This is an Open Continuous Announcement until September 30, 2026. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis. Qualified applicants will be considered and referred as vacancies become available. This is a floater Optometrist position, requiring the incumbent to provide coverage across all VA Hudson Valley Healthcare System locations in New York, including Carmel, Castle Point, Goshen, Montrose, Monticello, New City, Pine Plains, Port Jervis, and Poughkeepsie, as operational needs arise.

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:

Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens.

English Language Proficiency:

Optometrists appointed to direct patient-care positions must be proficient in spoken and written English.

Education:

Degree of Doctor of Optometry resulting from a course of education in optometry. The degree must have been obtained from one of the schools or colleges approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the year in which the course of study was completed. Approved schools are United States and Canadian schools or colleges of optometry listed as accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE), in the list published for the year in which the course of study was completed.

Licensure/Registration:

Optometrist must possess a c urrent, full and unrestricted license to practice optometry, and maintain a current registration in a state, territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia that requires successful passage of all parts of National Board of Examiners in Optometry intended for basic licensure.

Residency:

Optometrists must have successfully completed residency training approved by the Secretary of Veteran Affairs in an accredited post-graduate training program, or have comparable experience, as described below: Approved residencies are those with accredited or within pre-accredited status by the ACOE, in the list published for the year the residency was completed. OR; Two years of licensed clinical optometric practice in the United States consisting of active involvement in the management of medically complex patients.

Note:

The Approving Official may approve, under unusual circumstances, a waiver of residency or comparable experience.

Grandfathering Provision:

Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, are considered to have met all basic requirements for the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment-specific requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply: Such employees are considered to have met the basic qualification requirements for the purposes of transferring or reassignment to another Optometrist position within VA. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional certification that meet all the basic or assignment-specific qualification requirements of this standard must maintain the required credential as a condition of employment in the assignment.

Note:

This provision is not intended to regularize appointments/ placements.

Preferred Experience:

Board certification in Optometry.

Reference:

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ .

Physical Requirements:

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.