Clinical Laboratory Scientist

US Military Treatment Facilities under DHA; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Andrew Rader Army Health Clinic at Joint Base Myer, Virginia seeks a Clinical Laboratory Scientist to perform duties in chemistry, hematology, microbiology, and urinalysis. The role emphasizes quality control, accurate test results, and compliance with DoD standards in a direct hire environment.

Qualified candidates have NAACLS-accredited MLS/CLS training or equivalent education with substantial lab experience.

Qualifications

• One year of specialized experience establishing quality control methods and troubleshooting analyzers.
• Education: NAACLS-accredited MLS/CLT program or equivalent.
• Combination of education and experience may meet the requirements with 100% credit as described.

Skills

Quality control methods

Troubleshooting clinical analyzers

Test result verification

Education

NAACLS-accredited MLS/CLT program

Bachelor's degree in biological sciences / chemistry / mathematics

Job description

Serve as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist at the Andrew Rader Army Health Clinic located at Joint Base Myer, Virginia. Responsible for performing duties as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist for Chemistry, Hematology, Microbiology, and Urinalysis.

Direct Hire Authority Solicitation

This is a Direct Hire Authority (DHA) solicitation utilizing the DHA for Certain Personnel of the DoD to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to positions in the competitive service.

Who May Apply

US Citizens

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and experience requirements described below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

• A. A Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree from a regionally accredited college/university including courses in biological science, chemistry and mathematics, AND successful completion of a Medical Laboratory Scientist/Clinical Laboratory Scientist program accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) or an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained.
• OR
• B. At least a full 4-year course of study that included 12 months in a college or hospital-based medical technology program or medical technology school approved by a recognized accrediting organization. The professional medical technology curriculum may have consisted of a 1-year post- bachelor's certificate program or the last 1 or 2 years of a 4-year program of study culminating in a bachelor's in medical technology.
• OR
• C. A bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree from an accredited college/university that included 16 semester hours (24 quarter hours) of biological science (with one semester in microbiology), 16 semester hours (24 quarter hours) of chemistry (with one semester in organic or biochemistry), one semester (one quarter) of mathematics, AND five years of full time acceptable clinical laboratory experience in Blood Banking, Chemistry, Hematology, microbiology, Immunology and Urinalysis/Body Fluids. This combination of education and experience must have provided knowledge of the theories, principles, and practices of medical technology equivalent to that provided by the full 4-year course of study described in A or B above. All science and mathematics courses must have been acceptable for credit toward meeting the requirements for a science major at an accredited college or university. Acceptable experience is responsible professional or technician experience in a hospital laboratory, health agency, industrial medical laboratory, or pharmaceutical house; or teaching, test development, or medical research program experience that provided an understanding of the methods and techniques applied in performing professional clinical laboratory work. Certification/licensure as a medical technologist (generalist) obtained through written examination by a nationally recognized credentialing agency or State licensing body is a good indication that the quality of experience is acceptable.

Evaluation of Education and Experience

The four major areas of clinical laboratory science are microbiology, clinical chemistry, hematology, and immunohematology (blood banking). Qualifying course work in these areas includes bacteriology, mycology, mycobacteriology, tissue culture, virology, parasitology, endocrinology, enzymology, toxicology, urinalysis, coagulation, hemostasis, cell morphology, immunology, serology, immunoserology, immuno-deficiency, hemolysis, histocompatibility, cyto-genetics, and similar disciplines or areas of laboratory practice.

Related fields include physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, cell biology, embryology, pathology, genetics, pharmacology, histology, cytology, nuclear medicine, epidemiology, biostatistics, infection control, physics, statistics, and similar areas of science where the work is directly related to the position to be filled.

Experience or graduate education must have been in (1) the general field of medical technology; (2) one of the disciplines or specialized areas of medical technology; or (3) a field directly related and applicable to medical technology or the position to be filled.

Also, clinical laboratory intern (student medical technologist) experience in an education program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) education program may be credited on a month-for-month basis toward meeting the GS-7 specialized experience requirement. Be sure to incorporate into the group standard language on the vacancy announcement and occupational questionnaire.

Exemption

You are exempt from the basic requirements above if you are a current federal employee occupying a position in the 0644 occupational series and have been continuously employed in this occupational series since September 27, 2017 or before. Note: You will be required to provide appropriate documentation to the respective Human Resources Office to validate your status.

Additional Qualification Requirements

In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below.

• Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes establishing quality control methods and/or ranges; troubleshooting clinical analyzers when quality control is out of range; identifying and resolving inconsistent tests results; and making decisions on the validity of lab results before sending them out to providers. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-09).
• OR
• Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: Medical Laboratory Science, Medical Technology, or Clinical Laboratory Science.
• OR
• Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages.

Certification Preferred: Issued by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) or the American Medical Technologists (AMT).