This position is in the Physical Therapy Section of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service (PM&RS) in the Ann Arbor VA Health System. The Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) provides treatment that promotes the prevention, remediation, and rehabilitation of acute and chronic physical and psychosocial dysfunction.

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 :

United States Citizenship:

Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education. Individuals must meet at least one of the requirements below: Associate degree from an accredited community college, junior college, college or university in a physical therapy assistant education program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education; OR, Graduate of foreign physical therapy assistant degree programs that meet the educational requirement and have successfully passed the National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE) for PTAs; OR, Graduate of military physical therapy assistant programs that meet the educational requirement and have successfully passed the NPTE for PTAs. Licensure. Current, full, active and unrestricted license as a PTA in a State, Territory or Commonwealth (i.e. Puerto Rico) of the United States, or District of Columbia. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. English Language Proficiency. [PTA candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).] May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations :

In addition to the basic requirements outlined in paragraph 3, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Physical Therapy Assistant, GS-9 (1) Experience. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade, GS-8 . In addition, the candidate must demonstrate one of the following: (a) A minimum of 2000 hours of clinical practice directly in the specialty area, and completion of 60 contact hours of selected continuing education coursework. This time must be within the past five years; or, (b) Advanced Practice Proficiency (APP) in the specialty area recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA); or, (c) An additional academic degree related to the health care mission. (2) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities . In addition to the basic requirements, the candidate must demonstrate the following

KSAs:

(a) Ability to mentor other staff in advanced clinical guidelines and best practices. (b) Ability to serve as a subject matter expert (SME) for healthcare providers in specialty practice areas regarding physical therapy care. (c) Ability to present] advanced knowledge in the therapeutic interventions and clinical practice guidelines with the healthcare team. (d) Ability to interpret and apply clinical practice guidelines.

Reference:

VA Handbook 5005/139, Part II, Appendix G23 dated March 17, 2006. For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ .

Physical Requirements:

The work is primarily sedentary. Some walking, standing, bending and carrying of light objects such as paper, books, etc., may be required. Computer work that requires long periods of continued data entry may cause eye strain or muscle strain from long periods of sitting. There may be occasional instances when the duties require pushing a patient in a wheelchair; there is no heavy lifting of patients nor transferring of patients.