This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval , award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

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:

Have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR, Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re- specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re- specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions: The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and, the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

AND, Internship:

Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR , New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern.

OR , VHA

facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to

PL 96- 151

(pre- 1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement. OR, Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. (

NOTE:

Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.) OR, Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally- accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one- year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program.

NOTE:

Psychologists who meet the requirements of this revision and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the requirements of this qualification standard.

Licensure:

Holds a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

Grade Requirements:

Creditable Experience:

To be creditable, psychological work experience can be obtained through paid or non-paid employment providing psychological work or through participating in a supervised postdoctoral psychology training program (i.e., fellowship or residency). Psychological work experience must have occurred after the doctoral degree was obtained and must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics associated with current professional psychology practice. "Professional psychology practice" includes but is not limited to the following psychology-oriented job duties: providing professional clinical services, conducting research, carrying out education and training activities, carrying out program evaluation activities, clinical consultation, supervision and administration

Quality of Experience :

Experience is only creditable if it is post-doctoral experience as a professional psychologist directly related to the duties to be performed. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to or exceeding professional psychology experience at the next lower level.

Part-time Experience :

Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full- time workweek. For example, a psychologist employed 20 hours per week, or on a half time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

Post-Doctoral Degree Fellowships:

Postdoctoral fellowships or residencies are training programs in an advanced area of clinical practice. Training as a fellow or resident is creditable experience on a year-for-year basis. GS-13 (Full Performance Level)

Experience:

At least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level

AND, Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following

KSAs:

1. Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations. 2. Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health. 3. Knowledge of clinical research literature.

Preferred Experience:

Experience providing direct patient care in an integrated health care setting. Experience or interest in working with Veterans and military populations. Experience or comfort with working in a fast-paced environment, frequently set-shifting, seeing scheduled and unscheduled patients, attending primary care huddles, and providing consultation to primary care staff. Experience with or interest in learning brief, evidence-based interventions and brief documentation. 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).

Reference:

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ . This full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements:

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.