The
Health Technician (Ophthalmology) GS-0640-08 position is located at the Richard L. Roudebush VAMC Indianapolis, IN within the Nursing, Perioperative Service.
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.
- Experience. One year of experience in a health care field, such as but not limited to nursing, medical assistant, or health technician; OR
- 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
- Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying. Examples are listed below:
- Six months of experience in the health care field; and one year above high school; OR
- 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
- 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).
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:
GS06: You must have one year experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. Candidates must also demonstrate all of the knowledge, skills, and abilities below:
- Knowledge of general outpatient clinical policies and procedures in a healthcare environment.
- Ability to obtain, document and record demographic and medical information from patients in order to develop an accurate medical record.
- Ability to use basic ophthalmic equipment.
- Knowledge of basic disinfection of non-critical reusable medical equipment.
GS07: You must have one year experience equivalent to the GS-6 grade level. Candidates must also demonstrate all of the knowledge, skills, and abilities below:
- Knowledge of anatomy and function of the eye and basic ocular pharmacology.
- Knowledge of outpatient eye care policies and procedures in a health care environment.
- Ability to use basic ophthalmic diagnostic equipment to perform preliminary ocular testing.
- Ability to perform minor extraocular surgical assisting.
- Ability to provide eye care patient education.
GS08: You must have one year experience equivalent to the GS-7 grade level. Candidates must also demonstrate all of the knowledge, skills, and abilities below:
- Ability to perform advanced tonometry and pupil evaluation;
- Ability to perform calculations for selection of intraocular lens;
- Knowledge of clinic based ophthalmic surgical assisting;
- Knowledge of eye anatomy and physiology;
- Knowledge of medication effects and proper instillation in the eye;
- Knowledge of optics; and
- Knowledge of proper cleaning and maintenance of clinic equipment.
Preferred Experience: Strong ability to perform comprehensive patient workups, including:
-Gathering a complete patient history (HPI)
-Visual acuity assessment
- Intraocular pressure measurement
- Instillation of diagnostic eye drops
- Proficiency with key diagnostic testing equipment, including:
- Humphrey Visual Field
- Heidelberg OCT
- Clarus fundus photography
- Immersion Ascan
- Pentacam
- IOL Master
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS08. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS6, GS7, or GS8 based on Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities demonstrated in your application.
Physical Requirements: Individual is required to move from one examination room to another many times during the clinic day. This may require some periods of walking, sitting, and standing in changing duration. He/she is required to lift moderate weight in the movement of medical charts and clinic supplies. Also, he/she must maneuver wheelchairs and litters when taking patients to other areas of the clinic. Also, must lift and position patients for test and procedures with assistance or use a mechanical lift. Both hands required, use of fingers. He/she require both eyes, near vision correctable to Jaeger 1 to 4, distanceEducation:
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.Employment Type: OTHER
