What are the responsibilities and job description for the Physical Therapist (Clinical Specialist) position at Minneapolis VA Medical Center?
The Minneapolis VA Health Care System (VAHCS) is recruiting for one (1) full-time Physical Therapist (Clinical Specialist) assigned to the interdisciplinary Parkinson's Disease & Movement Disorders Rehabilitation Program and outpatient physical therapy service located at the Minneapolis VA Medial Center.
(b) Education and Experience: The individual must meet at least one of the requirements below:
(d) Licensure. Individuals hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice physical therapy in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia.
(e) English Language Proficiency. Individuals appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C. chapters 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA must be proficient in written and spoken English. See Chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part.
Grade Determinations:
GS-13 Physical Therapist (Clinical Specialist)
Experience. In addition to meeting the basic requirements, one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level and one of the following:
Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety. Clinical Specialists spend at least 25% or greater of their time working with specialized population(s) within their department. Physical therapists at this level perform assignments in specialty areas such as geriatrics, neurology, cardiopulmonary, orthopedics, spinal cord injury, amputee, wound care, chronic pain, electromyography, women's health or pelvic health, polytrauma, brain injury, lymphedema, vestibular, assistive technology, seating and mobility. The individual is assigned responsibility for serving as the subject matter expert in the content specialty area and as a consultant to physical therapy and other medical center staff in evaluating and treating patients in the specialty area. Clinical Specialists have advanced knowledge and demonstrate expert clinical practice skills in providing assessment and treatment interventions across the continuum of care. He/she utilizes advanced knowledge and expertise to modify treatment plans and to identify therapeutic activity interventions based on the changing needs, goals and performance of patients. Clinical Specialists have advanced training in specialized technology related to their area of practice. He/she establishes and maintains contact with other health care providers involved in patient care via written, telephone, and personal communication on a regular basis. He/she exercises expert professional judgment to establish appropriate discharge planning recommendations to ensure safe discharge from inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation programs. If the medical center has a PT residency program, the clinical specialist may be on faculty for the program
Preferred Experience: Minimum of 2,000 hours of clinical experience with Parkinson's Disease and movement disorders, LSVT BIG certification, PWR! Moves Training
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 13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS 13.
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.
The MVAHCS is a Complexity Level 1 facility with a National Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center (PRC), a Spinal Cord Injury and Neurological Disease Center (SCI/D), an Amputation Regional Center (ARC), a Polytrauma Transitional Rehabilitation (PTRP) program and a Polytrauma Network Site (PNS).
The incumbent applies knowledge, skills, and abilities in professional physical therapy practice to provide care and treatment to patients referred to the Physical Therapy Section of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service (PM&RS). The incumbent will spend at least 50% of time working in the area of neurologic rehabilitation. Therapist is highly self-directed, works independently to treat patients within this population, and is proficient in delivering both inpatient and outpatient services for a broad range of orthopedic, neuromuscular, and mobility conditions, while maintaining the flexibility to cross-cover departmental needs. A portion of the services may be provided via telemedicine, and the work schedule may include weekends and holidays as needed.
A. Clinical: Demonstrates advanced knowledge and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities, and ability to interpret specialized procedures and tests in evaluating treatment outcomes in the area of neurologic physical therapy. Demonstrates ability to guide the work of the multidisciplinary team in the clinical management of the neurologic patient population.
i. Ability to make autonomous clinical decisions in a Direct Access environment, including independently evaluating and treating patients seeking physical therapy.
ii. Performs routine to complex physical therapy evaluation and treatment considering the stage of life and tailoring education to meet patient learning needs involving
family/significant others.
iii. Involves the patient, family/significant other and medical team in treatment planning and goal setting through ongoing communication.
iv. Plans and executes a full range of interventions and treatment modalities for a broad range of outpatient conditions (orthopedic, neuromuscular, vestibular, falls and mobility), adapting procedures based on current theory, research, and practice.
v. Demonstrates independent problem-solving skills for frequent modification of treatment plans, employing innovative techniques and critically assessing treatment outcomes.
vi. Assesses and requests prosthetic/orthotic equipment as needed and modifies them as necessary.
vii. Appropriately recommends and refers to other medical specialties/services based on ongoing patient assessment.
viii. Maintains a flexibility of schedule to allow for unscheduled patients, consultation and mentoring.
ix. Consistently documents patient encounters in the electronic medical record per accepted PT practice, facility and service policies.
