Summary

The incumbent serves as Surgical Technician for the Surgical Clinic - Podiatry - VA Clinic - Outpatient Clinics - VA Northern California Health Care System. The Surgical Health Technician is assigned to the Podiatry Outpatient Clinic which is organizationally responsible to the Podiatric Division of the Department of Surgery. Incumbent works under the general supervision of the Chief - Podiatry Section.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. The grade may have been in any occupation - but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year - it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade - as required by the announcement. In this instance - you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Individual Occupational Requirements: Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists - speech pathologists - medical officers - and optometrists. Therefore - technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge - methods - and techniques of the position to be filled. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: GS-6: Applicants must have One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-05) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes - but is not limited to: Knowledge of highly technical instrumentation - human anatomy - and aseptic technique to prepare and protect the sterile field during surgery; Knowledge of sterile technique must include the ability to determine the effectiveness of sterilization - packaging - storage and shelf life; Knowledge of standard precautions and know how to implement infection control policies and procedures; Knowledge of all appropriate technical names - uses - physical characteristics - function and processing procedures for the full range of surgical instrumentation - supplies and equipment. GS-7: Applicants must have One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-06) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes - but is not limited to: Knowledge of highly technical instrumentation - human anatomy - and aseptic technique to prepare and protect the sterile field during surgery; Knowledge of sterile technique must include the ability to determine the effectiveness of sterilization - packaging - storage and shelf life; Knowledge of standard precautions and know how to implement infection control policies and procedures; Knowledge of all appropriate technical names - uses - physical characteristics - function and processing procedures for the full range of surgical instrumentation - supplies and equipment. Preferred Experience: Podiatry - Wound care - Clinical or medical patient care To calculate - first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting - you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-XX. For example - an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. 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; religions; 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.

Duties

• Duties of position will include but not limited to: Provides assistance of a technical - specialized - or support nature to health and medical personnel in the diagnosis and treatment of patient illnesses or medical conditions and procedures
• Sets up and assists Podiatric surgeons and other providers in the performance of treatments and procedures following aseptic technical to include minor surgical procedures Reviews patient charts for verification of identity and proper documentation including surgical consent following site and procedure verification process
• Responsible for setup of equipment for all procedures including excisional biopsies - tissue removal - incisions and drainage of abscesses - and amputations
• During these procedures - incumbent is responsible for the proper functioning of the equipment used during the process and through procedure completion
• Incumbent cleans and replaces all surgical equipment
• Sets up and preserves a sterile field for minor surgical procedures such as intra-articular injections - aspirations - soft tissue mass excisions - and subcutaneous hardware removal
• Notifies appropriate staff of test/procedure results and ensures they are made part of the medical record
• Performs a variety of technical and administrative tasks in support of clinic operations
• Performs various routine and general clinic administrative functions including ordering and stocking of supply items - medications accountability - ensuring quality control stock rotation Makes regular inventory and revision of stock to insure current stocking of high demand and readily required items
• Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 08:00am - 04:30pm Position Description Title/PD#: Surgical Technician (Podiatry)/PD00749-A - PD00478-A - and PD00748-A Physical Requirements: Work involves periods of standing - walking - prolonged sitting - light-heavy lifting - reaching - bending - carrying moderate weight - pulling - pushing - kneeling - climbing - both legs required - near vision correctable at 13\" to 16\" to Jaeger 1 to 4 - far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other - both eyes required - ability to distinguish basic colors and shades of colors - hearing (aid permitted)
• Work also involves the repetitive use of a computer
• Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory - qualification - and performance requirements are met
• Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level
• ???????As a condition of employment for accepting this position - you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period (OR INSERT \"2-year trial period\") during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest
• In determining if your employment advances the public interest - we may consider: your performance and conduct
• the needs and interests of the agency
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government
• and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service
• Upon completion of your probationary period (OR INSERT \"trial period\") - your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification - in writing - that your continued employment advances the public interest.