Qualifications

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 (1) A bachelor's degree or higher in orthotics and prosthetics from a Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) accredited program
• OR, (2) A bachelor's degree or higher in any major along with a post-graduate orthotics or prosthetics certificate from a CAAHEP accredited program
• Board Certification
• Candidates must be board certified by the American Board for Certification in Orthotics and Prosthetics (ABC) or the Board for Orthotist/Prosthetist Certification (BOC) as an orthotist, prosthetist, or orthotist/prosthetist
• The board certificate must be current and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirements for continuing education
• Certification as a technician, pedorthist, assistant or fitter does not meet this requirement
• Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates
• Creditable Experience (1) Knowledge of Current Orthotist/Prosthetist Practices
• To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with current professional orthotic and/or prosthetic professional practice
• (2) Quality of Experience
• The experience must be post-degree, from an accredited training program and include work as a professional orthotist/prosthetist directly related to the 4 position to be filled
• Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid or non-paid employment
• For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significantly larger 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
• Orthotist/Prosthetist
• An allied health professional specifically trained to provide or manage the provision of custom designed, fabricated, modified and fitted orthoses and prostheses based upon the independent or consultative clinical assessment of the patient's unique needs and desires, as well as their expectations and pursuant to a physician's prescription
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above, 9 the candidate must demonstrate the following KSA and demonstrate the potential to acquire the assignment- specific KSAs designated by an asterisk (*): 1
• Knowledge of regulatory requirements established by ABC, BOC, NCOPE, IAOP, AAOP, JCAHO, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMMS), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), etc., in order to provide advice to VISN management of the implementation of those requirements
• *2
• Knowledge of administrative functions including budget development and management, inventory management, space and workload planning, as well as knowledge of the National Prosthetic Patient Database, a knowledge of the Prosthetic National Software package, CPRS, DSS and knowledge of accreditation requirements for orthotic and prosthetic laboratories and knowledge of certification requirements for clinical staff in order to develop VISN guidelines and policies, allocate resources within the VISN, and project future workload for the VISN
• *3
• Ability to analyze data and provide reports using HCPC codes and other patient database information from VISN orthotic and prosthetic laboratories and to provide such reports to VISN management
• *4
• Ability to serve as a consultant to orthotists/prosthetists within the VISN on emerging technologies, the most difficult and complex cases, changes in policy, etc
• *5
• Ability to supervise
• (To be used if the assignment is supervisory in nature.) Supervisory Orthotist/Prosthetist
• The orthotist/prosthetist at this level serves as the supervisor and laboratory manager for large laboratories or multiple satellite laboratories
• In addition to the responsibilities described at the GS-12 level, this assignment includes serving as a VISN resource/consultant for orthotics and prosthetics
• performing or overseeing testing and evaluation of design concepts
• overseeing and evaluating contract orthotics and prosthetics vendors
• Preferred Experience: Completion of 1 year experience equivalent to the next lower grade level
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS 13
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.