Advanced Histopathology Technician

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. EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE: Experience: One year of experience in a health care field that demonstrates the applicant’s ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work such as but not limited to a medical or clinical laboratory assistant (or technician) or health technician. OR Education: Four academic years above high school leading to a bachelor’s degree with courses related to the occupation such as biological science or chemistry; OR Successful completion of two academic years of study above high school that included at least 24 semester hours in Chemistry and/or in appropriate fields of biological science and successful completion of a 12-month program of education and training in histopathology or cytotechnology. OR Experience/Education Combination-Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. Examples are listed below: Six months of experience in the health care field and two years of education above high school that included at least six semester hours in health care related courses such as biological science, surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position; or an associate’s degree in a health care related field. OR Six months of experience in the health care field and successful completion of a course for health care technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or histopathology technicians given by the U.S. Armed Forces. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Advanced Histopathology Technician, GS-7 Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. One year of experience as a histology technician that demonstrates the applicant’s ability to perform the work such as but not limited to microtomy, embedding, routine and specialized staining and data entry. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Skill in applying professional, complex anatomic pathology principles, practices, concepts, and theories in performing new or difficult specialized testing methods or techniques. Ability to provide technical oversight of laboratory quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement exhibiting competence in managing reagent and supply inventories and document control systems. Ability to validate methodologies, operate anatomic pathology laboratory equipment and perform complex instrument troubleshooting. Ability to use independent technical judgment to analyze and evaluate laboratory results and resolve problems. 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). Preferred Experience: One year experience in the healthcare or histopathology field that demonstrates the applicants ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work such as but not limited to a medical or clinical laboratory assistant (or technician) or health technician. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires mostly periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, and pushing. Transferring patients and objects may be required. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations. The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients/residents who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on stakeholder needs.
A Histopathology technician is responsible for all clinical disciplines of the Anatomic Pathology section to include Histology, Autopsy and Cytology. In addition to the aforementioned broad Histopathology duties, they will also responsible for performing histological, histochemical, and immunohistochemical procedures, as well as developing, modifying, or adapting new staining methods or techniques, improving existing methods as necessary for routine histotechnology procedures.