Medical Instrument Technician - Polysomnography

The incumbent performs as a polysomnography technologist. They maintain state of the art quality in the principles, practices and procedures associated with Sleep Disorders Medicine. Performance of a variety of routine and complex sleep studies performed on VA patients at the sleep lab at the Washington DC VA Medical Center.

Qualifications:

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 :

Citizenship. Citizenship of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.) Education. There are no specific educational requirements for this occupation. Education may be substituted for experience only at the GS-4 and GS-5 levels. See the grade requirements part of this standard for information regarding educational substitutions. Licensure or Certification. Licensure or Certification is not required for this occupation; however, it is strongly desirable at GS-6 or above as evidence of possession of the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities. For certain functional areas at the higher levels or supervisory assignments, specific certifications appropriate to the specialty are indicated in this standard under "Titles and Certification/Registrations". Physical Requirements. Requires standing, bending stooping, sitting, pulling and pushing patients must be able to perform gross and fine coordinated hand movements English Language Proficiency. Medical Instrument Technicians must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a.

GRADE DETERMINATIONS

Medical Instrument Technician - Polysomnography - GS-8 a. Experience. At least 1 year of experience comparable to the next lower grade level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics related to knowledge of the more complex procedures as well as knowledge of the uncommon and/or rare sleep disorders. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following

KSAs:

b. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 1. Advanced knowledge or the International Classification of Sleep Disorders and the ability to recognize uncommon and/or rare sleep disorders. 2. Ability to summarize and report polysomnographic data in narrative form. 3. Knowledge of event characteristics (e.g., respiratory, cardiac, sleep stage, seizures, etc.) and ability to take appropriate action. 4. Ability to provide briefings and orientation to hospital staff including physicians.

NOTE:

Applicants must demonstrate above requirements in resume and supporting documentation.

NOTE:

You must submit the required supporting documentation to receive consideration. Failure to provide the required documents will result in an ineligible rating and your application will be excluded from consideration. (c) Certification. No certification or registration is required. Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certifications are also desirable for employees at this level. (d) Assignment. This represents the full performance level. At this level Polysomnographic Technicians are able to interact fully with the patient and physician to diagnose sleep disorders including those that are uncommon or rare. They are able to conduct full sleep studies including overnight studies and evaluate the relationship of events, sleep stages, and possible medical conditions which influence or result from events occurring during sleep. They anticipate problems likely to occur during the sleep study and prepare for such situations, make changes in established procedures, or recommend alternative courses of action. They are able to mentor lower graded technicians.

Best Qualified Applications:

Best qualified applicants will meet the following criteria in addition to the minimum qualifications for this position. The position requires strong experience in conducting and scoring all types of sleep studies including but not limited to diagnostic polysomnography, cpap/bipap/asv/inspire titrations, mslt/mwt. The position requires strong experience in CPAP set-ups, education, compliance downloads, troubleshooting machine issues, mask fittings and a strong ability to work with patients to improve cpap adherence. There must be effective communication with supervisors, team members, administrative staff and patients not only verbally but in computer based programs as well. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to work well in teams.

Preferred Experience:

Experience as independent polysomography technician with experience managing patient on CPAP and trouble shooting same Ability to score sleep studies also requested

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-08.