Supervisory Health Technician-Ophthalmology

Description:

The incumbent of this position is responsible for providing a variety of management/supervisory services and knowledge of technical services essential to the direction and operation of the VA Eye Care Service, Surgical Service, VA Medical Center VA West Palm Beach, FL. This position reports directly to the Chief Nurse Perioperative Services and works under the guidance of the Chief of Eye Care and the Clinic Manager of the Eye Care Service.

Requirements:

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 . Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified candidates in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)

Experience and Education (1) Experience. One year of experience in a health care field, such as but not limited to nursing, medical assistant, or health technician. OR (2) Education. Two years above high school with a minimum of six semester hours directly related to a health care field or associate's degree in a health care related degree. OR (3) Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying. Examples are listed below: 1 (a) Six months of experience in the health care field; and one year above high school; or (b) Six months of experience in the health care field and successful completion of a course for health care technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or ophthalmology technicians given by the U.S. Armed Forces; or (c) Six months of experience in the health care field and completion of an independent study course in Ophthalmic Medical Assisting.

Certification. All applicants must be certified as a Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA) with the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO). The COA certification is JCAHPO's entry-level certification examination for a Health Technician (Ophthalmology).

Grandfathering Provision . All persons employed in VHA as a Health Technician (Ophthalmology) on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including certification requirements. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it.

Foreign Education . To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.
Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

English Language Proficiency . Health Technicians (Ophthalmology) must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d) and 38 U.S.C

Supervisory Health Technician (Ophthalmology), GS-10

Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.
Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), and range of variety, and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Supervisory Health Technicians (Ophthalmology) at the GS-10 grade level generally are found in Complexity Level 1 (High Complexity) facilities, or in facilities of lesser complexity levels where large ophthalmology services are found. Supervisors may perform other complex assignments and program management duties such as overseeing the integration between ophthalmic medical devices and the electronic medical record system. The Supervisory Health Technician (Ophthalmology) is responsible for the supervision, administrative management, direction of ophthalmology staff, and supervises interactions of Health Technicians (Ophthalmology) with 9 affiliate ophthalmology residents. May be delegated full administrative and professional responsibility for planning and directing the ophthalmology staff activities for the service or equivalent unit at an independent outpatient clinic.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) . In addition to meeting the all KSAs for the GS-10 grade level, the candidate must demonstrate the potential to acquire the assignment-specific KSA designated by an asterisk (*).
1. Ability to work independently to set priorities, delegate tasks, meet multiple deadlines, analyze organizational problems, and develop and implement effective solutions to optimize quality, efficiency, performance, and productivity within the service;
2. Ability to develop policy, manage equipment requests, and provide workload analysis in Ophthalmology Service;
3. Demonstrated leadership and managerial skills including skill in interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team members, managers and other departments; and
*4. Ability to perform the full range of supervisory duties which includes responsibility for assignment of work to be performed; competency assessments; performance evaluations; selection of staff; and recommendation of awards, advancements, and when appropriate.

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

This Vacancy is above the full performance level GS- 10.

Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019.