Health Technician (Audiology & Speech Language Pathology)

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Columbia (SC); On-site; USD 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

US Department of Veterans Affairs in Columbia, SC, seeks an Audiology Technician (GS-7) to support audiology and speech-language pathology services at the Columbia VA Health Care System, including WJB Dorn Hospital and related clinics.

Under supervision from a licensed Audiologist or Speech-Language Pathologist, you will assist with testing, patient preparation, and program support while meeting qualification standards and potential grandfathering provisions for current staff.

Qualifications

• Six months of experience or education equivalent to next lower grade, with related duties.
• Education: Two academic years above high school leading to an associate degree or a bachelor's degree with at least 12 semester hours related to the position.

Responsibilities

• Mentor and train HTASLPs.
• Prepare patients for advanced testing procedures performed by the audiologist (evoked potentials).
• Identify diagnosis and dysphagia risk factors in medical records.
• Develop and implement technician roles for audiology/Speech-Language pathology programs.

Job description

Audiology & Speech Pathology is located within the Columbia VA Health Care System, main medical facility WJB Dorn Hospital or the Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs). The duties of this position are conducted through the medical center including all clinical and other patient care areas involved with the service. The incumbent serves under the Supervisory Speech Pathologist or Audiologist with direction from the licensed professional staff (Audiologist or Speech Language Pathologist). 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 and Education. Six months of experience comparable to the next lower level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities related to the duties of the position to be filled. OR
  • Education. Successful completion of two academic years above high school leading to an associate degree or a bachelor's degree with at least 12 semester hours in courses related to the position. OR
  • Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying. An example of a combination of experience/education is three months of experience comparable to the next lower level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities related to the duties of the position to be filled and one year above high school with a minimum of 6 semester hours related to the health care industry.
• English Language Proficiency. HTA, HTSLP or HTASLP candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403 (f).

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

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Experience

Completion of one year of progressive experience and/or experience equivalent to the next lower grade level directly related to the position being filled.

Requirements at the GS-7:

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs).

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Ability to mentor and train new HTASLPs.
• Ability to prepare patients for advanced testing procedures performed by the audiologist, such as evoked potentials.
• Ability to identify the diagnosis and dysphagia risk factors in the medical record to assist the SLP.
• Ability to identify the components of dysphagia monitoring.
• Knowledge of linguistic parameters such as semantic, syntactic and phonological categories, to assist in creating therapeutic stimuli and home programs.
• Ability to develop and implement the technician role for a program in a focused area of audiology and/or speech-language pathology.

Preferred Experience:

Previous Audiology Technician or Assistant experience.

Reference

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the GS - 7.

Physical Requirements

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.