Audiologist

About the role

The Physical Medicine and Rehab service is seeking a full time Audiologist for the Ralph H Johnson VAMC in Charleston, South Carolina.

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.
  • English Language Proficiency: Audiologist candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f).
  • Education: Doctor of Audiology (AuD) from an audiology program recognized by the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education (ACAE) or Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); or other doctoral degree in hearing science or a directly related field from an institution accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
  • Licensure: Individuals must hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice audiology at the doctoral level in a United States state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia.
  • Grandfathering Provision: 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). Employees in VHA in this occupation under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held, including positive education and licensure where applicable. Additional provisions apply for employees who do not meet all basic or assignment-specific requirements (see VA Handbook reference).
  • Grade Determinations (GS‑12):
    • Experience: Completion of one year of professional experience comparable to the next lower grade level.
    • Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):
      • Skill in determining nature, type, and severity of hearing/communication/vestibular disorders.
      • Skill in counseling patients and family members regarding management of hearing/communication/vestibular disorders.
      • Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional audiology to other health care professionals.
      • Ability to independently apply professional contemporary audiologic treatments to the full range of patient populations.
    • Assignment: This is the full performance level for staff audiologists. At this level, audiologists are licensed to practice independently in the provision of audiologic services, consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate. They serve as consultants to other health care professionals and are recognized subject matter experts (SME) on matters related to hearing, tinnitus, and balance disorders. The supervisor may assign staff audiologists to any VHA program and setting (e.g., inpatient/outpatient medicine, primary care, surgery, hearing health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, geriatrics, compensation and pension). Duties include diagnosing audiologic disorders, conducting audiologic or neuro‑audiologic assessments, treating auditory disorders through various modalities, providing adjunctive interventions for medical disorders, consulting with medical center staff, and participating in program evaluation, teaching, training, and research. Modalities include individual, family, and group audiologic rehabilitation.
• Preferred Experience: One to two years experience with Tinnitus Management (PTM).
• Physical Requirements: The work requires some physical exertion such as prolonged periods of sitting, bending, reaching, crouching, stooping, stretching, and lifting moderately heavy items. Must be able to push a patient in a wheelchair and assist in transferring from wheelchair to exam chair.

Responsibilities

• Identifying, evaluating, diagnosing, managing, and treating disorders of human hearing, balance, tinnitus, and other disorders associated with the practice of audiology.
• Conducting and interpreting behavioral, electroacoustic, or electrophysiologic tests used to evaluate disorders associated with the practice of audiology.
• Determining the appropriateness of amplification devices and systems such as hearing aids, sensory aids, hearing assistive devices, alerting and telecommunication systems, and captioning devices for Veterans with hearing impairment, taking into consideration physical, acoustic, cosmetic, situational, and contextual factors.
• Selecting, evaluating, fitting, and programming amplification devices and systems customized to the individual needs of Veterans; verifying the effectiveness of such devices or systems; counseling and training Veterans in the use of amplification devices and systems; and determining the benefit of amplification devices and systems.
• Determining candidacy based on hearing and communication information for auditory implants.
• Evaluating and providing treatment and management for Veterans with tinnitus using techniques that include, but are not limited to, educational counseling, biofeedback, masking, sound therapy, hearing aids, directed counseling, and combined methods.
• Participating in education and administration of audiology graduate and professional education programs including education, mentoring, and supervision of associated health trainees.
• Measuring functional outcomes, consumer satisfaction, effectiveness, efficiency, and cost‑benefit of practices and programs to maintain and improve the quality of audiology services.
• Serving as consultants to other health care professionals and recognized as subject matter experts (SME) on matters related to hearing, tinnitus, and balance disorders.
• Consulting with medical center staff on various patient care issues.
• Training health