Health Technician – Podiatry

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/25/2024. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-05 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-04. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): Specialized Experience: Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. Or; Education and Training: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position. In addition to the IOR, candidates must also meet the below grade requirements. Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-04) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Assisting with patient exams and screening. Assisting licensed personnel in behavioral/psychiatric situations. Ability to measure, report, and document vital signs, weight, height, blood glucose, and patient changes in behavior, attitude, bodily complaints and appearance. Providing clerical administrative support coordination, appropriately documenting actions, interventions and procedures in the medical record. Answering phones and directing phone calls to appropriate person/area. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have completed a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 2 years above high school with courses related to the occupation leading to a bachelor’s degree. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Interpersonal Skills Patient Care Technical Competence Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The technician must be able to perform all activities of the position without restriction. This position involves considerable standing, walking, stooping, bending, reaching, lifting and turning. It requires repositioning patients and assisting with transferring patients to wheelchairs/stretchers. Mechanical devices when available are required to be used for heavy or difficult to lift patients. The work may involve pushing or lifting weight in excess of 50 pounds and going up and down flights of stairs. The position requires visual and auditory acuity at a level to provide safe and effective nursing care. The position requires the technician to work for periods of time with arms above shoulder level or with the neck in a fully flexed or extended position and the ability to physically control or protect him/her from physically abusive patients. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management’s website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.
The Podiatry Clinic is located within the Surgical Service of the Salt Lake City VA Health Care System. Podiatry serves Veterans with complex medical co-morbidities, specifically focusing on medical and surgical foot needs. The health technicians primary responsibility is to assist clinical staff with providing timely preparation, evaluation and treatment of patients visiting the clinical setting.