Occupational Therapist

This Occupational Therapist position is in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation services at the VA Boston Healthcare Systems located at the Brockton, MA location. This position is a full-time at (40) hours per week.

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/Experience: The individual must meet at least one of the following requirements below:

(a) Bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and two (2) years of experience as an occupational therapist. NOTE: The baccalaureate degree must be from an approved program prior to the AOTA January 1, 2005, decision that the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) would only accredit master or doctoral degree programs in occupational therapy. OR

(b) Bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and two (2) full years of graduate education in a related field. NOTE: The baccalaureate degree must be from an approved program prior to the AOTA January 1, 2005, decision that ACOTE would only accredit master or doctoral degree programs in occupational therapy. OR

(c) Master's Degree or higher in occupational therapy.

Individuals must be a graduate of a degree program in occupational therapy approved by the ACOTE or predecessor organizations. This is inclusive of an internship (supervised fieldwork experience required by the educational institution). ACOTE is the only accreditation agency recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Degree programs may be verified by contacting the American Occupational Therapy Association website or at their office address: American Occupational Therapy Association, P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220.

Foreign Graduates. Graduates of foreign occupational therapy programs meet the requirements education if they have a current, full, active and unrestricted license.

• Certification: Candidates must possess a current NBCOT certification as an OT.
• State Licensure: Candidates must possess a full, current, and unrestricted state license, to practice occupational therapy in a state, territory, or Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or in the District of Columbia.

English Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Occupational Therapist, GS-12

(a) Education, Experience, and Licensure: Completion of one year of experience equivalent to at the GS-11 grade level and directly related to the position being filled. Examples of experience include, but are not limited to:: providing direct occupational therapy interventions and procedures with routine complexity to enhance safety, wellness, performance in activities of daily living (ADL); and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), education, work, play, leisure, and social participation; requiring guidance with higher complexity conditions; demonstrate an understanding of the theories of treatment in occupational therapy and their proper application through the use of activity analysis, behavioral intervention, frame of references, and therapeutic procedures.

Demonstrated GS-11 level, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):

• Knowledge of occupational therapy practice.
• Ability to administer/interpret evaluation findings to develop and coordinate intervention plans, including goals and methods of treatment.
• Ability to implement intervention plans directly or in collaboration with others.
• Skill in monitoring an individual's response to interventions and modify treatment plans and reevaluating as indicated.
• Ability to communicate and or collaborate with patients, family members, caregivers, interdisciplinary professionals and/or other individuals verbally and in writing.
• Knowledge of health and safety regulations to minimize risk in the provision of patient care and the environment of care.
• Knowledge of applicable regulations governing documentation, reimbursement and workload entry in accordance with established professional practice.

(b) Demonstrated GS-12 level Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all the following KSAs:

• Knowledge of occupational therapy principles and techniques consistent with current clinical standards based on OT theory and evidence based practice. Knowledge is inclusive of physical, occupational, cognitive, and psychosocial functional deficits.
• Ability to collaborate and communicate orally and in writing with all internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to use critical analysis, clinical reasoning, and creativity to independently solve complex problems related to adapting and modifying assessments, treatment plans, activities and procedures to meet the needs of patients.
• Skill in procuring, fabricating, adjusting, adapting, and modifying orthoses, splints, and adaptive equipment for activities of daily living (inclusive of durable medical equipment).
• Ability to conduct OT related in-service and clinical training.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience in treating adult/older adult patients in acute care, not limited to ICU, orthopedics, acute rehab and acute spinal cord injury.
• Experience in the outpatient clinical setting is preferred.
• Experience traveling between multiple campus locations to support staffing needs in a float capacity is preferred.

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 12. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is the full GS 12 performance level.

Physical Requirements:
The work requires possible stooping, bending, walking, handling of wheelchairs and lifting in conjunction with treatment of patients. At times, there may be undue heaving lifting due to unforeseen circumstances such as preventing a patient from falling. Dexterity and skills in safe machinery techniques are required.

Salary : $417