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.
English Language Proficiency. Audiologist candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
Education.
(1) Doctor of Audiology (AUD) from an audiology program recognized by the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education (ACAE) or Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). HR office staff and management officials may verify a program's accreditation from ACAE at acaeaccred.org and CAA at caa.asha.org.
OR,
(2) Other doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an institution accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
- NOTE: Effective January 1, 2007, the CAA in Audiology and Speech- Language Pathology of ASHA accredits only doctoral degree or AUD programs in audiology.
Licensure. Individuals must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice audiology at the doctoral level in a United States state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia. (1) The Under Secretary of Health, or designee, may appoint a candidate without a license who will be assigned to a research, academic, or administrative position with no patient care responsibilities. In such instances, HR office staff can only appoint these candidates in exceptional circumstances where their credentials demonstrate high professional attainment or expertise in the specialty area. (2) All audiologists who perform compensation and pension examinations perform direct patient care duties and must possess a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice audiology and must meet the experience requirements under Section 2. D. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.85.
Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. Such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.
Grade Determinations:
GS-12
Experience. In addition to the requirements at the GS-11 level, completion of one year of professional experience comparable to the next lower grade level.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the KSAs required at the full performance level, the following KSAs are required:
(a) Skill in determining nature, type, and severity of hearing/communication/vestibular disorders.
(b) Skill in counseling patients and family members regarding management of hearing/communication/vestibular disorders.
(c) Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional audiology to other health care professionals.
(d) Ability to independently apply professional contemporary audiologic treatments to the full range of patient populations.
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.
Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service