Staff Psychologist (Behavioral Medicine)

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.

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 Language Proficiency Requirement - Per VA Handbook 5005 - Part II - Chapter 3 - Section A - Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C. - chapter 73 or 74 - to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English
• Education Requirement - (1) You must 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
• OR - (2) have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and - in addition - successfully completed a 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 you were retrained is consistent with the assignment you are am applying for
• OR - (3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution - with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature
• Note: Applicants must provide transcripts documenting the completion of the re-specialization program Internship Requirement - (a) You must 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 - (b) 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 - (c) 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 - (d) 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)
• NOTE: 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: Candidates must 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
• Board Certification and Loss of Credential: (1) Board Certification
• Persons hired to psychology positions in the VHA who completed an internship that was not accredited at the time the program was completed must be 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
• The board certificate must be current - non-restricted - and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirement for continuing education
• (2) Loss of Credential
• Once board certified - psychologist must maintain a full - valid and unrestricted board certification to remain qualified for employment
• A psychologist who fails to maintain the required board certification 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
• 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: Psychologist -GS-13 GS-13 Level: At least 2 additional years of experience - with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level - as a professional psychologist that was obtained through employment as a psychologist or through participating in a supervised post-doctoral psychology training program that demonstrates 1) active professional practice that was paid/non-paid employment and/or 2) a full - current and unrestricted license
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Knowledge of - and ability to apply - professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations
• Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health
• Knowledge of clinical research literature
• Assignment: This is the full performance level for staff psychologists
• At this level - psychologists are licensed to practice independently in the provision of psychological services - consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate
• They may be assigned to any VHA program and setting - such as inpatient or outpatient medicine - primary care - surgery - mental health - neurology - rehabilitation medicine - geriatrics - Compensation and Pension - Vet Centers - and the VHA National Center for Organization Development
• Psychologists diagnose mental disorders - conduct psychological or neuropsychological assessments - treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities - and provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders
• Among the modalities provided are individual - family - and group psychotherapies and other interventions such as behavioral health and community interventions
• Psychologists consult with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues
• Staff psychologists may be involved in program evaluation - teaching - training - and research activities
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

Duties

• VA Careers - Psychologist: Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties include but are not limited to: Provides a range of psychological services within Specialty Medicine programs - including but not limited to pain management - sleep medicine - nephrology/dialysis - spinal cord injury - cardiology - pulmonary rehabilitation - and endocrinology
• Provides a full range of psychological assessment services and diagnoses mental disorders - particularly for patients with behavioral medicine conditions
• Provides comprehensive - evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions and behavioral medicine interventions - including individual family - and group psychotherapy (both in person and through telehealth)
• Provides consultation to professional staff within VA Medical Center at Memphis and to community providers - concerning clinical assessment findings and appropriate treatment plans for patients
• Develops - implements - and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients - including prompt completion of clinical reminders
• Functions independently as a member of the VA Medical Center at Memphis Medical Staff - with full clinical privileges
• Assumes complete professional responsibility for his/her clinical assessment findings - patient care decisions - and documentation
• Supports same-day access to mental health services for Veterans as deemed necessary by the service - in person - by phone - and by telehealth
• May provide clinical supervision and instruction for psychology trainees
• Collaborates closely with other mental health providers
• Refers Veterans to additional mental health services as indicated
• Provides education appropriate to patients with mental and behavioral health concerns - their family members - and significant others
• Provides clinical services using tele-mental health/tele-home technology (e.g. - WC)
• Assists the program director or coordinator in the design - development - and implementation of clinical programs behavioral medicine programs
• Adheres to operational policies and procedures for the Behavioral Health and Neuropsychology Section established by the Chief - Mental Health Service - and to the Specialty Medicine programs in which services are provided
• Facilitates liaisons with other facility health care programs in order to effectively coordinate services
• Attends Psychology Discipline staff meetings - Mental Health Service meetings - Behavioral Medicine and Neuropsychology meetings - and complies with Psychology Section peer review procedures
• Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by leaders or designees within assigned specialty medical programs
• The Psychologist functions independently as a member of the VA Medical Center at Memphis Medical Staff - with full clinical privileges and assumes complete professional responsibility for his/her clinical assessment findings - patient care decisions - and documentation
• Primary Assignment: Pain management-Duty assignments - including assignment to other program areas within the service - may be modified based on workload demands and mission requirements
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive
• Contact View email address on careers.biausa.org - 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: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 51037-F

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The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.

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