Psychology Program Manager - Vet Center Director

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.

Education

• 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.
    • For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term “specialty area” refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills.
• Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and - in addition - successfully complete a re specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions:
  • 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).
    • (a) The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program.
  • 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).
    • (b) the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
• Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution - with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature AND
  • Internships
    • (a) 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.
  • (b) 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.
  • (c) 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.
  • (d) 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.
• (e) 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.
• Note: Psychologists who meet the requirements of this revision and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the requirements of this qualification standard.

Experience

At least three years of experience as a professional psychologist - with at least one year equivalent to the GS-13 grade level.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of and ability to utilize evidence based practices and clinical practice guidelines appropriately and ability to guide staff in using these tools.
• Skill in managing and directing the work of others to accomplish program goals and objectives.
• Ability to translate management goals and objectives into well-coordinated and controlled work operations.
• Ability to establish and monitor production and performance priorities and standards.
• Ability to analyze organizational and operational problems and to develop and implement solutions that result in sound operation of the program.

References

For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards.