Intermediate Care Technician (ICT)

Summary

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Intermediate Care Technician (ICT) Program is a program designed to hire transitioning service, National Guard, Reserve, and Veteran corpsmen, combat medics and medical technicians into positions at VA Medical Centers as an integral part of the medical team. This is an open continuous announcement. Applicants will be accepted on a ongoing basis and qualified candidates will be considered. The close date for this announcement is September 30th, 2026.

Duties

• The Intermediate Care Technician is an occupational specialty, especially for former military combat medics, medical technicians, and corpsmen. As an ICT, you will operate within clearly defined clinical competencies. Duties include but are not limited to: Performing observation-based screening and collecting patient information in collaboration with licensed personnel, this may involve completing clinical reminders, obtaining patient health history, chief complaints, medication history, and identification of health- related conditions that may impact the patient's health status. Completing approved templates and tools, such as, intake/outtake forms, normal result note follow up, clinical reminders, procedure and intervention notes established by the agency. Assisting in behavioral/psychiatric situations in an outpatient setting. This can include assisting licensed personnel with crisis intervention, management of aggressive or suicidal psychiatric patients, by providing one-to-one observations and applying prevention and management of disruptive behavior techniques (PMDB). Assists licensed staff with the delivery of care to patients with complex, specialized, and potentially life-threatening situations. You will assist licensed staff with setting up equipment and providing treatment during in person or virtual visits. Operating specialized medical equipment to obtain diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes. Observes patient status and keeps licensed clinical staff informed of any change in condition. You will assist clinical providers with emergency medical care, provides emergency response as part of the Rapid-Response-Team (RRT), and assists with training of other hospital clinical staff. Performing Diagnostic Tests. Examples: Vital Signs, 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG). Point-of-Care. Examples: glucometer, COVID swabbing. Specimen collection and Preparation. Examples: collecting and labeling venous blood samples. Minor Procedures. Examples: simple one-layer laceration repairs, incision and drainage, skin stapling, STERIS trips, Dermabond. Medication Administration: nebulized medications, topical, limited PO meds, vaccine administration. Wound Care. Examples. wound debridement, Wet-to-Dry dressings, Unna Boot placement, compression dressings- Forflex and Profour, wound vac placement, graft application. Patient education within scope of care or while providing an intervention. Electronic Health Record (EHR): Thoroughly and appropriately documents actions, interventions and procedures in the medical record. Examples: Procedural notes and progress notes. 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 Intermittently Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Intermediate Care Technician (ICT)/PD99362-S, PD99363-S, and PD99968-S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Physical Demands: The work involves extended periods of bending, standing and walking. Generally, the work requires recurring physical exertion with assisting patients.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/30/2026. 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. Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): ALL applicants must meet the IOR. An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for the 0640 occupational series. You may meet this by: Specialized Experience: 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 required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. OR, Education and Training (For positions at the GS-5 level only): 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.(Transcripts Required) In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements you must also meet the Special Experience or Education requirement for the Intermediate Care Technician Position. GS-05 grade level: Experience: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-04 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes but is not limited to: Obtain and maintain records of patient health history, complaints, and medication history; Perform identification of health-related conditions that may impact the patient's health status; Assist on evaluation of patients for emergent/non emergent medical conditions. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed 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. (Transcripts Required) OR, Combination: 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. Two full academic years of study, or 60 semester hours, beyond the second year is equivalent to l year of specialized experience. (Transcripts Required) GS-06 grade level: Experience: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes but is not limited to: Obtain and maintain records of patient health history, complaints, and medication history; Performs Evaluation on patients for emergent/non-emergent medical conditions; Ordering and assisting appropriate diagnostic studies (vital signs, EKG, and immunizations); Performing interventions based upon patient symptoms and established protocols/standards; Assisting Physicians with complex, specialized, and potentially-life threatening procedures. GS-07 grade level: Experience: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-06 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes but is not limited to: Prepare and administer medications through various methods, examples include, intramuscular injections, subcutaneous injections, intradermal injections, oral, aerosolized including oxygen, topical, intraocular (eye drops), Otic (ear drops), intranasal, rectal (suppositories), local anesthetics, intraurethral, and intravenous. Perform minor surgical procedures, medical interventions and administer treatments to manage care to combat disease or disabling symptoms example incise and drain various skin infections or abscesses. Order appropriate diagnostic studies under the direction of the supervising Licensed Independent Practitioner (LIP) obtains and Reports Diagnostic and laboratory results. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed one (1) full year (18 semester hours) of graduate education that is directly related to the work of the position and have submitted transcripts with application. (Transcripts Required) 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/ Preferred Qualifications: Experience in the military as a Hospital Corpsman, Combat Medic, Medical Technician is highly desired. Examples of military occupational specialties highly desired, include but are not limited to: 4NOX- Basic Medical Technician, 4NOIC- Independent Duty Medical Technician, X4NO- Aeromedical Evacuation Technician, 1T2X1- Pararescueman, 68W- Combat Medic Specialist, 18D- Army Special Forces (Medic), 68WW1- Special Operations Flight Medic, HM0000- Basic Hospital Corpsman, HM8404- Field Medical Service Technician, HM8425- Surface Force Independent Duty Corpsman, HM8402- Submarine Force Independent Duty Corpsman, HM8401- Search and Rescue Medical Technician, HM8403- Fleet Marine Force Reconnaissance Independent Duty Corpsman, HM8406- Aerospace Medical Technician, and HS- Basic Health Services Technician. 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/.

Requirements

You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work involves extended periods of bending, standing and walking. Generally, the work requires recurring physical exertion with assisting patients. 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 period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online questionnaire and submission of the required documentation specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the application questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13020435. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 09/30/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. NOTE: Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit.