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
• 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)
• English Language Proficiency
• Health Technicians (Ophthalmology) must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d) and 38 U.S.C. 7407(d)
• Experience and Education (1) Experience
• One year of experience in a health care field, such as but not limited to nursing, medical assistant, or health technician.-OR- (2) 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- (3) Experience/Education Combination
• Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying
• Examples are listed below: (a) Six months of experience in the health care field
• and one year above high school
• -OR- (b) 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- (c) Six months of experience in the health care field and completion of an independent study course in Ophthalmic Medical Assisting
• Grade Determinations: GS-11 Grade Requirement: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-10 grade level
• -AND- In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs
• 1
• Ability to work with a team to provide technical guidance, plan, organize, and coordinate activities of a Health Technician (Ophthalmology) in order to effectively complete job duties of assignment such as distributing workload, monitoring the status and progress of work, monitoring accuracy of work, etc
• 2
• Ability to communicate effectively in order to meet program objectives
• This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various organizational levels
• 3
• Ability to assist in Health Technician (Ophthalmology) development, outcome management, and strategic planning
• 4
• Ability to act as liaison between Health Technicians (Ophthalmology) to resolve informal employee complaints and concerns
• Loss of Credentials
• A Health Technician (Ophthalmology) who fails to maintain the required certification must be removed from the occupation, which may also result in termination of employment
• Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs
• Preferred Experience: Training experience, VA administrative experience, and VA lead or supervisor experience
• References: VA Handbook 5005/98, Part II, Appendix G52, Health Technician (Ophthalmology) Qualifications Standards Physical Requirements: VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service