Health Technician

The Health Technician provides medical and adminstrative support in the primary care clinic Lab to support Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Serviice (P&LMS). The technician performs phlebotomy services, point of care testing, and specimen processing.

Duties

Duties will include, but are not limited to: Provide technical advice and assistance to clinicians, health care providers, and veterans. Evaluates operations, analyzes, and provides problem trend data and solutions and offer recommendations to all levels of management. Responds to requests and complaints and take corrective actions to resolve problems or expedite delivery of service. Greets patients, answer questions, and complaints, determine diagnostic needs, provide information and guidance, and initiate actions to address patient needs. Identifies emergent situations and alerts medical staff if conditions warrant immediate response. Receive orders and requests for testing and schedule examination and laboratory appointments. Prepare patients for collection of specimens. Collects blood using a variety of phlebotomy techniques including vacutainer system, syringe, butterfly, or capillary finger sticks with a minimal number of failures, patient bruising, or required repeat collection. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level GS-6 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. Work Schedule: intermittently Monday thru Friday 7:00am-3:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Technician-Intermittent/PD80397A and PD80399A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/19/2026. 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. Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): ALL applicants must meet the IOR. An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for the 0640 occupational series. You may meet this by: Specialized Experience: 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. OR, Education and Training (For positions at the GS-5 level only): Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position.(Transcripts Required) In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements you must also meet the Special Experience or Education requirement for the Health Technician Position. GS-5 Qualifications: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-4 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Reviewing patient's medical records. Working knowledge of medical terminology. Understanding of human anatomy as it relates to phlebotomy. Instructing and explaining test and procedures to patients and family members. Recognizing emergency situations. Assembling and operating medical equipment. Properly processing specimens. Understanding of phlebotomy techniques. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position. (Transcripts Required). OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to l year of specialized experience. (Transcripts Required). GS-6 Qualifications: You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Reviewing patient's medical records. Working knowledge of medical terminology, especially laboratory test names and specimen requirements. Understanding of human anatomy as it relates to phlebotomy. Instructing and explaining test and procedures to patients and family members. Recognizing emergency situations. Assembling and operating medical equipment. Properly processing specimens. Performing complex patient care. Operating and using specialized equipment. Understanding a variety of phlebotomy techniques. 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/.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work involves various physical demands requiring the employee to be versatile in the many functions performed. These include sedentary work performed at a desk with intermittent standing, walking, bending, lifting, stooping, and stretching. Position requires occasional lifting of a reagent and supply containers weighing up to 20 pounds. Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Required Documents" below for details. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.