Intermediate Care Technician

This Intermediate Care Technician is assigned to the Specialty Care Clinics, under the Division of Hospital and Specialty Medicine, at the VA Portland Health Care System.

**Recruitment/Relocation Incentives may be authorized for highly qualified candidates**

Major duties include but are not limited to:

Patient Screening:

• Performs observation-based screening and collecting patient information in collaboration with licensed personnel. This may involve completing clinical reminders, obtaining patient health history, chief complaints, medication history, and identification of health-related conditions that may impact the patient's health status.
• Completes approved templates and tools, such as the outpatient intake form, normal result notes, and follow up treatment protocols established by the agency.

Mental Health Services:

• Assists in behavioral/psychiatric situations in an outpatient setting. This can include assisting licensed personnel with crisis intervention, management of aggressive or suicidal psychiatric patients, by providing one-to-one observations and applying prevention and management of disruptive behavior techniques (PMDB).
• Performs duties focused on communication techniques required to complete the questioners and templates approved for use in any outpatient clinical setting, including active listening, restating, and mirroring.
• Maintains a safe and therapeutic environment for the patient while promoting a sense of worth and dignity under the supervision of the licensed personnel.

Medication Administration:

• Ensures medical administration complies with national and local directives and policies. Methods may include intramuscular, oral, topical, eye drops, ear drops, intranasal, rectal suppositories, local anesthetics, nebulized medications, subcutaneous, and intradermal.
• Follows national and local pharmacy and facility guidelines for disposal of medications.

Clinical Tasks:

• Assists outpatient licensed staff with the delivery of care to patients with complex, specialized, and potentially life-threatening situations.
• Assists licensed staff with preparing patients for medical evaluation, setting up equipment, passing instruments and providing treatment during in person or virtual visits.
• Operates specialized medical equipment to obtain diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes.
• Responsible for collecting a wide range of specimens and preparing them for transfer to processing.
• Initiates cardiopulmonary resuscitation (BLS) and use of automatic external defibrillator (AED) once certified and where appropriate according to American Heart Association (AHA) protocols and policies.
• Observes patient status and keeps licensed personnel informed of any change in condition.
• Clinical responsibilities include but are not limited to:
  • Vital signs. Examples: vital signs, 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG).
  • Point-of-care (POC). Examples: Abbott hand-held blood analyzer (I-STAT), glucometer. Equipment and surgical instrumentation set up. Examples: skin biopsies (excisional, shave, punch).
  • Treatments and interventions. Examples: Cryotherapy, incision and drainage, ambulation, and Foley coude' catheter insertion.
  • Wound care. Examples: bandaging, application of dressings and wound measurements.
  • Specimen collection and Preparation. Examples: collecting and labeling venous blood samples and mucous specimens.
  • Assisting with patient exams and screening. Examples: gynecology exams.
  • Mental health care. Examples: Crisis intervention, performs behavioral/mental health screens, conducts interviews, and observes behavioral patients.
  • Preparation of lab specimens and transfer to the lab for processing: Examples: Labeling placing in the proper bin or tube system.
  • Assisting with patient exams and screening, utilizing technology such as telehealth peripherals. Examples: primary care physical exams (heart, eye, ear, nose, throat (EENT); gait exams, and skin exams.
  • Patient education within scope of care or while providing an intervention. Examples: post procedural care, splint care and wound care.
  • Follow-up care: Examples: Suture removal.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday. Possible hours of work are 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM, 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM, and 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM PST. The final schedule will be determined by the manager at the time of hire, considering service needs and applicant's input.
Telework: Not authorized.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Intermediate Care Technician/PD99968S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized for highly qualified candidates.
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet Specialized Experience requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 06/22/2026.

English 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. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• 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. You MUST possess at least one year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of Intermediate Care Technician position, and that is typically in or related to the work of this position. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-6 grade level in the Federal Service. Qualifying specialized experience includes: Conducting patient screening and collecting patient information for medical records; assisting licensed healthcare staff during patient exams and procedures; communicating patient updates and information to healthcare providers; operating medical equipment to obtain and record diagnostic measurements; responding promptly to medical emergencies; and assisting in urgent care situations.
  NOTE: 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. OR,
• Education: Successfully completed one (1) year of graduate education or internship directly related to the position at the next lower grade level. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one (1) year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from the school,18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. Note: Transcripts required.

Preferred Experience: 1 year outpatient clinical experience, 6 months dermatology clinic experience, 1 year wound care experience.

Preferred Qualifications: Experience in the military as a Hospital Corpsman, Combat Medic, Medical Technician is highly desired. Examples of military occupational specialties highly desired, include but are not limited to: 4NOX- Basic Medical Technician, 4NOIC- Independent Duty Medical Technician, X4NO- Aeromedical Evacuation Technician, 1T2X1- Pararescueman, 68W- Combat Medic Specialist, 18D- Army Special Forces (Medic), 68WW1- Special Operations Flight Medic, HM0000- Basic Hospital Corpsman, HM8404- Field Medical Service Technician, HM8425- Surface Force Independent Duty Corpsman, HM8402- Submarine Force Independent Duty Corpsman, HM8401- Search and Rescue Medical Technician, HM8403- Fleet Marine Force Reconnaissance Independent Duty Corpsman, HM8406- Aerospace Medical Technician, and HS- Basic Health Services Technician. 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.

Physical Requirements: The work involves extended periods of bending, standing and walking. Generally, the work requires recurring physical exertion with assisting patients.

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/.

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/.

• 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.
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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)

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 period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.