The position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), at the Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center in the Nutrition and Food Service MOVE! Program. This position is temporary, not to exceed 120 days.

Duties

This is a temporary, not to exceed 120 days position. Duties include, but are not limited to: This position requires originality and a high degree of independence in developing, prioritizing and maintaining clinical program objectives and goals. Evaluates the exercise tolerance, strength, and cardiovascular response to exercise and develops and delivers aerobic, strengthening, and general fitness programs to a variety of patient populations. Delivers care via individual and/or group, in-person or virtual modalities. Promotes weight loss in conjunction with the MOVE! Weight Management program and the prevention, remediation, and rehabilitation of acute and chronic physical and psychosocial dysfunction. Observes and records Veterans' response to the activity, including monitoring and recognizing intended and adverse cardiovascular and pulmonary responses. Communicates promptly any unexpected or adverse responses to activity. Assesses vital signs and recognizes the need for urgent/emergency care of the Veteran, appropriately utilizing the emergency response team as needed. Administers standardized tests such as girth measurement, functional testing, DEXA scans and acquires vital signs, muscular strength and endurance, joint range of motion, coordination, balance, cardiovascular endurance, gait analysis, posture, gross sensory impairment, functional mobility, activities of daily living, written qualitative tools and hand grip dynamometer grip strength, based on the standards set by the ASCM and COPS-KT. Conducts group education classes (basic Yoga, Tai Chi, exercise, etc.), creating and editing educational materials. Assists and participates in Veteran Health Fairs and assigned community activities. Obtains, organizes, and reports data from medical records, therapy orders, patient/family members and health professionals; prepares analyses of patients' responses to treatment activities to identify actual or potential problems. Other duties as assigned. 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#: Physiologist/PD919260 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/28/2024. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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. Basic Requirements: Degree: in one of the basic animal sciences or physiology; or a related discipline or field of science that included at least 24 semester hours in the basic animal sciences, of which 10 semester hours were in animal physiology. Evaluation of Education: Courses such as anatomy; cytology; invertebrate and vertebrate zoology; embryology; entomology; animal, dairy, and poultry husbandry; nutrition; genetics; and physiology may be used to meet the 24-semester-hour requirement in the basic animal sciences. Courses in physiology, animal or human physiology, cellular physiology, or courses that were well oriented toward animal or human physiology, e.g., some advanced courses in biochemistry, are qualifying as animal physiology courses. Courses in related fields such as cytology and microbiology (including microbial physiology) may also be qualifying, provided the course work dealt directly with the application of scientific principles underlying animal physiology, or with the methodology and techniques applied in animal physiology work. GS-11 Qualification: 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-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Conduct and modify/adapt exercise strength, flexibility and balance testing and develop appropriate individualized exercise prescriptions; Develop significant and innovative recommendations for weight management physical activity programs and/or methods; experience in selection, administration and interpretation of physical performance tests; applying concepts, principles, practices, and methodology in managing human physical exercise rehabilitation programs involving analyzing individual data. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed three (3) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree that provided the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of a Physiologist. This education must have been obtained in an accredited in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.. 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 the second year and specialized experience, as described above, which may be used to meet total experience requirements for this grade level. This education portion must include graduate courses that provided the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of a Physiologist and must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. 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: Customer Service Communication Standards 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. Preferred Experience: Experience working with bariatric or geriatric patients, certification (e.g., group fitness instructor, health coach, senior fitness specialist, weight management, strength and conditioning coach, etc.) Physical Requirements: The work involves a wide range of physical demands from sedentary work, sitting in a standard office setting, to moderate and heavy physical demands which include the ability to lead exercise demonstrations and transfer patients in an emergency setting when necessary within the facility (i.e. cardiac arrest during group activities). The work will require long periods of standing, walking, bending, crouching, reaching while leading exercise demonstrations. There is a need to show exercise equipment and be physically active with the patients in designing and teaching an exercise program. Moderate to heavy lifting is required to assist patients and operate equipment. Sitting is required in meetings and for conducting administrative work. The job may require physical stamina, normal use of arms and legs, and good visual and auditory acuity. 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

Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed three (3) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree that provided the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to do the work of a Physiologist. This education must have been obtained in an accredited in an accredited college or university.

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 Aleda E Lutz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 1500 Weiss Street Saginaw, MI 48602 US
• Name: Fallon Roberts
• Phone: 989-497-2500 X13018
• Email: [email protected]