Psychologist (Education Debt Repayment and Sign on Bonus)

There are NO Remote or Virtual work options for these positions.

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval award amount (up to $200000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

Duties of this position may include but are not limited to:

• Psychological assessment and consultation
  • Psychological assessment may involve interviewing and/or testing of patients. The incumbent will be available to consult with other staff members and make recommendations of the types of psychological evaluations that would be beneficial. He/She will oversee the administration and scoring of psychological assessment procedures interpretations and report the findings of the evaluation in the medical record in a timely fashion. He/She will assist in integrating the findings into the treatment plan for patients.
• Psychological treatment
  • The incumbent conducts psychological and/or brief/basic neuropsychological assessments and can treat mental health problems in patients in an inpatient mental health care setting applies principles/techniques of behavioral health to patients being treated for medical/mental health conditions including assisting patients with improving health behaviors smoking cessation pain management adherence to recommended treatments managing chronic or terminal illness and assisting in or developing new therapy groups and practices.
• Research
  • Although this is a clinical position the incumbent psychologist has the opportunity to develop hypotheses and research designs and prepare or implement research programs on his/her own time. Individual research protocols must be submitted for approval to the Committee on the Protection of Human Subjects as well as the Medical Centers Research and Development Committee and the local Investigational Review Board (IRB) (Ann Arbor). Outcome or other types of research-focused programming may be required by the Veterans Affairs Central Office (VACO) and official time will then be allocated as needed to complete any required research directives. Any VACO protocols will have been preapproved by a national IRB and can be implemented as soon as available. The psychologist may serve as a consultant to other staff members on their research projects and may be asked to collaborate with others under the same criteria noted above. The incumbent may be asked to present and/or share any or all pertinent information obtained in the educational activities noted above that were supported in part or totally by the BCVAMC with other staff.
• Education and training
  • The incumbent may provide clinical supervision to psychology students including Postdoctoral Psychology residents or Psychology Interns in the American Psychological Association (APA) approved predoctoral internship at Battle Creek VAMC if mutually agreed upon with the Service addition the psychologist may conduct seminars case conferences or other educational meetings in his/her area/s of expertise.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See Additional Information below for details.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position you will be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public determining if your employment advances the public interest we may consider:
- your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Upon completion of your probationary period trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification in writing that your continued employment advances the public interest.

• Complete all application requirements detailed in the Required Documents section of this announcement.

Qualifications

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.
• English Language Proficiency Requirement - Per VA Handbook 5005 Part II Chapter 3 Section A Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C. chapter 73 or 74 to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English.
• Education Requirement - You must 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 completed a re-specialization program meeting both of the following conditions: a) the re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and b) the specialty in which you were retrained is consistent with the assignment you are am applying for; OR have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• Internship Requirement - You must 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 fulltime 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). NOTE: 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 candidates doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicants 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.
• Licensure: Candidates must hold 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.

• GS-13 Level: at least 2 addition years of experience with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level as a professional psychologist that was obtained through employment as a psychologist or through participating in a supervised post-doctoral psychology training program that demonstrates 1) active professional practice that was paid/non-paid employment and/or 2) a full current and unrestricted license. To be creditable the experience must have required the use of knowledge skills abilities and other characteristics associated with current psychology practice: