The Occupational Therapist evaluates and treats patients with complex conditions, creating tailored treatment plans to enhance daily living and work skills. Responsibilities include providing direct care, educating patients and families, participating in discharge planning, and consulting with healthcare teams. The role also involves supervising assistants, engaging in quality improvement, maintaining clinical skills, and potentially contributing to research.

Duties

MARJOR DUTIES - Performs comprehensive occupational therapy evaluations for patients with complex medical, surgical, neurological, and psychiatric conditions. This includes assessing physical, cognitive, and psychosocial factors affecting occupational performance. - Develops and implements individualized, evidence-based treatment plans addressing areas such as activities of daily living, work readiness, and community reintegration. - Provides direct patient care using a wide range of occupational therapy interventions, including physical agent modalities, adaptive equipment, and therapeutic activities. - Educates patients, families, and caregivers on occupational therapy interventions, expected outcomes, and self-management techniques to promote independence and safety. - Participates in interdisciplinary treatment planning and discharge planning, ensuring continuity of care and appropriate follow-up services. - Serves as a consultant to the healthcare team, providing expert advice on occupational therapy services and recommending environmental modifications or adaptive equipment. - Supervises occupational therapy assistants and students, providing clinical instruction, mentorship, and performance evaluations. - Engages in performance improvement activities, including data collection, analysis, and implementation of quality improvement initiatives. - Maintains clinical competence through continuing education, staying current with occupational therapy research and best practices. - Participates in equipment evaluation, selection, and maintenance processes to ensure optimal patient care and safety. - May contribute to research activities, including literature reviews, data collection, and analysis to advance occupational therapy practice. - Completes thorough and timely documentation of patient care in accordance with regulatory requirements and department policies. - Adheres to all safety protocols and infection control procedures to maintain a safe treatment environment. - Collaborates with other disciplines to ensure comprehensive patient care and achieve optimal functional outcomes. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Functional Statement #: 03389F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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. English Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Education and/or Experience. (1) The individual must meet at least one of the following requirements below: (a) Bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and two (2) years of experience as an occupational therapist; NOTE: The baccalaureate degree must be from an approved program prior to the AOTA January 1, 2005 decision that the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) would only accredit master or doctoral degree programs in occupational therapy. or (b) Bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and two (2) full years of graduate education in a related field; NOTE: The baccalaureate degree must be from an approved program prior to the AOTA January 1, 2005 decision that ACOTE would only accredit master or doctoral degree programs in occupational therapy. or (c) Master's Degree or higher in occupational therapy. (2) Individuals must be a graduate of a degree program in occupational therapy approved by the ACOTE or predecessor organizations. This is inclusive of an internship (supervised fieldwork experience required by the educational institution). ACOTE is the only accreditation agency recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Degree programs may be verified by contacting the American Occupational Therapy Association website or at their office address: American Occupational Therapy Association, P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. Certification. Candidates must possess a current NBCOT certification as an OT. State Licensure. Candidates must possess a full, current, and unrestricted state license, to practice occupational therapy in a state, territory or Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or in the District of Columbia. 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: Education, Experience, and Licensure. Completion of one year of experience equivalent to at the GS-11 grade level and directly related to the position being filled. Demonstrated KSAs. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of occupational therapy principles and techniques consistent with current clinical standards based on OT theory and evidence based practice. 6 Knowledge is inclusive of physical, occupational, cognitive, and psychosocial functional deficits. (b) Ability to collaborate and communicate orally and in writing with all internal and external stakeholders. (c) Ability to use critical analysis, clinical reasoning, and creativity to independently solve complex problems related to adapting and modifying assessments, treatment plans, activities and procedures to meet the needs of patients. (d) Skill in procuring, fabricating, adjusting, adapting, and modifying orthoses, splints, and adaptive equipment for activities of daily living (inclusive of durable medical equipment). (e) Ability to conduct OT related in-service and clinical training. Preferred Experience: One (1) year of experience as an Occupational Therapist. 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 GS-12. 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 Palo Alto VA Medical Center 3801 Miranda Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94304 US
• Name: Mohammad Ahmed
• Phone: 6506946000 X15104
• Email: [email protected]