Medical Technician (Phlebotomist)

This position is located in the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service (P&LMS) at the VA St. Louis Health Care System. The incumbent serves as a Medical Technician/Phlebotomist in the with the responsibility of obtaining blood samples by venipuncture from inpatients and outpatients. Incumbent is also responsible for correctly routing or delivering samples and maintaining records of blood draws.

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION***

Major Duties:

• Collects, labels, and processes a variety of specimens (drawing blood by means of venipuncture, obtaining urines samples and other clinical specimens as needed).
• Identifies all patients to assure the accuracy of the specimen collected and assures documentation of the collection is appropriate.
• Distributes add-on orders and recollects patient specimens when determined by the medical technologists to be inadequate or insufficient to meet the test requirements.
• Uses and performs routine maintenance on laboratory equipment such as portable blood collection stations, centrifuges, and blood pressure cuffs; maintains quality control supplies.
• Ensures that a sufficient supply of reagents, standards, and controls are available at all times by ordering an adequate supply from commercial sources or preparing a variety of specialized solutions or reagents.
• Orders supplies from central supply and replaces needle boxes/sharps contacts when needed and cleans patient phlebotomy rooms with appropriate cleaner.
• Observes, reports and records subtle physical and/or emotional changes in patients and identifies patient safety hazards and reports them to the laboratory manager.
• Performs all duties as assigned.

DESIGNATED DRUG-TESTING POSITION: Applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test result is received.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday from 8:30am-5:00pm and Monday - Friday from 2:00pm-10:30pm with rotating weekends and holidays.
Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized

English Language 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.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: For this Medical Technician, GS-4 position.
Possess at least six (6) months of general experience, and six (6) months of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. General Experience is: (1) Any type of work that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work of the position, or (2) experience that provided a familiarity with the subject matter or processes of the broad subject area of the occupation. Specialized experience is: (a) Technical medical laboratory support work such as performing laboratory tests and examinations (chemical, microbiologic, hematologic and blood banking) and preparing reports of findings or (b) technical support work in a closely related field, e.g., biological laboratory technician work that required application of the methods and techniques for the position to be filled. Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week.

OR

Possess a successfully completed (a) an associate-degree course of study of which the 2nd year of the 2-year program included successful completion of a training course of approximately a year's duration in a certified laboratory assistant school approved by a nationally recognized accrediting agency; (b) 1 year of study that included 6 semester hours in chemistry and/or the biological sciences, plus successful completion of (a) a full-time training course of approximately a year's duration in a medical or clinical laboratory assistant (or technician) school that included instruction in chemistry, hematology, blood banking, and microbiology (including serology) and that, in addition, included supervised laboratory practice incident to the diagnostic process and the treatment of patients; or (c) 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours of chemistry and/or biological science course work that must have been directly related to the specialization of the position to be filled. (Transcripts must be submitted at time of application)

OR

Possess an equivalent combination of post-high school education and experience, as described above. (Transcripts must be submitted at time of application)

This position includes a Selective Placement Factor (SPF) (skill, knowledge, ability or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirements for a position. Applicants who do not meet SPF are ineligible for further consideration.

The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: possess experience performing phlebotomy/blood draws on human patients.

You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position:

• Computer Skills
• Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)
• Patient Care
• Quality Assurance
• Specimen Collection

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.

Physical Requirements: The incumbent must fully utilize all safety practice and equipment provided by the medical center, and in compliance with local and accrediting agency requirements. This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. The work requires moderate physical exertion, such as regular and recurring standing, walking, sitting, twisting or bending to collect blood or record information. In many situations the duration of the activity (such as most of a workday) contributes to the arduous nature of the job. This position requires lifting up to 201bs and transferring patients or other objects may be required. Additionally, the incumbent may be required to don protective clothing for infectious solation situations.

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/.

IMPORTANT: 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: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov).

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.