Summary

A Histopathology technician is responsible for all clinical disciplines of the Anatomic Pathology section to include Histology - Autopsy and Cytology. This Advanced Histopathology Technician will be performing digital pathology tasks including scanning slides and reviewing the quality of digital images.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE: Experience: One year of experience in a health care field that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work such as but not limited to a medical or clinical laboratory assistant (or technician) or health technician
• OR Education: Four academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation such as biological science or chemistry
• OR Successful completion of two academic years of study above high school that included at least 24 semester hours in Chemistry and/or in appropriate fields of biological science and successful completion of a 12-month program of education and training in histopathology or cytotechnology
• OR Experience/Education Combination-Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable
• Examples are listed below: Six months of experience in the health care field and two years of education above high school that included at least six semester hours in health care related courses such as biological science - surgical technician courses or other courses related to the position
• or an associate's degree in a health care related field
• OR Six months of experience in the health care field and successful completion of a course for health care technicians - hospital corpsmen - medical service specialists - or histopathology technicians given by the U.S. Armed Forces
• SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Advanced Histopathology Technician - GS-7:Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level
• One year of experience as a histology technician that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work such as but not limited to microtomy - embedding - routine and specialized staining and data entry
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate all of the following Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• Skill in applying professional - complex anatomic pathology principles - practices - concepts - and theories in performing new or difficult specialized testing methods or techniques
• Ability to provide technical oversight of laboratory quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement exhibiting competence in managing reagent and supply inventories and document control systems
• Ability to validate methodologies - operate anatomic pathology laboratory equipment and perform complex instrument troubleshooting
• Ability to use independent technical judgment to analyze and evaluate laboratory results and resolve problems
• May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria)
• Preferred Experience: One year experience in the healthcare or histopathology field that demonstrates the applicants ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work such as but not limited to a medical or clinical laboratory assistant (or technician) or health technician
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• Physical Requirements: This position requires visual acuity - keen hearing - clear distinctive speech - and manual dexterity
• This position requires mostly periods of continued walking - standing - stooping - sitting - bending - pulling - and pushing
• Transferring patients and objects may be required
• The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to don protective clothing in isolation situations
• The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients/residents who are combative secondary to delirium - dementia - or psychiatric disorders
• The incumbent must be a mature - flexible - sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations - able to shift priorities based on stakeholder needs.

Duties

• Work Schedule: 4:00 AM - 12:30 Monday - Friday Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized
• Telework: Not Authorized
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
• Duties include but are not limited to: The incumbent is involved in the implementation of special immunohistochemical procedures using enzymatic methodologies with various tumor markers to demonstrate antibody-antigen reactions that have specific value to the patient's disease state
• The incumbent is accountable for Antibody Validation and Reagent Lot Verification for lmmunohistochemistry (IHC) procedures along with the Pathologist
• develops parameters for each specialized procedure being done based on knowledge and skill specific to immunohistochemical work
• The incumbent is responsible for fixation and processing of surgical - bone marrow - postmortem and cytologic specimens - including but not limited to dehydration - clearing - infiltration - sectioning and staining of histological materials and the preparation and staining of cytological specimens
• The incumbent is responsible for decalcification to remove calcium deposits from tissues to provide optimal quality sections
• embedding tissue to give proper orientation for diagnostic interpretation
• preparing smears - cell blocks and monolayers by ThinPrep according to standard techniques and applying appropriate stains
• The incumbent is responsible for preparing tissue with appropriate preservative for transport
• routinely evaluating the appropriateness of specimen type - method of testing and any changes to procedure or alternative methods based on the information
• and determining the correct handling procedures of each specimen for optimum results
• This may necessitate adjustments or modifications of procedures to appropriately process such samples
• The incumbent investigates - evaluates - and establishes quality control materials for measuring the validity and accuracy of testing results in the Histology section
• Identifies and resolves problems by examining all aspects of testing including instrument function - conditions of test performance and evaluation of reaction systems for type and match purposes and quality control
• The incumbent manages the operation and maintenance of equipment in the section and adapts equipment for specialized procedures
• Prepares reagents following complex formula and specifications - taking into consideration patient sample specifications - and adjusting preparation accordingly using expertise and experience
• Troubleshoots equipment - verifies correct instrument operation
• standardizes - performs - and calculates information for a variety of complex tests
• This incumbent also researches - adapts procedures used in the department in accordance with the various accreditation standards and policies/procedures
• Remains abreast of current & developing methodologies to ensure the department meets with all accreditation agencies standards - (i.e.CAP - JCAHO - and OSHA - etc.)
• The incumbent ensures specimens are correctly labeled with appropriate request information and resolves issues - (such as inadequate labeling - wrong preservative used - inadequate specimens - etc.)
• The Incumbent is responsible for maintaining supply inventory on items used in the Histopathology Section and - as necessary - initiates orders for additional supplies - and distributes upon delivery
• The incumbent utilizes recording systems to document the work process
• Maintains an accurate filing system or organization of histological materials so the blocks - slides - and tissues are retrievable with minimum effort
• The incumbent assists the Pathologist or Pathology Resident with autopsy - as needed
• The duties include accounting for all required documentation - such as patient information - identity of the body - and scheduling the autopsy
• Under the direction of the Pathologist or Pathology Resident - performs postmortem eviscerations - places removed specimens in proper preserving solutions or containers and properly labels the specimens
• The incumbent performs restoration procedure of the body and maintains the autopsy area including instruments - equipment - and clothing
• The incumbent will also appropriately discard residual autopsy tissues in accordance with retention guidelines
• The incumbent is under the supervision of a Pathologist and Anatomical Pathology Supervisor and participates in the development of histological protocols as it relates to local antibodies and instrument correlations and methods
• The Incumbent evaluates new procedures for incorporation into the lab and assesses the effectiveness of the procedures and quality control in accordance with the requirements of accreditation agencies and works to ensure the section is compliant
• The incumbent will scan slides to produce digital images - review image quality - manage digital workflows - perform equipment maintenance - and system troubleshooting as needed.