Career Center

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. Candidates generally qualify based on U.S. Armed Forces experience or equivalent education.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 09/30/2026. Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR): The IOR is a basic requirement that must be met. To qualify for this occupational series - all applicants - regardless of grade level must meet specialized experience listed below: 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. English 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. You must be proficient in basic written and spoken English in order to meet the requirements of this position. In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement and English Proficiency - applicants must also meet the grade specific requirements listed below: GS-07 grade level: 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: Performed ongoing patient care duties in an outpatient clinical setting; Performed observation-based screening and collecting patient information; Setting up equipment and providing treatment during in-person or virtual visits; Skilled in specimen collection - mental health assessments - and assisting with patient exams and screenings; Performed vital signs - point of care testing - and wound care. 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: One full year of graduate education meets the requirements for GS-7 only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. (Transcripts Required) Preferred Qualifications: Primary Care - Emergency Room - Urgent Care - Ambulatory Care. 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. 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 work involves extended periods of bending - standing and walking. Generally - the work requires recurring physical exertion with assisting 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/.

Duties

• This is an open-continuous announcement
• It establishes a standing register of eligible applicants which closes on 9/30/2026 or until all positions have been filled
• Positions will be filled as they become available
• There will be multiple cut-off dates used to consider applications for referral to the selecting official
• The Intermediate Care Technician is an occupational specialty - especially for former military combat medics - medical technicians - and corpsmen
• Performing observation-based screening and collecting patient information in collaboration with licensed personnel
• Complete approved templates and tools - such as the outpatient intake form - normal result notes - and follow up treatment protocols established by the agency
• Assists in behavioral/psychiatric situations in an outpatient setting
• 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 outpatient licensed staff with the delivery of care to patients with complex - specialized - and potentially life-threatening situations
• Observes patient status and keeps licensed personnel informed of any change in condition
• Clinical responsibilities include but are not limited to: Vital signs
• Examples: vital signs - 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG)
• Point-of-care (POC)
• Examples: Abbott hand-held blood analyzer (I-STAT) - glucometer
• Equipment and surgical instrumentation set up
• Examples: skin biopsies (excisional - shave - punch)
• Treatments and interventions
• Examples: Cryotherapy - incision and drainage - ambulation - and Foley coude' catheter insertion
• Wound care
• Examples: bandaging - application of dressings and wound measurements
• Specimen collection and Preparation
• Examples: collecting and labeling venous blood samples and mucous specimens
• Other duties may be assigned
• Work Schedule: Monday to Friday - 7:00am-3:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Compressed tour available after orientation Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Position Description/PD#: Intermediate Care Technician/PD99968S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized