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:

• a
• Citizenship
• Citizen of the United States
• b
• Experience and Education Experience
• One year of experience in a health care field, such as but not limited to nursing, medical assistant, or health technician
• OR Education
• Two years above high school with a minimum of six semester hours directly related to a health care field or associate's degree in a health care related degree
• OR Experience/Education Combination
• Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying
• Examples are listed below:(a) Six months of experience in the health care field
• and one year above high school
• or(b) Six months of experience in the health care field and successful completion of a course for health care technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or ophthalmology technicians given by the U.S. Armed Forces
• or(c) Six months of experience in the health care field and completion of an independent study course in Ophthalmic Medical Assisting
• c
• Certification
• All applicants must be certified as a Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA) with the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO)
• The COA certification is JCAHPO's entry-level certification examination for a Health Technician (Ophthalmology)
• Grade Determinations
• In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates
• Health Technician (Ophthalmology), GS-5 (Entry Level) Experience or Education
• None beyond the basic requirements
• Health Technician (Ophthalmology), GS-6 (Developmental Level 1) Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)
• In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 1
• Knowledge of general outpatient clinical policies and procedures in a healthcare environment
• 2
• Ability to obtain, document and record demographic and medical information from patients in order to develop an accurate medical record
• 3
• Ability to use basic ophthalmic equipment
• and 4
• Knowledge of basic disinfection of non-critical reusable medical equipment
• Health Technician (Ophthalmology), GS-7 (Developmental Level 2) Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the GS-6 grade level
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA)
• In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 1
• Knowledge of anatomy and function of the eye and basic ocular pharmacology
• 2
• Knowledge of outpatient eye care policies and procedures in a health care environment
• 3
• Ability to use basic ophthalmic diagnostic equipment to perform preliminary ocular testing
• 4
• Ability to perform minor extraocular surgical assisting
• and 5
• Ability to provide eye care patient education
• Health Technician (Ophthalmology), GS-8 (Full Performance Level) Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the GS-7 grade level
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA)
• In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: 1
• Ability to perform advanced tonometry and pupil evaluation
• 2
• Ability to perform calculations for selection of intraocular lens
• 3
• Knowledge of clinic based ophthalmic surgical assisting
• 4
• Knowledge of eye anatomy and physiology
• 5
• Knowledge of medication effects and proper instillation in the eye
• 6
• Knowledge of optics
• and 7
• Knowledge of proper cleaning and maintenance of clinic equipment
• Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional
• philanthropic
• religions
• spiritual
• community
• student
• social)
• Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment
• You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-8. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-5 to GS-8. Physical Requirements: The Health Technician-Ophthalmology should be able to lift and/or carry up to 45 pounds (intermittently)
• They will also straight pull/push up to 45 pounds (intermittently)
• They will stoop, squat and kneel (occasionally)
• The incumbent will have overhead work (intermittently)
• Position requires prolonged walking and standing (up to 4 hours per day) and sitting (up to 2 hours per day).