B. Education: Teaches and mentors staff, and serves as a consultant and subject matter expert for health care providers regarding delivery of care within the Parkinson's Disease & Movement Disorders and physical therapy programs.
i. Provides clinical training experiences for physical therapy students, evaluating performance per APTA and academic guidelines.
ii. Serves as teacher and mentor to staff and health professional trainees (including physical therapy students and residents).
iii. Shares knowledge and expertise with the Parkinson's Disease & Movement Disorders Neurologic Rehabilitation team, physical therapy department, PM&R Service, medical center, and community through consultation, mentorship, in-services, and clinical training.
iv. Provides regular communication and educational offerings to teams/providers on Physical Therapy.
C. Administrative: Knowledge and ability to comply with all applicable regulations governing documentation, medical records, reimbursement, and workload statistics in accordance with established professional practice and VHA.
i. Actively participates in program development to improve efficiency and quality of
TBl/polytrauma rehabilitation.
ii. Represents the Parkinson's Disease & Movement Disorders Program and physical therapy in developing policies, procedures, quality assurance monitors, and standards of care.
iii. Attends PM&R service, Physical Therapy Department, and Parkinson's Disease & Movement Disorderss team educational and development meetings.
Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday, Business hours.
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Qualifications:
(a) United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.(b) Education and Experience: The individual must meet at least one of the requirements below:
- Bachelor's degree in Physical Therapy AND five (5) years of progressively independent experience as a physical therapist.
- Master's degree in Physical Therapy AND two (2) years of progressively independent experience as a physical therapist.
- Doctorate degree in physical therapy.
- NOTE: Prior to 1995 the terminal degree for PT's was either a bachelors or master's degree. In 1995 CAPTE accredited all baccalaureate, master's, and Doctor of Physical Therapy terminal degree programs. Effective 2002, CAPTE changed its scope of accrediting activities of PT education programs to include only those programs that culminate in post-baccalaureate degrees(eliminating the baccalaureate degree). Effective 2015, professional physical therapy education programs have only offered the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree to all new students.
- NOTE: Individuals must be a graduate of a Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) accredited college or university. The CAPTE is the only accreditation agency recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) to accredit entry-level physical therapy programs. Verification of accredited programs may be obtained from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) at www.apta.org.
(d) Licensure. Individuals hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice physical therapy in a State, Territory or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia.
(e) English Language Proficiency. Individuals appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C. chapters 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA must be proficient in written and spoken English. See Chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part.
Grade Determinations:
GS-13 Physical Therapist (Clinical Specialist)
Experience. In addition to meeting the basic requirements, one year of progressively complex experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level and one of the following:
- Evidence of a minimum of 2,000 hours of clinical practice directly in the specialty area. This time must be between the past two and five years; or
- Board Certification in the specialty area recognized by the ABPTS; or
- Completion of a fellowship program; or
- An additional advanced degree in a related field. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the all following KSAs.
- Advanced knowledge and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in a specialized treatment area of physical therapy.
- Ability to serve as a consultant and subject matter expert for health care providers regarding the delivery of care within a specialized content area of physical therapy (see paragraph 2i).
- Ability to teach and mentor medical center staff in a specialized content area of physical therapy.
- Ability to guide the work of a multi-disciplinary team in a specialized content area of physical therapy.
- Advanced knowledge and expert skill to perform and interpret specialized procedures and tests in evaluating the treatment outcomes in the assigned specialty content area (see Definitions, paragraph 2. i.).
Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and variety. Clinical Specialists spend at least 25% or greater of their time working with specialized population(s) within their department. Physical therapists at this level perform assignments in specialty areas such as geriatrics, neurology, cardiopulmonary, orthopedics, spinal cord injury, amputee, wound care, chronic pain, electromyography, women's health or pelvic health, polytrauma, brain injury, lymphedema, vestibular, assistive technology, seating and mobility. The individual is assigned responsibility for serving as the subject matter expert in the content specialty area and as a consultant to physical therapy and other medical center staff in evaluating and treating patients in the specialty area. Clinical Specialists have advanced knowledge and demonstrate expert clinical practice skills in providing assessment and treatment interventions across the continuum of care. He/she utilizes advanced knowledge and expertise to modify treatment plans and to identify therapeutic activity interventions based on the changing needs, goals and performance of patients. Clinical Specialists have advanced training in specialized technology related to their area of practice. He/she establishes and maintains contact with other health care providers involved in patient care via written, telephone, and personal communication on a regular basis. He/she exercises expert professional judgment to establish appropriate discharge planning recommendations to ensure safe discharge from inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation programs. If the medical center has a PT residency program, the clinical specialist may be on faculty for the program
Preferred Experience: Minimum of 2,000 hours of clinical experience with Parkinson's Disease and movement disorders, LSVT BIG certification, PWR! Moves Training
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 13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS 13.
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:
Major duties include, but are not limited to:The MVAHCS is a Complexity Level 1 facility with a National Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center (PRC), a Spinal Cord Injury and Neurological Disease Center (SCI/D), an Amputation Regional Center (ARC), a Polytrauma Transitional Rehabilitation (PTRP) program and a Polytrauma Network Site (PNS).
The incumbent applies knowledge, skills, and abilities in professional physical therapy practice to provide care and treatment to patients referred to the Physical Therapy Section of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service (PM&RS). The incumbent will spend at least 50% of time working in the area of neurologic rehabilitation. Therapist is highly self-directed, works independently to treat patients within this population, and is proficient in delivering both inpatient and outpatient services for a broad range of orthopedic, neuromuscular, and mobility conditions, while maintaining the flexibility to cross-cover departmental needs. A portion of the services may be provided via telemedicine, and the work schedule may include weekends and holidays as needed.
A. Clinical: Demonstrates advanced knowledge and expert skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities, and ability to interpret specialized procedures and tests in evaluating treatment outcomes in the area of neurologic physical therapy. Demonstrates ability to guide the work of the multidisciplinary team in the clinical management of the neurologic patient population.
i. Ability to make autonomous clinical decisions in a Direct Access environment, including independently evaluating and treating patients seeking physical therapy.
ii. Performs routine to complex physical therapy evaluation and treatment considering the stage of life and tailoring education to meet patient learning needs involving
family/significant others.
iii. Involves the patient, family/significant other and medical team in treatment planning and goal setting through ongoing communication.
iv. Plans and executes a full range of interventions and treatment modalities for a broad range of outpatient conditions (orthopedic, neuromuscular, vestibular, falls and mobility), adapting procedures based on current theory, research, and practice.
v. Demonstrates independent problem-solving skills for frequent modification of treatment plans, employing innovative techniques and critically assessing treatment outcomes.
vi. Assesses and requests prosthetic/orthotic equipment as needed and modifies them as necessary.
vii. Appropriately recommends and refers to other medical specialties/services based on ongoing patient assessment.
viii. Maintains a flexibility of schedule to allow for unscheduled patients, consultation and mentoring.
ix. Consistently documents patient encounters in the electronic medical record per accepted PT practice, facility and service policies.
B. Education: Teaches and mentors staff, and serves as a consultant and subject matter expert for health care providers regarding delivery of care within the Parkinson's Disease & Movement Disorders and physical therapy programs.
i. Provides clinical training experiences for physical therapy students, evaluating performance per APTA and academic guidelines.
ii. Serves as teacher and mentor to staff and health professional trainees (including physical therapy students and residents).
iii. Shares knowledge and expertise with the Parkinson's Disease & Movement Disorders Neurologic Rehabilitation team, physical therapy department, PM&R Service, medical center, and community through consultation, mentorship, in-services, and clinical training.
iv. Provides regular communication and educational offerings to teams/providers on Physical Therapy.
C. Administrative: Knowledge and ability to comply with all applicable regulations governing documentation, medical records, reimbursement, and workload statistics in accordance with established professional practice and VHA.
i. Actively participates in program development to improve efficiency and quality of
TBl/polytrauma rehabilitation.
ii. Represents the Parkinson's Disease & Movement Disorders Program and physical therapy in developing policies, procedures, quality assurance monitors, and standards of care.
iii. Attends PM&R service, Physical Therapy Department, and Parkinson's Disease & Movement Disorderss team educational and development meetings.
Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday, Business hours.
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Salary : $113,287