Career Center

This Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) Psychologist position is administratively aligned with the Mental Health Service and is assigned as a Co-located Collaborative Care (CCC) behavioral health consultant in Primary Care. PCMHI is a component of the interdisciplinary Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT). The PCMHI CCC psychologist provides brief, evidence-based interventions, education, and consultation services to Veterans, Primary Care Providers (PCPs), and allied PACT members. 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. Education: - You must have a doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. OR, have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully completed a re-specialization program meeting both of the following conditions: a) the re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and b) the specialty in which you were retrained is consistent with the assignment you are am applying for; OR, have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. Internships: You must have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed; OR, New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern; OR, VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement; OR, Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification). NOTE: Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program. Licensure: Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia. Board Certification: Persons hired to psychology positions in the VHA who completed an internship that was not accredited at the time the program was completed must be board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. The board certificate must be current and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirement for continuing education. English Language Proficiency: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. 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: Experience: In additional to meeting the basic requirements as stated above, you must have the following: GS-11 Level: no additional experience beyond the basic requirement GS-12 Level: at least 1 full year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the GS-11 level, and are able to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities: Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations. Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures. Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties). Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration. GS-13 Level: at least 2 additional years of experience, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level, as a professional psychologist that was obtained through employment as a psychologist or through participating in a supervised post-doctoral psychology training program that demonstrates 1) active professional practice that was paid/non-paid employment and/or 2) a full, current and unrestricted license. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics associated with current psychology practice: Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to a full range of patient populations. Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health. Knowledge of clinical research literature. *Experience is only creditable if it is post-doctoral degree experience as a professional psychologist directly related to the duties performed. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G18 Psychologist Qualification Standard The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-13. Physical Requirements: he work is primarily sedentary, but it requires periods of walking, standing, bending, or climbing and employee may carry light items such as books, instruments, lap tops and other similar materials. The work requires emotionally stability, working closely with others emotional stability, mental stability, and working alone. Requires the incumbent to possess or develop an understanding of particular needs of Veterans. Sensitivity to the special needs of all patients in reference to age, developmental requirements, and culturally related factors must be consistently achieved. The incumbent must be able and willing to don/doff Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as needed during the course of their employment. ["FUNCTIONS: PCMHI Clinical Practice\nThe PCMHI psychologist provides functional assessment, triage, brief intervention, education, and consultative services regarding a wide range of possible concerns. Consistent with the VA Whole Health philosophy, the PCMHI psychologist promotes awareness of the important mental and behavioral aspects of wellness and overall health outcomes. The PCMHI psychologist utilizes a Population-Based Care and Public Health approach, recognizing the PCP as the overall leader of the treatment team and maximizing the reach of services to as many Veterans as possible. The PCMHI psychologist accepts referrals from PCPs and allied PACT members and supports guideline-concordant treatment within primary care. The PCMHI psychologist maintains competences in the following core domains: PCMHI CCC Clinical Practice Management Collaborates with PCPS and the interdisciplinary PACT to support high quality, effective, and coordinated service delivery at the patient and programmatic levels Maintains daily open access slots and encourages same day warm handoffs within PACT Completes most individual appointments (e.g., 75%) within 30 minutes Uses Measurement Based Care (MBC) in accordance with nationally recommended guidelines for PCMHI Conducts initial functional assessments that are focused on the main reason(s) for referral and are less extensive than traditional mental health intake evaluations (e.g., 30 minutes vs. 60 or 90 minutes for traditional evaluation Supports Stepped-Care principles to facilitate \"on-time, on target\" services to Veterans, matching the intensity of services with the level of clinical need Refers Veterans with more severe or complex needs to the appropriate general or specialty mental health program Provides time-limited, brief, evidence-based, individual or group interventions (e.g., approximately 1-6 sessions) for a broad range of mental health and health behavior concerns within the primary care setting Utilizes intermittent visits and flexible patient contact strategies to support brief but longitudinal PCMHI care as part of PACT Ensures quality of care by successfully completing the national VA PCMHI Competency Training Program (or approved equivalent) and associated ongoing education modules Documentation Skills Writes clear, concise notes that are optimized for collaboration within PACT based on the PCMHI CCC functional assessment and follow-up visit guidelines Notes document important elements for team collaboration (e.g., MBC, curbside consultation/team care discussion, liaison with specialty care providers) as appropriate Notes are completed same day or within 24 hours Consultation and Interdisciplinary Team-Based Skills Engages in PACT huddles and meetings to cultivate collaborative team functioning and serve as a subject matter expert for behavioral health considerations Provides education to PACT on mental health and health behavior issues, as well as tips to promote effective patient communication, motivational enhancement, and behavior change Integrates self into routine workflow of Primary Care and seeks opportunities to offer expertise or direct patient care services to support team-based care Administration Serves on Medical Center or Healthcare System, VISN, and/or National VA committees or task forces, as endorsed by supervisor Participates in Psychology privileging, educational and peer review activities, in accord with Psychology and medical center policies Abides by applicable medical staff by-laws and participates accordingly Attends and participates in administrative and informational meetings held by the Chief of Psychology, ACOS PCS (or designee) and facility Director. Complies with national and local performance measures, including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for all patients Academic/Teaching/Training May supervise psychology predoctoral interns, practicum students and post-doctoral fellows in accord with training program policies and accrediting agency requirements Provides staff and student didactic training and consultation as requested in content areas of scholarly and/or clinical expertise May supervise or train allied health providers in accord with facility and regulatory standards regarding such training Research/Program Evaluation May participate in program evaluation and/or research activities Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm CST\nTelework: Available\nVirtual: This is a virtual position.\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized\nPermanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]