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Veterans Health Administration is Hiring a Clinical Psychologist-Neuropsychologist Near Iowa, IA

Qualifications:

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.
• Internships
  • 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.
• 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.
• Driver's License. A current, valid state-issued Driver's License is required for this position. NOTE: We cannot accept photographs, therefore; please do not submit a copy of your license with your application package.

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:

Staff Psychologist, GS-13 (Full Performance, Level)

• Experience. At least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. 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.

References: VA Handbook 5005/87 Part II Appendix G18, June 6, 2016

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS11 to GS13.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

Responsibilities:

This full-time, permanent Psychologist position is located at the Iowa City VA Health Care System (HCS) within the Rehabilitation and Extended Care (REC) Integrated Clinical Community (ICC). The Incumbent has broad clinical responsibilities for the Behavioral Recovery Outreach (BRO) Team at the Iowa City VAMC. The position requires specialized knowledge and expertise in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of variety of mental health and neurocognitive disorders, behavioral interventions, and knowledge of medical diagnoses. In addition, the incumber will conduct neuropsychological testing for the Rehabilitation and Extended Care Service Line.

This occupational series is eligible for the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP). Repayment is limited to $40,000 annually, up to $100,000 in lifetime awards. Participants must sign a service agreement and maintain an acceptable level of performance to remain eligible for this program.

Major Duties:

• Clinical work will be primarily within the BRO Team. S/he will serve a core panel of patients within the Community Living Center, when available, (CLC)/Acute units, be a resource consultant for complex, difficult to discharge patients hospitalized at the Iowa City VA.
• Serve as a liaison to those patients served in supportive community settings.
• Responsible for providing clinical care, working with the inter professional teams to create and implement effective behavioral treatment plans, and provide recommendations to medical staff, community partners, and family members.
• Act as a consultant for problems of distressed behavior and provide education/training for staff on effective behavioral strategies in other staff partners inpatient VA settings outside of the CLC.
• Provide ongoing care transition services to BRO Team Veterans post discharge, collaborating with all relevant stakeholders to help ensure the Veterans' success in the community.
• Capable of practicing at the advanced practice level and has specialized knowledge of practice typically related to a particular diagnosis or population.
• Additional responsibilities may include providing psychological and/or neuropsychological assessment services particularly for complex or unusually difficult Veterans with co-morbid mental and physical health problems, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions, including individual, family, and group psychotherapy and participation in the psychology practicum student, intern and postdoctoral fellow training program.
• Serve as the supervisor of our Mental Health Providers for REC ICC.

Work Schedule: Administrative Days, 7:30am-4:00pm or 8:00am-4:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Functional Statement #: 000000
EDRP Authorized: Contact VHAVISN23EDRP@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Job Summary