Applicants pending completion of educational/certification/licensure requirements may be referred & tentatively selected but can't be hired until all requirements are met
BASIC REQUIREMENTS
Citizenship Must be a US citizen. Non-citizens may be appointed when it's not possible to recruit qualified US citizens
English Language Proficiency Psychologists must be proficient in spoken & written English
Education Have doctoral degree in psychology from graduate program in psychology accredited by American Psychological Association, APA Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System, PCSAS, or Canadian Psychological Association, CPA when program was completed. Specialty in which applicant is retrained must be consistent w/ applicant's assigned employment area Term "specialty area" refers to specific specialty areas recognized by accrediting body & not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of 2 or more areas PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, & school psychology. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; so applicants w/ school psychology degrees aren't eligible for appointments. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas, w/ exception of school psychology
OR
Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology & successfully complete re-specialization program (including documentation of approved internship completed as part of re-specialization program), meeting both the following conditions: re-specialization program must be completed in APA or CPA accredited doctoral program; & specialty in which applicant is retrained must be consistent w/ applicant's assigned employment area
OR
Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 & 1978 from a regionally accredited institution, w/ a dissertation primarily psychological in nature
AND
Internships
Have successfully completed professional psychology internship training program accredited by APA or CPA at time program was completed & specialty in which applicant is retrained must be consistent w/ applicant's assigned employment area
OR
New VHA psychology internship programs in process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable to fulfill internship requirements, provided such programs were sanctioned by VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology & VHA Office of Academic Affiliations when individual was intern
OR
VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151, pre-1979 are considered acceptable to fulfill internship requirement
OR
Applicants who completed internship that wasn't accredited by APA or CPA when program was completed can only be considered eligible for hire if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area consistent w/ applicant's assigned employment area
NOTE Employee is required to maintain board certification once board certified
OR
Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 & 1978 from regionally accredited institution w/ a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill internship requirement by having equivalent of 1 year supervised internship experience at site specifically acceptable to candidate's doctoral program If internship experience is not noted on applicant's official transcript, applicant must provide a statement from doctoral program verifying equivalent of 1 year supervised internship experience was completed in site acceptable to doctoral program
NOTE Psychologists who meet revision requirements & who were employed by Department of Veterans Affairs prior to implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met qualification standard requirements
Licensure Hold a full, current & unrestricted license to practice psychology at doctoral level in State, Territory or Commonwealth of U. S. or District of Columbia
Exception Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a "graduate psychologist" at the GS-11 or GS-12 grade for a period not to exceed 2 years from employment date on condition psychologist provides care only under supervision of psychologist who is licensed Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination temporary appointment
Loss of Credential Psychologists who fail to maintain required licensure must be removed from occupation, which may result in employment termination Employees may be reassigned to another occupation if qualified & if opportunity placement exists at appointing officials discretion
Board Certification Persons hired to psychology positions in VHA who completed an internship not accredited at time program was completed must be board certified by American Board of Professional Psychology in specialty area consistent w/ applicant's assigned employment area Board certificate must be current & applicant must abide by certifying body's requirement for continuing education
Loss of Credential Once board certified, psychologist must maintain a full, valid & unrestricted board certification to remain employment qualified Psychologists who fail to maintain required board certification must be removed from occupation, which may result in termination of employment Employees may be reassigned to another occupation if qualified & if opportunity placement exists at appointing officials discretion
Grade Determination requirements Candidates must met the following grade determination requirements in addition to the basic requirements
GS-11 Experience None beyond basic requirements
GS-12 Experience At least 1 year professional psychologist experience equivalent to GS-11 grade Unlicensed Psychologists must practice under supervision of licensed psychologist but w/ less intense supervision than at GS-11 grade level
AND
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills & Abilities KSAs Candidates must demonstrate following KSAs in addition to experience
1) Knowledge of & ability to apply wide range of professional psychological treatments/assessment methods to variety of patient populations
2) Ability to design/implement effective treatment strategies
3) Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures
4) Ability to conduct research activities, eg design & implement clinical research projects, staff psychologists w/ specified research job duties
5) Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship & research execution w/in context of established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance & collaboration
GS-13 Experience At least 2 years professional psychologist experience w/ at least 1 year equivalent to GS-12 grade
Candidates must demonstrate following KSAs in addition to experience
1) Knowledge/ability to apply professional psychological treatments to patient population ranges
2) Ability to provide professional advice/consult in psychology/behavioral health related areas
3) Clinical research literature knowledge
Preferred Experience: 2 plus years working as clinical provider in mental health setting, experience w/ suicide risk screening & suicide prevention intervention & case management & care coordination experience
Reference please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ for qualification standards information
Vacancy full performance level is GS-13
Applicants may be selected for GS-11-13 grades for this vacancy
Qualifications continued in Additional Information section