Health Technician (Pathology and Laboratory)
What you'd do
The positions are located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), North Battlefield VA Clinic and Western Branch, in the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service. Performs duties in the receiving, accessioning and specimen processing area including collecting chain of custody drug screens, reference laboratory specimen processing, clerical functions, patient testing, and phlebotomy.
Major duties
Duties include but are not limited to: Identifies patients utilizing the full name and social security number before collecting, processing and /or hospital computer entry of requests. Compares orders from multiple physicians and requests the medical technologist to combine the orders. Identifies, labels and collection blood bank specimens for STAT and routine testing while next to the patient bedside or chair side. Performs phlebotomy using specialized techniques for cleansing the blood collection site to prevent bacterial contamination that's critical to patient care, to ensure the contamination rate of blood cultures remains with in guidelines with blood culture contamination. Draws blood tests ordered by providers for inpatients, outpatients, CBOC patients and for requested drug screens. Selects proper vacutainer tubes for testing using various sized needles, and/or butterfly collection devices to collect appropriate specimens. Establishes proper identity of all patients, ensures accountability of specimens by proper and complete labeling with patient's name and identification and initials all tubes drawn. Performs other duties as assigned. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Technician (Pathology and Laboratory)/PD02881A and PD50092A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/17/2026. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Individual Occupational Requirements: This occupational series has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) which is a minimum qualification requirement. ALL applicants must meet the IOR as a basic requirement in order to qualify for the 0640 occupational series. Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above): 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 requires application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled, OR For GS-5: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position. In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement above, you must posses the education and/or experience required to qualify for the GS-05 grade level: Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-04 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: receiving, accessioning and specimen processing area including collecting chain of custody drug screens, reference laboratory specimen processing, clerical functions, patient testing, and phlebotomy. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed 4 years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED). OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the second year of a 4-year course of study. Only education in excess of the first 60 semester hours of a course of study leading to a bachelor's degree is creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirements. Selective Placement Factor: Experience performing phlebotomy/blood draws on human 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/.
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