Therapy Assistant

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet the following qualifications:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), No person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. ~AND~

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: GS 6 - Possess at least one year of specialized experience that equipped me with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position, and that is typically in or related to the Therapy Assistant. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-05 grade level. Specialized experience includes work as an assistant to one of the specialized therapies such as occupational, physical, manual arts, corrective, or educational therapy; or experience gained as an assistant or aid in patient care, social work, or psychology where the duties involved actual participation in physical medicine and activities of a hospital or clinic. Additional experience includes assisting with patient recovery from alcohol and drug dependence; working knowledge of psychiatric conditions and their treatment/care to assist patient recovery and documenting medical records. (Resume(s) must clearly support the required experience to be creditable. We will not make assumptions regarding experience.) -OR-

SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED): Possess the successful completion of one-half year (9 semester hours) of graduate education with course work that is directly related to the position of this Therapy Assistant position. This education must have been obtained at an accredited college or university. NOTE: If you select this option, you must submit a copy of your transcript with your application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. -OR-

COMBINATION OF EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED): Possess theequivalent combination of directly related graduate level education and specialized experience, as described above. NOTE: Your experience must be fully documented in your resume (job title, duties, employment dates, and hours worked per week) and you must submit a copy of your transcript.

You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Learning
• Patient Care
• Risk Management

IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

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). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Physical Requirements/Working Conditions: The work is physically active and requires walking, standing, lifting, pushing, and driving of vehicles. Moderate lifting (15-44 pounds), moderate carrying (15-44 pounds), straight pulling (1.5 hours), pulling handover hand (2.5 hours), pushing (2.5 hours), reaching above shoulder, use of fingers, both hands required, walking (2.5 hours), standing (4 hours), crawling (0.75 hours), kneeling (0.75 hours), repeated bending (3.5 hours), climbing legs only (0.5 hour), both legs required, ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously.

The work is performed indoors in units, activity rooms, or patient rooms, and outdoors in courtyards, patios, golf courses, parks and preserves, and the community at restaurants, stores, or other public places. In all these patient care areas, there may be patients who have complex behavior problems, serious medical problems, or under the guidance of the courts.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.