Summary

The Health Technician (Optometry) provides clinical support in a wide variety of activities in the ambulatory care area of the Medical Center under the supervision of licensed health professionals.

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
• English Language Proficiency
• Health Technician (Optometry) candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• Licensure/Certification/Registration
• None
• Experience
• One year of experience as a health technician or assistant in the health care field demonstrating the applicant's ability to perform the work or by demonstrating a basic understanding of work in the health care field
• (OR) Education
• Successful completion of two academic years above high school with a minimum of 12 semester hours related to health technician/assistant or health technician (optometry)/assistant or associate degree - or completion of an independent study course in an optometry related technician or assistant field
• (OR) Experience/Education Combination
• Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying
• Examples are listed below: (a) Six months of experience comparable to the next lower level which demonstrates the knowledge of optometry assistant theory and practices and general understanding of the health technician/assistant duties and one year above high school with a minimum of six semester hours of health technician/assistant or health technician (optometry)/assistant related courses
• (b) Successful completion of a course for health care technicians or assistants - hospital corpsmen - medical service specialists - or hospital training in a program given by the U.S. Armed Forces - the U.S. Maritime Service - or the U.S. Public Health Service - may be substituted on a month-for-month basis
• 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)
• Additional information provided in Education section of this announcement
• Creditable Experience
• To be creditable - the experience must have required the use of knowledge - skills and abilities associated with current health technician/assistant or health technician (optometry)/assistant practice
• Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid or non-paid employment as a health technician/assistant or health technician (optometry)/assistant in the health care field
• Quality of Experience
• Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to health technician/assistant or health technician (optometry)/assistant experience at the next lower grade level of the position being filled
• For all assignments above the full performance level - the higher level duties must consist of significant scope - administrative independence - complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time
• Part-Time Experience
• Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full-time workweek
• For example - an individual employed 20 hours per week - or on a half time basis - would receive one full-time work week of credit for each two weeks of service
• Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates
• Health Technician (Optometry) - GS-04 Experience
• None beyond the basic requirements
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills and Abilities (KSA)
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Knowledge of basic eye anatomy and function
• Ability to obtain - document and record ophthalmic and medical information from patients in order to develop an accurate electronic progress note
• Ability to practice basic hygiene and infection control in a patient care setting
• Ability to follow eye clinic and patient care medical policies and procedures
• Ability to perform minor eyeglasses repairs - such as replacing nose pads and screws
• Health Technician (Optometry) - GS-05 Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills and Abilities (KSA)
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Knowledge of basic eye anatomy and function
• Ability to obtain - document and record ophthalmic and medical information from patients in order to develop an accurate electronic progress note
• Ability to practice basic hygiene and infection control in a patient care setting
• Ability to follow eye clinic and patient care medical policies and procedures
• Ability to perform minor eyeglasses repairs - such as replacing nose pad sand screws
• Health Technician (Optometry) - GS-06 Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Ability to provide patient education for eye health and/or vision conditions - to include assisting with patient contact lens insertion - removal and hygiene (cleaning and disinfection) care
• Ability to accurately enter into a phoropter the autorefractometry or habitual refractive prescription (i.e. - eyeglasses prescription) or lensometer findings - including sphere - cylinder and axis
• Ability to perform patient spectacle fitting and dispensing - including selection of appropriate frame - ophthalmic lenses - interpupillary measurements (distance and near) and proper segment height determination - as well as the ability to transpose sphere - cylinder and axis
• Ability to provide basic triage of patient telephone calls or optometry requests
• Knowledge of ophthalmic medications and supplies needed in the process of restocking the eye clinic exam rooms
• Health Technician (Optometry) - GS-07 Experience
• One year 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
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills and Abilities
• In addition to meeting the experience or educational requirements for this grade level - the candidate must fully demonstrate the following KSAs: Ability to determine preliminary objective estimate and/or refinement of the optical status of the eye - not to include the patient's final subjective refraction
• Ability to triage and manage eyeglasses issues (e.g. - measurement of vertex distance - base curve - prism correction - center thickness - slab off - Fresnel prism - decentration - etc.)
• Ability to perform accurate assessment of accommodation - near point of convergence and ocular alignment (far and near)
• Ability to assist the eye care provider (optometrist or ophthalmologist) with ophthalmic procedures
• Ability to assist with obtaining accurate ocular cultures and smears
• Knowledge and ability to provide advanced patient education for eye health and/or vision conditions
• References: VA Handbook 5005/142 - Part II - Appendix G68
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-7. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-4 to GS-7. Physical Requirements: Must be in overall good health - able to sit at a desk working at a computer - engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting - walking - bending - and carrying supplies
• Applicants must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands - exercise patience - and control emotions - with reasonable accommodation if necessary - without endangering the health and safety of the applicant or others
• See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

Duties

• Duties may include - but are not limited to: Health Technician (Optometry) GS-04 - Duties: Employees at this grade level serve in a health technician (Optometry) entry level position
• More experienced staff members guide and provide daily direct supervision for the health technicians (optometry)
• Health Technician (Optometry) GS-05 - Duties: Employees at this grade level serve as developmental level 1 health technicians (optometry)
• It is expected they receive guidance from more experienced staff members for patient issues and require daily and direct contact with senior Optometry personnel at the work site
• Health Technician (Optometry) GS-06 - Duties: Employees at this grade level serve as developmental level 2 health technicians (optometry)
• The technicians operate and monitor commonly used equipment performing basic screening procedures
• The health technicians (optometry) understand basic hygiene - cleaning and disinfection of reusable medical equipment (RME) instruments and ophthalmic equipment
• At this level - the technicians assist optometry staff by obtaining an accurate medical/ophthalmic history - as well as coding and entering eye testing performed on the encounter form
• Deviations from regular procedures - unanticipated problems and unfamiliar situations are referred to the supervisor for a decision or assistance
• Assignments at this level involve procedures performed under supervision from senior optometry personnel
• Health Technician (Optometry) GS-07 - Duties: Employees at this grade level serve as a full performance level health technician (optometry)
• The technicians perform duties such as measuring and recording visual acuity (with use of pinhole testing as indicated) - obtaining accurate potential acuity meter - laser interferometry - contrast sensitivity or other specialized visual acuity measurements
• The technicians also evaluate pupillary light responses and measure pupil size - determine the presence or absence of fusion and perform stereoacuity measurements
• The health technicians (optometry) perform Amsler grid testing - administer eye drops under the supervision of an eye care provider (optometrist or ophthalmologist) - perform basic tonometry (e.g. - non-contact - Goldmann - Tono-Pen) and estimate the anterior chamber depth with a penlight or slit lamp biomicroscope
• The technicians are skilled in properly reading a basic spectacle prescription using an automated or manual lensometer - obtaining accurate autorefractometry and keratometry measurements - performing confrontation and standard automated visual field testing and administering and scoring basic color vision tests (e.g. - pseudoischromatic plates - Farnsworth D-15)
• The technicians are also adept at measuring and recording corneal thickness by pachymetry as well as performance of advanced corneal measurements - exophthalmometry - tear testing and ocular imaging (e.g. - stereo fundus - basic slit lamp biomicroscopy - intraocular lens master measurements - ocular ultrasonography - posterior segment optical coherence tomography - fundus autofluorescence and/or ocular angiography)
• Work Schedule: 7:30 am - 4:00 pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 92537-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year)Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual - based on prior [work experience] or military service experience
• Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child
• Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144 -000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized