Career Center

This position is in the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Service Line and you will serve as a Pathology Specialist in the Anatomic Pathology area at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, TX. THERE IS A BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENT FOR THIS POSITION: Basic Requirement: Bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree with major study in an academic field related to the medical field, health sciences, or allied sciences appropriate to the work of the position. This degree must be from an educational program from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. NOTE: Transcripts are required at the time of application. AND In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, applicants must have specialized experience directly related to the work of this position as stated below: Specialized Experience: Applicants must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-11) in Federal Service that has given you the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of a Pathology Specialist GS-12. Specialized experience includes: processing pathology specimens including fixing, gross examination, orientation, cutting and dissecting; assisting with gross photography; preparing frozen sections for rapid diagnosis of tissue during surgery; operating and maintaining instruments and equipment used to prepare specimens for diagnosis; assisting pathologist with autopsies; preparing work areas for all inspections; and provides training to other qualified histology technicians in pathology specimen examination. NOTE: Your experience must be fully documented in your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: CommunicationMedical InformationQuality AssuranceTechnical Competence IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. 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; religious; 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. 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/. ["***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Duties include, but are not limited to the following: The Pathology Specialist manages the operations of the Surgical Pathology and Autopsy services The employee is responsible for managing all daily Surgical Pathology functions under the supervision of the Pathologist Work independently to perform these highly complex functions or in collaboration with pathology residents, technicians and technologists The employee's thorough understanding of the gross appearance of the pathologic processes in a wide variety of patient's samples allows him/her to comfortably adapt traditional methods to handle unique cases containing unknown abnormalities The employee is responsible for maintain regulatory compliance related to his/her duties daily; The employee plays a central role in the education and training of residents in pathology; Teaches other health care workers including technicians, technologists, nurses and administrative personnel Performs autopsies in rotation with residents and senior staff under the supervision of the Pathologist The employee participates in the development and implementation of methods in all areas of anatomic pathology relevant to Grossing and Autopsy Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8:00AM - 4:30PM\nRecruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required"]