with patients, families, and other health care professionals. Assignment. Employees at this grade level serve in audiologist entry-level developmental positions. Audiologists perform audiology assessment and treatment intervention, exercise clinical judgment, adapt clinical procedures and techniques, and document in the medical record appropriate information related to patient care. Audiologist, GS-12: Experience. In addition to the requirements at the GS-11 level, completion of one year of professional experience comparable to the next lower grade level. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the KSAs required at the full performance level, the following KSAs are required: Skill in determining nature, type, and severity of hearing/communication/vestibular disorders. Skill in counseling patients and family members regarding management of hearing/communication/vestibular disorders. Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional audiology to other health care professionals. Ability to independently apply professional contemporary audiologic treatments to the full range of patient populations. Assignment. This is the full performance level for staff audiologists. At this level, audiologists are licensed to practice independently in the provision of audiologic services, consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate. Audiologists serve as consultants to other health care professionals and are recognized subject matter experts (SME) on matters related to hearing, tinnitus, and balance disorders. The supervisor may assign staff audiologists to any VHA program and setting, such as inpatient or outpatient medicine, primary care, surgery, hearing health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, geriatrics, compensation, and pension. Audiologists diagnose audiologic disorders, conduct audiologic, or neuro-audiologic assessments; treat auditory disorders through various modalities; and provide adjunctive interventions for the treatment of medical disorders. Audiologists consult with medical center staff on various patient care issues. Staff audiologists may be involved in program evaluation, teaching, training, and research activities. Among the modalities provided are individual, family, and group audiologic rehabilitation. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-12. Physical Requirements: Incumbent has vision in both eyes with ability to distinguish colors and shades; use of arms, hands, and fingers; use of legs with ability to bend repeatedly and to walk and stand for 6 hours per day; ability to hear; ability to drive and have a driver license; ability to travel to other clinic sites; ability to manage outside and inside environments; ability to tolerate fumes and odors; ability to work with audiology machinery and parts; ability to work closely with others, work alone, assist patient care using safe approved modalities. Desk work, computer work, patient care work, audiology technical testing and hearing aid work is required.

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 VA Boston Healthcare System 940 Belmont Street Brockton, MA 02301 US
• Name: Steven Laudenbach
• Phone: (603) 624-4366 X5078
• Email: [email protected]