Career Center

The incumbent serves as a Medical Technician in the Microbiology department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service. The incumbent is primarily responsible for accessioning/processing/plating microbiology/molecular specimens submitted for analysis. In addition, the incumbent would communicate critical results, perform Stain setups of all specimens as required by policy under the guidance of the microbiology medical technologists. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/09/2022. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Assisting in the work-up of cultures from human body sites: blood, spinal fluid, other body fluids, respiratory cultures, urine, feces, wounds, tissue, etc. operate the Bactec FX instrument for loading and offloading blood cultures. This includes the daily performance testing, maintenance, gram staining positive cultures, sub-culturing to the appropriate media, and physician notifications. Process and perform a variety of enzyme immunoassays, including but not limited to Legionella Urinary Antigen, Leuko-EZ Lactoferrin, NOW Streptococcus pnuemoniae, Strep A, Rapid HIV, and parasitology testing. Collect venous samples from inpatients and outpatients. The Medical Technician will be required to proficiently collect these blood samples with a minimal number of failures, patient bruising, or required resticks. The Medical Technician is expected to select the appropriate equipment, including tube color and size for the testing requested. Participates in the College of American Pathologists (CAP) proficiency testing. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationOrganizational StewardshipTeamworkTechnical Competence 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. 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. Physical Requirements: The Medical Technician's work requires a constant up and down operation, or prolonged periods of time at the plating bench. Lifting, reaching, and handling is required to obtain supplies, loading autoclaves, and operating laboratory equipment. Work is performed under the physical and mental stress of having to work quickly and accurately. 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/. ["Duties and Responsibilities of the Medical Technician include: Accessioning, processing, preparing, and plating specimens submitted for aerobic and anaerobic bacteriology, mycology, mycobacteriology, and environmental microbiology Assisting in the work-up of cultures from human body sites: blood, spinal fluid, other body fluids, respiratory cultures, urine, feces, wounds, tissue, etc. The technician assists in the culture work-up of non-body sites which may provide valuable information in the management of patients' catheter tips, artificial valves, dialysate fluids, solutions, environmental cultures, etc. Prepares daily stains and wet preparations prepared directly from clinical samples to provide immediate information to the physician before culture results are available Filters water samples and plates cultures for environmental legionella testing Operates the Bactec FX instrument for loading and offloading blood cultures. This includes the daily performance testing, maintenance, gram staining positive cultures, sub-culturing to the appropriate media, and physician notifications Processes and performs a variety of enzyme immunoassays, including but not limited to Legionella Urinary Antigen, Leuko-EZ Lactoferrin, NOW Streptococcus pnuemoniae, Strep A, Rapid HIV, and parasitology testing. Collects venous samples from inpatients and outpatients. The Medical Technician will be required to proficiently collect these blood samples with a minimal number of failures, patient bruising, or required resticks Selects the appropriate equipment, including tube color and size for the testing requested Participates in the College of American Pathologists (CAP) proficiency testing Recognizes critical values and communicates those critical results to the clinicians as described in the Critical Value SOP Responsible for inventory management. Unpacks and dates received products such as reagents, kits, media, and general supplies. Takes regular inventory and initiates ordering of supplies Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 6:30am-3:00pm\nCompressed/Flexible: Not Available\nVirtual: This is not a virtual position.\nPosition Description/PD#: Medical Technician-Microbiology/PD016820\nRelocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized\nPermanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized\nFinancial Disclosure Report: Not required"]