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. 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. 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: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. 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. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology. 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. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology). OR 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: The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and The specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship. Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. Internship: 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. § 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. Grade Determinations:GS-11 Staff Psychologist (Entry Level) Experience: None beyond the basic requirements. GS-12 Staff Psychologist (Developmental Level) Experience: At least 1 year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist but with less intense supervision than at the GS-11 grade level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations. Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures. Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties). Ability to 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. GS-13 Staff Psychologist (Full Performance Level)Experience: At least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 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. All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package. We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Failure to demonstrate your experience in your resume may result in disqualification. It is strongly recommended that you write to each KSA in your application package. References: VA Handbook 5005 Part II Appendix G18 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-13. ["This announcement is open continuous. Certificates will be issued to the hiring manager on a weekly basis until all positions have been filled. Announcement will remain open until all vacancies are filled, and may close sooner than 9/29/2023. The Active Management of Pain (AMP) Psychologist position primary duties are to provide pain services a an integrated part of the Pain Clinic and in support of the Pain Management Team. Clinical care should be provided through a combination of virtual/telehealth and in-person services as part of an inter-professional specialty pain care team in the Biopsychosocial Model of Pain Care and VA Stepped Care Model for Pain Management. Preferred Experience: Experience with behavioral pain management approaches, for example, cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness meditation, biofeedback, etc. Major duties include, but are not limited to the following: Spends at least 50% of clinical time providing AMP groups in VA Facility through virtual/telehealth modalities (e.g., VVC) or in-person. Provides comprehensive, evidence-based behavioral interventions for pain (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain), including individual and group therapy. Demonstrates an understanding of the biopsychosocial approach to pain care, and need to work in an integrated, collaborative, team-based fashion with other pain specialists. Provides a full range of psychological assessment services and diagnoses mental health disorders based on patient presentation and need; refers to other mental health providers and specialists in facility as indicated. Provides pre-surgical psychological assessment for implantable pain devices. Provides pain-focused education to patients, family members, and significant others. Effectively delivers education on a variety of pain topics, including pain neuroscience education, the biopsychosocial model, pain self-management, etc. Coordinate and employ a multimodal treatment approach to accomplish complex treatment objectives. Demonstrates expertise in assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating treatment plans for adult patients with complex pain problems, which may also include Opioid Use Disorder. As part of the pain team, provides feedback and coordinates care with associated health care team members Treatment modalities may include but are not limited to: Motivational Interviewing (Ml), biofeedback, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-l), mindfulness meditation, relaxation techniques, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and hypnosis. Evaluation and treatment are completed in a timely fashion; chart review will allow the opportunity to assess appropriateness of the referral. Consults are scheduled considering priority and frequency of care, and coordination of schedules with other members of the treatment team. Work closely with an APRN or PA, clinical pharmacy specialist, physical therapist and registered nurse to form a high functioning multidisciplinary pain team. Collaborate with other team members to develop and implement an integrated pain management approach that maximizes the utilization of complementary and integrative health therapies and active pain management strategies to improve the overall health and: functioning of patients. Provide behavioral medicine support to Medication Management Pain Management Team advance practice practitioners. Along with other pain team members, performs proactive medical record reviews of patients at risk of opioid-related side effects and provide recommendations to primary care providers to enhance the effectiveness and safety of pain care. Data-Based Opioid Risk Reviews using the STORM and/or other databases will be performed on Veterans falling in to higher risk categories for opioid misuse and overdose. The psychologist may serve on both STORM 1 and STORM 3 opioid risk review committees. Functions independently as a member of the Facility Medical Staff, with full clinical privileges; assumes complete professional responsibility for his/her clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation. Utilizes evaluation data to plan and implement comprehensive patient treatment, involving patient in the goals setting and treatment processes as feasible. Modifies treatment plan according to evaluative findings to meet short- and long-term goals. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Ad hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Contact vhavisn23edrp@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required"]
The Veterans Health Administration is America’s largest integrated health care system, providing care at 1,298 health care facilities, including 171 medical centers and 1,113 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics), serving 9 million enrolled Veterans each year.
