Psychologist- Inpatient Mental Health (Education Debt Repayment & Sign on Bonus)

Full Job Description

The Battle Creek VA Medical Center's Psychiatry Service is hiring a Psychologist to serve on the inpatient mental health units. This position has primarily clinical duties in an inpatient unit.

The incumbent diagnoses mental disorders, conducts psychological assessments, treats mental disorders through a variety of modalities, and provides adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders.

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 Have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed.

The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.

For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills.

Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas.

PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology.

There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment.

Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology).

OR (2) Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re- specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re- specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions: (a) The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and, (b) the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.[OR (3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.] AND Internships (a) Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.

OR (b) New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern; OR (c) VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96- 151 (pre- 1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement; OR (d) Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.

(NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.) [OR (e) Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally- accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program.

If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one- year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program.

License.- Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

Exception.

Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a "graduate psychologist" at the GS-11 or GS- 12 grade under the authority of 38 U.S.C.

§ 7405 [(c)(2)(B)] for a period not to exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such a psychologist provide care only under the supervision of a psychologist who is licensed.

Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment. Grade Determinations.

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: GS-11 (Entry Level) Experience. None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-12 (Developmental Level) Experience. At least one year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11).

Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist but with less intense supervision than at the GS-11 grade level.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.

Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.

Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).

Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration.

GS-13 (Full Performance, Level Experience. At least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.

Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health. Knowledge of clinical research literature.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is 13.

The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of 11 to 13. Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the work are generally minor.

The work is primarily sedentary, although the stress involved in dealing continually with patients in emotional distress, who may be uncooperative and occasionally violent, makes this job notably more demanding than most sedentary jobs.

Major Duties:

Due the to nature of the work, there are no remote/telework options for these positions.

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program.

You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment.

Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application.

Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

Duties of this position may include, but are not limited to: Psychological assessment and consultation Psychological assessment may involve interviewing and/or testing of patients.

The incumbent will be available to consult with other staff members and make recommendations of the types of psychological evaluations that would be beneficial.

He/She will oversee the administration and scoring of psychological assessment procedures, interpretations and report the findings of the evaluation in the medical record in a timely fashion.

He/She will assist in integrating the findings into the treatment plan for patients.

Psychological treatment The incumbent conducts psychological and/or brief/basic neuropsychological assessments and can treat mental health problems in patients in an inpatient mental health care setting, applies principles/techniques of behavioral health to patients being treated for medical/mental health conditions, including assisting patients with improving health behaviors, smoking cessation, pain management, adherence to recommended treatments, managing chronic or terminal illness and assisting in or developing new therapy groups and practices.

Research Although this is a clinical position, the incumbent psychologist has the opportunity to develop hypotheses and research designs and prepare or implement research programs on his/her own time.

Individual research protocols must be submitted for approval to the Committee on the Protection of Human Subjects as well as the Medical Center's Research and Development Committee, and the local Investigational Review Board (IRB) (Ann Arbor).

Outcome or other types of research-focused programming may be required by the Veterans Affairs Central Office (VACO) and official time will then be allocated as needed to complete any required research directives.

Any VACO protocols will have been preapproved by a national IRB and can be implemented as soon as available.

The psychologist may serve as a consultant to other staff members on their research projects and may be asked to collaborate with others under the same criteria noted above.

The incumbent may be asked to present and/or share, any or all pertinent information, obtained in the educational activities noted above, that were supported in part or totally by the BCVAMC with other staff.

Education and training The incumbent may provide clinical supervision to psychology students, including Postdoctoral Psychology residents or Psychology Interns in the American Psychological Association (APA) approved predoctoral internship at Battle Creek VAMC, if mutually agreed upon with the Service Chief.

In addition, the psychologist may conduct seminars, case conferences or other educational meetings in his/her area/s of expertise.

The incumbent interacts and works with clinicians from other disciplines as a member of a multidisciplinary treatment team.

The incumbent is skillful in interpersonal relationships including conflict resolution and the ability to work collaboratively with staff from other professions.

The incumbent is responsible for timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation required by the VAMC for veterans for whom the incumbent provides services.

The psychologist will perform all other duties assigned by the Program Manager, Inpatient Mental Health, even though they may not be outlined above, as long as he or she can do so without violating ethical standards and are approved, credentialed and privileged by the PSB.

Work Schedule: Mon-Fri 8:00am-4:30pm. Due to the nature of the work Nights and weekends may be required in emergent situations.

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized for highly qualified applicants EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.

Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more