Dental Assistant

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. 30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans Current Civilian Employees of the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Current Permanent Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Employee Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce Executive Order (E.O.) 12721 Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473 Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentality (NAFI) Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Interchange Agreement Eligible People with Disabilities, Schedule A Postal Service/Peace Corps and Other Unique Authorities Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible Reinstatement Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998 Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA) In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Basic Requirement for Dental Assistant: Radiology Certification: Public Law 97-35 requires that persons who administer radiologic procedures meet the credentialing standards in 42 CFR Part 75. Essentially, they must (1) have successfully completed an educational program that meets or exceeds the standards described in that regulation, and is accredited by an organization recognized by the Department of Education, and (2) be certified as radiographers in their field. The following meet these requirements: (1) Persons employed by the Federal Government as radiologic personnel prior to the effective date of the regulation (January 13, 1986) who show evidence of current or fully satisfactory performance or certification of such from a licensed practitioner such as a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, podiatry, or chiropractic who prescribes radiologic procedures to others. (2) Persons first employed by the Federal Government as radiologic personnel after the effective date of the regulation who (a) received training from institutions in a State or foreign jurisdiction that did not accredit training in that particular field at the time of graduation, or (b) practiced in a State or foreign jurisdiction that did not license that particular field or did not allow special eligibility to take a licensure examination for those who did not graduate from an accredited educational program, provided such persons show evidence of training, experience, and competence, as determined by OPM or the employing agency. In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below: Experience required: To qualify based on your experience, your resume must describe at least one year of experience which prepared you to do the work in this job. Specialized experience is defined as: assisting a dental specialist with intra-oral procedures and operating dental x-ray equipment. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-04). OR Education: Successful completion of a full four-year course of study in a dental assistant or dental hygiene program that included at least 24 semester hours of courses in radiation physics; radiation biology; radiation health, safety, and protection; X-ray films and radiographic film quality, radiographic techniques; darkroom and processing techniques; and film mounting. OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of education beyond two years (total semester hours minus 60) by 60. Add the two percentages. You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas: Equipment Preparation and Maintenance Office Operations Pre and Post Procedural Instruction Procedural and Diagnostic Support Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-04).
About the Position: This position is located in the 30th Medical Group at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Santa Barbara, California. The work involves full assistance in a range of dental procedures and treatments.