Dietitian; Clinical

The Dietitian (Clinical) position is located in the Clinical Section of Nutrition and Food Services (N&FS) within the VA Augusta Health Care System. This Dietitian position provides nutrition therapy primarily in the outpatient setting to support veterans' care. The position will cross-cover in other areas as needed. They interpret research and utilize whole health principles to develop patient-centered goals and improve outcomes.

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.

• United States Citizenship:
  Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

(1)
All applicants must hold the RDN credential from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) the credentialing agency of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Note: Applicants who hold the RDN credential have met the education requirement (e.g. bachelor's degree or higher) of CDR, as such this occupation is considered professional and scientific with a positive education requirement and the procedures in Part I, Chapter 4 of this Handbook will be followed when applying Veteran's preference.

(a)
Non-credentialed Dietitians who meet the basic qualification requirements and have fulfilled the requirements below, but do not possess the RDN credential, may be given a temporary full-time appointment not to exceed one year under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405(c)(2).i.

Non-credentialed Dietitians must have fulfilled each of the following:

• A. Earned a bachelor's or higher degree from a U.S. regionally accredited college, university or foreign equivalent (refer to ii below). ~AND~
• B. Completed an ACEND® accredited experiential or supervised practice program and provide a verification statement from the program director that conveys eligibility to take the CDR registration exam as a prospective RDN. A list of ACEND® accredited programs is located on the ACEND® website or at ACEND Accredited Programs Directory.

ii.
Foreign Education
. (a) To be creditable, college and/or university degrees earned outside the U.S and its territories must be evaluated by ACEND® and meet ACEND®'s International Dietitian Education standards which are designed to provide graduates with the knowledge and competencies to sit for the CDR credentialing exam. (b) Non-credentialed Dietitians may only be appointed at the GS-07 or GS-09 grade level and may not be promoted/converted until they obtain their RDN credential.

(c) Non-credentialed Dietitians must provide care under the supervision of a RDN at or above the full performance level. (d) Temporary appointments of non-credentialed Dietitian will not be extended beyond one year or converted to a new temporary appointment.

In all cases, Dietitians must actively pursue meeting registration requirements starting from their appointment date. At the time of appointment, servicing Human Resources (HR) staff in collaboration with the supervisor, will provide non-registered Dietitians the written requirement to obtain registration, the date by which they must acquire it and the consequences for not doing so by the deadline. Failure to obtain registration within one year from the date of appointment will result in removal from the Dietitian, GS-0630 occupation and may result in termination of employment.

Dietitian candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Current VHA Dietitians that qualify…