Citation Nr: 18160033
Decision Date: 12/21/18	Archive Date: 12/20/18

DOCKET NO. 15-23 199A
DATE:	December 21, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to vocational rehabilitation and employment (VR&E) services is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran, who is the appellant, had active service in the U.S. Navy from September 2002 to July 2003.  This matter is on appeal from an August 2014 decision.
Entitlement to VR&E Services
The Veteran requests VR&E assistance with training to become a physician’s assistant.  At the December 2014 vocational rehabilitation evaluation, the vocational rehabilitation counselor (VRC) advised the Veteran that the bachelor’s degree in management he obtained in 2013 was still marketable and the only way to retrain him for another area of employment (such as to be a physician’s assistant) was if the degree became obsolete or his service-connected disabilities had deteriorated to the point that he was unable to perform the essential functions of a manager or related field.  
Since the December 2014 VA vocational rehabilitation evaluation, the Veteran was granted an increased rating of 70 percent for the service-connected psychiatric disability effective from August 14, 2014, as well as a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) effective from August 14, 2014 based on a worsening of the service-connected psychiatric disability and service-connected gout; therefore, a remand for further evaluation by a VA counseling psychologist or VRC is warranted to determine whether the Veteran’s service-connected conditions have deteriorated to the point that he is now unable to perform the essential functions of a manager or a related field and, if so, whether retraining for another employment field now would be appropriate.
The matter is REMANDED for the following actions:
1.  Schedule another vocational rehabilitation evaluation of the Veteran by a counseling psychologist or VRC to determine whether the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities have deteriorated to the point that he is now unable to perform the essential functions of a manager or a related field and, if so, whether retraining for another employment field, such as a physician’s assistant, would now be appropriate.  
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2. Thereafter, readjudicate the appeal.
 
J. PARKER
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	C. Ferguson, Counsel