Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

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Clinical Responsibilities:

• Provides brief intervention and consultation within primary care.
• Demonstrates expertise in using brief assessment and time limited, evidenced based practice.
• Provides consultation to primary care providers on issues related to behavioral medicine.
• Complies with all Mental Health Service documentation requirements, including standards for timely completion of CPRS patient contact notes, use of required documentation templates, clinical reminders, and risk assessment protocols.
• Adheres to all MVAMC and MHS policies and practices for delivering clinical care, including but not limited to risk assessment and reduction practices for potentially dangerous behavior (suicide and violence), timeliness of care and access standards, professional conduct requirements, and CPRS documentation conventions.
• Achieves minimal clinical workload expectations as established by MHS Leadership.
• At the GS-13 level, Psychologists are fully licensed and function independently as a member of the MVAMC medical staff with full clinical privileges. Psychologists at this grade additionally assume independent professional responsibility for their clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation.
• Other clinical responsibilities: As assigned.

Administrative Responsibilities:

• Assists the section, program, or discipline lead in the design, development, and implementation of clinical assessment and/or intervention programs.
• Adheres to operational policies and procedures for the treatment team, established by the section, program, or discipline lead or service chief.
• Assists the section, program, or discipline lead in the execution of ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects to monitor the effectiveness of the clinical program.
• Liaisons with other health care programs in order to effectively coordinate services.
• Complies with national and local performance measures and facilitates organizational success on these measures at the section or program level.
• Complies with all MVAMC and MHS policies and expectations concerning administrative practices, including but not limited to leave authorization, responding to suspense items, and completing TMS educational requirements.
• Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by the Chief of Psychology, the Chief of MHS (or designee), the Chief of Staff, and/or MVAMC leadership.
• Attends and participates in monthly Psychology section staff meetings, Psychology training faculty meetings, Psychology section biannual competency review process (OPPE and FPPE), and periodically serves on the Psychology clinical pertinence review committee.
• Maintains current knowledge of and practices in accordance with The Joint Commission(TJC), Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), or other accrediting or governing body requirements.
• Protects printed and electronic files containing sensitive data in accordance with provisions of Federal privacy acts and confidentiality statutes. Follows regulations and instructions regarding release of sensitive or protected patient or employee information.
• Other administrative responsibilities: As assigned.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: M-F, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact [redacted], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)

Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework: Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 000000

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation/examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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.
• Education:
  
  • Have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment.
  • OR (2) Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re-specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re-specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions:
    
    • (a) The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and,
    • (b) the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
  • OR (3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• Internship Requirement.
• • Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
  • OR New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern;
  • OR VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement;
  • OR Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.
  • OR Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program.
• Licensure. Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.
• Exception. Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a "graduate psychologist" at the GS-11 or GS-12 grade under the authority of 38 U.S.C. a7 7405 (c)(2)(B) for a period not to exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such a psychologist provide care only under the supervision of a psychologist who is licensed. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment.
• Loss of Credential. A psychologist who fails to maintain the required licensure must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may be reassigned to another occupation if qualified and if a placement opportunity exists.
• English Language Proficiency. Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.

Grade Determinations: GS-13 Staff Psychologist (Full Performance, Level)

Experience - In addition to meeting the basic requirements, you must have at least 2 additional years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level. Examples of GS-12 experience: Staff psychologists at this level apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations (diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological or neuropsychological assessments), design and implement effective treatment strategies (treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities), incorporate new clinical procedures (provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders), conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties), and perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration. They may be assigned to any program area.

And

b.) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of