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
• Applicants for a Physicist position within the VHA must possess a Master's degree or higher in a physics, science, or engineering discipline recognized by an accredited college or university with at least 30 semester hours in medical physics, health physics, radiological science, physics, engineering, chemistry, or biology
• or an equivalent foreign degree and coursework substantiated by the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services
• Board Certification: Persons hired or reassigned to Physicist positions in the VHA must be board certified in the field of medical physics by an approved certifying body
• The board certificate must be current and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirements for continuing education
• The Physicist must maintain current board certification
• Approved Certifying Bodies and DMP subspecialty certifications are as follow: (a) The American Board of Radiology (ABR) certifications include: i
• Diagnostic Medical Physics or Diagnostic Radiologic Physics ii
• Nuclear Medical Physics or Medical Nuclear Physics iii
• Radiologic Physics (b) The American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) certifications include: i
• Diagnostic Imaging Physics ii
• Nuclear Medicine Physics iii
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging Physics (c) The Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine (CCPM) certifications include: i
• Diagnostic Radiological Physics ii
• Nuclear Medicine Physics iii
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (d) The American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine certifications include: i
• Nuclear Medicine Physics and Instrumentation ii
• Molecular Imaging 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)
• Specialized Experience GS-14: In addition to the GS-13 requirements, you must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level and must demonstrate the following KSAs: 1
• Knowledge of instructional methods
• 2
• Skill using written and verbal communication to explain complex technical issues
• 3
• Ability to assess the qualifications and abilities of current and prospective employees to include staff performance evaluations and professional development
• 4
• Ability to collaborate with the members of other disciplines and supervisors and to represent the profession both in and outside of organization
• This includes knowledge of the roles, contributions, and interrelationships with other health care specialties and supporting divisions
• 5
• Ability to manage and supervises employees and the ability to perform administrative duties to include, but not limited to: coordinating staffing, workload, and schedules
• setting priorities and delegating tasks and responsibilities
• reviewing qualifications and abilities of current and prospective employees
• interviewing and selecting candidates
• providing training and departmental orientation overseeing technical operations
• granting promotions
• and reviewing competencies and conducting performance appraisals.
• Certification and Transcript Reminder - Due to the positive education requirement unofficial conferred transcripts or an appropriate course listing must be submitted with your application
• Applications will not be considered without appropriate conferred transcripts
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-14
• The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-13 to GS-14
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• Physical Requirements: See VA DIRECTIVE 5019