Cytotechnologist

Summary

The position is located in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service at the New York Harbor Healthcare System. Cytotechnologists are certified laboratory professionals performing highly complex laboratory diagnostic testing on human specimens for diagnosis - treatment - or prevention of disease in the laboratory specialty of cytopathology.

Qualifications

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: Individuals must have successfully completed a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college/university and successfully completed a Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs accredited cytotechnology program
Foreign Education
To be creditable - education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization approved by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs
Certification: Candidates must currently possess the Cytotechnologist (CT) (ASCP) or Specialist in Cytotechnology (SCT) (ASCP) certification given by the ASCP Board of Certification
Loss of Certification
An employee who fails to maintain the required certification must be removed from the occupation - which may also result in termination of employment
Creditable Experience To be creditable - the experience must have required the use of knowledge - skills - abilities (KSAs) - and other characteristics - also referred to as core competencies
be associated with the scope of cytotechnologist practice equivalent to at least the next lower grade level
be directly related to the position being filled
and may be paid or non-paid employment
Part-Time Experience
Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time work week
For example - a cytotechnologist employed 20 hours per week - or on a half time basis - would receive one full-time work week of credit for each two weeks of service
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)
Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment - the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates
GS-11 Experience: The candidate must have one year of creditable experience equivalent to the journey level (GS-9) that is directly related to the position to be filled
Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities: In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate the KSAs: Ability to independently determine specimen adequacy using complex specialized testing methods or techniques during Endoscopic Ultrasound - Endobronchial Ultrasound - and other Fine Needle Aspiration procedures
Knowledge of pre-analytical - analytical - and post-analytical processes to establish and monitor the overall laboratory quality management and quality control program - and initiate corrective action as needed
Skill in collecting - compiling - and analyzing data for quality assurance - statistics - trends and reports - and implementing quality improvement initiatives
Skill in researching - testing - validating - and implementing new procedures and equipment
Preferred Experience: An applicant with at least 2 years of experience is preferred
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11 - which is the grade at which an applicant may be selected for
Physical Requirements: Work is sedentary but also demands standing - walking - bending - twisting - and carrying light items
Most of the work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions
The area is adequately lighted - heated and ventilated
However - the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations
A smaller portion of work is performed in a laboratory environment where safety precautions - such as standard precautions - and the use of personal protective equipment are required.

Duties

Cytotechnologists are solely responsible for: reporting the microscopic interpretation of normal pap smear tests used to detect cervical cancer
providing preliminary interpretation of specimens from other body sites
and collaborating with pathologists to diagnose benign and infectious processes - precancerous lesions - and malignant diseases
He or She facilitates team or unit processes by working in collaboration with team members to ensure that tasks - priorities - goals and achievements are coordinated with management
Major duties and responsibilities of the position include but are not limited to: The cytotechnologist independently performs and monitors smear preparation - slide fixation - cellblock preparation - monolayer filtration processing - and staining
If a discrepancy is identified with these processes - the cytotechnologist will troubleshoot and take corrective action
Prioritizes - prepares - and processes all specimens for cytodiagnostic and immunohistechemical testing in compliance with the guidelines of the regulatory agencies
Selects appropriate procedures and prepares specimens to ensure high quality preservation and morphology
The cytotechnologist independently reviews clinical data of patients and evaluates all cytology preparations by light microscopy for the presence or absence of cellular patterns - presence of micro-organisms - inflammatory reactions - endocrinopathies - benign changes - pre-malignant changes - neoplasia - and cellular responses to therapeutic agents
Attends clinical Fine Needle Aspirations to collect/prepare specimens and determine adequacy for diagnostic
Prepares slides and uses both conventional and special rapid processing methods
Screens from 80 to 100 slides per day identifying cells and marking abnormal cells for the pathologists
Suggest diagnosis and consultations with the pathologist or unusual cases
Review cases with staff physicians - dental and medical residents
Teaches medical students and others who are interested
Participates in QMPI activities by maintaining a file of cytology results to compare with the histopathology findings - diagnosis and correlates results
Cross-trains Histopathology technicians in the preparation of slides
Performs routine maintenance of equipment using standard operating procedures
Performs a full range of specialized tasks - including collecting - compiling - and analyzing data according to the laboratory quality management program
Reports diagnostics - concise microscopic conclusion - and diagnosis to pathologist in accepted cytopathologic terminology
Maintain effective quality assurance by demonstrating through tabulating and correlating all histologic - cytologic and clinical information for GYN and non-GYN specimens
Conducts quality control procedures on reagents and products and maintains accurate test results that are professionally accurate daily
Keeps abreast on new developments by reading technical and professional journals - attending professional meetings and workshops and then incorporates these methos for use in the laboratory
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
Functional Statement #: 14540F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized