Summary
The U.S. Department of State is developing a rank-ordered list of eligible hires for a limited number of Regional Medical Officer-Psychiatrist positions. Learn more about Foreign Service careers at https://careers.state.gov.
There is more to joining the Foreign Service than just salary. Refer to the Benefits section for more information on total compensation.
Duties
The Bureau of Medical Services (MED) in the Department of State safeguards and promotes the health and well-being of the United States' diplomatic community, which consists of employees, and their accompanying family members, who represent United States government agencies abroad. The Department assigns Foreign Service Medical Specialists called Regional Medical Officers (RMOs), Regional Medical Officer Psychiatrists (RMOPs), Medical Providers (MPs), and Regional Medical Laboratory Scientists (RMLS) to selected posts overseas. Many of these posts have significant health risks and local medical care that is inadequate by U.S. standards.
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A Regional Medical Officer Psychiatrist (RMOP) works either independently or as a member of a team of FS Medical Specialists to provide medical support for USG employees and their Eligible Family Members (EFMs).
An RMOP is considered essential personnel and is expected to be available on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
RMOP duties include but are not limited to:
Clinical Responsibilities
- All Medical Specialists working with the Bureau of Medical Services must be willing to provide primary care services and counseling to all patients regardless of age, sexual orientation, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, language, disease, disability, or religion.
- Administer mental health care to U.S. embassy personnel, their spouses, and children.
- Help employees and family members, including children, with adjustment to post lifestyle and culture.
- Provide basic child/adolescent outpatient care (percentage is dependent on post).
- Perform telephone and telehealth video consultations.
- Arrange 24-hour care.
- Respond to crises at the home post or regional posts.
- Advise on mental health prevention strategies.
- Maintain an awareness regarding alcohol and drug abuse at post and provide educational and treatment services.
- Render clinical consultations and respond to allegations of domestic violence, child abuse, and child neglect.
- Provide consultation to other medical staff.
- Teach mental health crisis management.
- Train locally hired nurses and health unit staff on screening for psychiatric conditions and stress management.
- Assess morale at overseas embassies and consulates.
- Communicate regularly with the mission community.
- Maintain medical record documentation on clinical patient care.
- Use other computer software to provide services.
- Evaluate local mental health care providers and mental health facilities at posts overseas.
- Evaluate the availability of local psychiatric medications.
- Maintain or advise on Health Unit (HU) inventory of medications and oversees controlled substances.
- Assure personal continuing medical education.
- Perform regional travel.
- Work with non-department of state agencies.
- Arrange medical evacuations.
- Assist consular corps.
- Liaise with other RMOPs.
- Ensure emergency preparedness.
- Advise Embassy Leadership.
- Consult at the American (or international) schools.
- Deal with problems in the embassy workplace.
- Assist with Medical Clearances.
- Deal with local health care officials.
- Communicate with medical headquarters in Washington.
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
- Be a U.S. citizen and accept assignments based on the needs of the FS.
- Be able to obtain/maintain a Top-Secret Security Clearance.
- Be able to meet the minimum medical qualification standard.
- Be able to obtain a favorable Suitability Review Panel determination.
- Be at least 20 years old at application and 21 years old to be appointed.
- Be appointed prior to age 60 (preference eligible veterans excepted).
RMOPs may need to perform essential functions effectively with or without reasonable accommodation, in environments that pose physical or other occupational challenges. These duties may include:
- Providing direct patient care that may require heavy lifting, pulling, stooping, and twisting in austere environments.
- Travelling independently to regional posts utilizing commercial air carriers, military aircraft, or other transportation modalities that may not offer special access accommodations.
- Providing emergency care in any location following an accident, natural disaster, or attack and emergency care in potentially hostile or physically challenging environments, such as in buildings without elevators or in areas with irregular spaces that require kneeling, bending, stooping, lifting, and running over uneven terrain.
- Transporting of self or patients via small aircraft, helicopters, ambulances, or other non-standard modes of transportation with small entrances and high floors, such as high axle armored vehicles.
At the time of application, the candidate must possess education, licensure and board certifications, and specialized experience as indicated in this vacancy announcement.
Licensure and Board Certification
Candidates must have a current, valid, and unrestricted license to practice medicine in a U.S. State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States. Applications will not be accepted from psychiatrists who are not licensed. The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) must certify candidates in psychiatry. American Board certification and re-certification, state medical licensure, and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration must be maintained for the duration of employment. Once hired, candidates will be required to obtain and maintain a District of Columbia license.
Specialized Experience:
The candidate must have a current board certification by the ABPN, and a minimum of three (3) of the last eight (8) years must include post-residency work in adult and/or child & adolescent psychiatry, in which at least 50% of the time must involve direct patient care. Time spent in a Psychiatric Fellowship upon the completion of residency will be included as post-residency work.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
The Department has conducted extensive job analysis research to determine Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) and other attributes conducive to successful performance in this position. A candidate's education level, work experience, and other qualifications will be considered as part of the hiring decision-making process based on these KSA criteria.
Education, work experience, and other qualifications are evaluated for evidence of the following knowledge, skills, abilities, and other requirements that have been identified as important to successful job performance as a Regional Medical Officer Psychiatrist based on extensive job analysis research. Not all attributes need to be met by a candidate; the attributes will be used as a set to evaluate candidates.
Specific medical knowledge areas required by the job include: general psychiatry, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, autism and related disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, other learning disorders, sleep disorders, eating disorders, alcoholism and drug abuse, psychotic disorders, suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder, basic understanding of mental health problems of children/adolescents, violence directed at women/children/elderly, clinical psycho-pharmacology, laboratory medicine, medical aspects of terrorism, health-related environmental factors, basic concepts in organizational psychology, and health insurance.
Specific medical skills required by the job include interviewing, history taking, triage, stress counseling, prescription treatment, providing critical feedback, couples therapy, organizing others, mentoring, medical communication, using medical software, dealing with different cultures, and working with limited resources.
Personal skills required by the job include reading comprehension, active listening, active learning, oral and written communication, public speaking, complex problem identification, critical thinking, judgment and decision making, social perceptiveness, interpersonal skills, persuasion, service orientation, instructing, time management, monitoring, coordination, and process operation and control.
Management skills required by the job include supervision, leadership, teaching others, managing personnel and financial resources, contingency planning and crisis management, organizing and managing events/programs/projects, time management, collaborating, working with limited resources, acclimating to different cultures, and computer use.
Other attributes required by the job include compassionate, unflappable, self-confident, firm convictions, independent but integrated with the department, interest in continuous learning and change, interest in foreign service work, tolerance of on-call and emergency demands, tolerance of travel, worldwide available, and tolerance of living away from family.
Willingness to deploy to high threat environments to provide care and consultation to persons under Chief of Mission Authority. Ability to consult with senior leaders, officers, and family members with tact, recognizing the limited role of the physician in a non-medical organizational environment. Ability to work effectively with colleagues from other cultures. Ability to create supportive and effective relationships in overseas environments, due to successful self-management.
The candidate must be able to integrate clinical, administrative, and management skills to effectively meet the mental health needs of U.S. Foreign Service employees and their eligible family members assigned overseas. Regional Medical Officer Psychiatrists must be skilled and experienced clinicians able to gain the confidence of their patients, co-workers, and supervisors, and capable of working independently in complex and difficult situations.
The candidate must be a skilled and experienced practitioner with excellent interpersonal skills. The candidate must be able to function well within a complex organization and have experience working in a high stress environment. The individual must be able to recognize and treat a wide range of mental health disorders and manage the special challenges of providing care to a diverse population, scattered over a large geographical area where local medical and mental health resources may be limited or non-existent. Clinical experience in child/adolescent psychiatric, marital/family therapy, cross cultural psychiatry, crisis intervention and substance abuse is desirable. On the job training will be provided for some of the skill sets outlined above.
The candidate must be able to provide expert consultation and guidance to Foreign Service Medical Specialists (FSMS) and other medical personnel with varying backgrounds and levels of training.
Candidates with experience in team building, leadership, and management in a multidisciplinary setting are preferred. The candidate must have effective written and oral communication skills and the ability to present findings in a clear and concise manner to both medical and non-medical personnel. Public speaking skills as well as knowledge and hands-on familiarity of computer systems and software are also desirable qualities.
The RMOP's patient population is unique because of background and lifestyle as part of a diplomatic community overseas and includes adult and pediatric patients. This population also differs in terms of clinical and administrative needs and the national security concerns inherent in their employment. Previous experience working in an occupational setting and/or in an overseas setting is advantageous. The successful candidate will understand the challenges of consulting in a non-medical environment.
Other attributes include empathetic personality, unflappability, discerning self-confidence, adherence to confidentiality, interest in Foreign Service work, loyalty to the United States, tolerance of non-scheduled work hours and travel, and tolerance of living away from family.
The candidate must demonstrate a strong command of the English language to include grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Foreign Service Specialists must meet a consistently high standard for English, both written (overall structure as well as grammar, spelling, and punctuation) and spoken (overall structure as well as delivery, clarity, and succinctness).
Openness to an international career: Accepting assignments based on the needs of the Foreign Service, experiencing frequent global travel.
Education
At the time of application, the candidate must possess:
Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) degree from a university in the U.S. or Canada that was approved by a recognized U.S. accrediting body in the year of the candidate's graduation.
MD or DO or equivalent degree from a foreign school that provided educational and medical knowledge substantially equivalent to accredited schools in the U.S. This equivalency may be demonstrated by either permanent certification of the candidate's school by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) or a Fifth Pathway Certificate.
Subsequent to obtaining a MD or DO degree, a candidate must have completed formal residency training in psychiatry. Qualifying graduate training programs include only those residency programs within the U.S or Canada and which are approved by an accrediting body recognized by the American Medical Association (AMA) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA).
Education from a program or institution within the United States must be accredited at the time of program completion by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation.
Foreign Education
Foreign education acquired outside of any state of the U.S., the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or any territory or possession of the U.S. must be evaluated by a member organization of one of the two national associations of credential evaluation services (NACES or AICE) in order to be given credit towards qualification.
- The accredited interpretation must include the summary and the foreign education transcripts.
- Foreign education transcripts that have not been evaluated by a credential evaluation service will not be accepted and the candidacy will be terminated.
OPM: www.opm.gov
U.S. Department of Education: http://www.ed.gov
Please refer to the Required Documents Section on how to submit the required educational documentation for this position.
Additional information
EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION PROGRAM (E-Verify) - Verification of employment eligibility in the United States is required.
U.S. law requires organizations to employ only individuals who may legally work in the United States - either U.S. citizens, or foreign citizens who have the necessary authorization. This agency utilizes E-Verify to compare information from the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) records to confirm employment eligibility. If the employee's information does not match DHS and/or SSA records, the employee is given an opportunity to resolve the problem. If eligibility cannot be verified, employment will be terminated.
The Department of State Suitability Review Panel and standards are defined in Chapter 3 of the Foreign Affairs Manual. For more information please visit: https://fam.state.gov/.
For more information about Veteran's Preference and how it is applied in the selection process, please visit: https://careers.state.gov/about/diversity-inclusion/veterans-program-office/.
No candidate will be considered who has previously been separated from the Foreign Service under sections §607, §608, §610 or §611 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended, or who resigned or retired in lieu of separation under these provisions. In addition, no candidate will be considered who has previously been separated for failure to receive a career appointment under section §306 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980, as amended, or who resigned or retired in lieu thereof.
A Foreign Service Specialist separated for failure to receive a career appointment under section 306 may not re-apply to be a Foreign Service Specialist in the same skill code but may apply for another skill code or to be a Foreign Service Generalist.
Executive Branch agencies are barred by 5 US Code 3303 as amended from accepting or considering prohibited political recommendations and are required to return any prohibited political recommendations to sender. In addition, as mandated by 5 US Code 3110, relatives of federal employees cannot be granted preference in competing for these employment opportunities.
It is the policy of the Federal Government to treat all employees with dignity and respect and to provide a workplace that is free from discrimination whether discrimination is based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity or pregnancy), national origin, disability, political affiliation, marital status, membership in an employee organization, age, sexual orientation, or other non-merit factors.
The U.S. Department of State provides reasonable accommodation to candidates with disabilities. Procedures vary by test type, and all candidates must request reasonable accommodations in advance. For more information visit Requesting Reasonable Accommodations - Careers (state.gov). Decisions for granting reasonable accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis.
- Benefits
Benefits include health and medical coverage, federal retirement benefits, and paid leave. Overseas benefits include tax-free housing and tax-free education allowance for dependent children between K-12 overseas, and an unrivaled opportunity to see the world and experience different cultures.
The salary range listed is extracted from the Foreign Service Overseas and Washington pay scales. The starting step is determined in part by the highest education level achieved and specialized experience beyond minimum qualifications. Individuals already working in government positions may be appointed based on their highest previous rate as a federal employee. For information on salary, please visit https://careers.state.gov/benefits/benefits/.
Physicians Comparability Allowance (PCA): $14,000.00 - $30,000.00
The Department of State has authority from the Office of Management and Budget enabling allowances for full-time Federal service as physicians:- $30,000 a year to full-time physicians with more than five years of Federal service.
- $22,000 a year to full-time physicians with more than two years of Federal service.
- $14,000 to those with less than two years of Federal service.
Continuing Medical Education (CME)
The State Department provides expenses for obtaining CME credit hours.
Review our benefits
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
Candidates will be evaluated on their total background including experience, education, awards, training, and self-development as it relates to the position. Selection for this position will be made only from among candidates possessing the best qualifications. Part-time work experience will be prorated.
The Department of State prohibits candidates from plagiarizing any portion of their employment application materials to include responses to questions in which candidates must provide a narrative response. Candidates must create their own responses originally and not copy or adapt them from other sources. The Department analyzes candidate submissions for plagiarism and will discontinue any individual's candidacy if found to have violated this plagiarism policy.
While the Department of State encourages candidates to create their narratives with great care, including correct use of grammar and style, candidates are prohibited from using any artificial intelligence (AI) tool, to include but not limited to ChatGPT, to aid in their written responses. The Department will discontinue any individual's candidacy if found to have violated this prohibition on use of AI tools in the application process.
Candidates are subject to a credential verification process conducted by the Quality Management Staff Unit of the Bureau of Medical Services. This process includes query of the National Practitioner Data Bank and independent verification of state licenses and national certifications. Once hired, medical personnel are indemnified for official duties only through the U.S. Federal Tort Claims Act, so long as they are acting within their scope of work.
Active Bureau of Medical Services clinical privileges, specific to the position, are a condition of employment for all Foreign Service Medical Specialists.
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