Summary

*****A recruitment/relocation incentive may be offered to highly qualified candidate(s).*****

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program.

Duties

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This position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Orlando VA Medical Center (VAMC), Medicine Service. The successful candidate will serve as the Deputy Section Chief for the Neurology Section in the Medicine Service Line. The incumbent will ensure the quality and timeliness of the services provided, customer satisfaction, as well as compliance with the standards of accrediting bodies such as the Joint Commission and the Inspector General's Combined Assessment Program. The incumbent collaborates with other services as appropriate.

The Neurology Deputy Section Chief is accountable to the Section Chief and Medicine Service leadership, for assuring the most effective delivery of care in neurology while meeting and exceeding compliance standards. The Neurology Physician will provide expert consultation and treatment to patients in the inpatient and outpatient clinical settings, including, but not limited to, specific neurology clinics, neurology procedures, and for inpatient medical, surgical, and critical care services.

The incumbent is expected to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the promotion of health and treatment of critical illnesses. The ideal candidate should possess strong interpersonal and communication skills that enable them to establish and maintain professional relationships with patients, families, and other members of the health care team. In addition, the incumbent is expected to coordinate and communicate the treatment plan with health care providers that have requested their consultative services. The ideal candidate will help to ensure that high quality patient care is delivered in a resourceful and efficient manner.

Privileges include being able to assess, diagnose, and treat - with pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic, and procedure-based therapies - patients referred to the neurology Section.

Administrative Duties (20%):

• The incumbent will ensure operations and compliance with Veterans Health Administration guidelines for the Neurology Section of Medical Service. Duties will include, but not be limited to, managing the schedules of employees in the section; ensuring consistent, up to date, call schedule coverage and posting; the holding section meetings; allocation of resources to ensure adequate coverage/availability of clinical programs, testing, and consultation coverage; ongoing assessment of neurology programs for adequacy and appropriateness of offerings; and direction and development of quality improvement (QI) processes and projects.
• Attending required staff meetings, communicating up and down the chain of command and helping prepare heads-up and issue briefs related to adverse patient outcomes.
• Maintains involvement in matters concerning clinic productivity, relevant performance measures, Quality and Patient Safety oversight, as well as process improvement projects.

Clinical Duties (80%): The incumbent is expected to remain privileged and practicing in medical services. The exact privileges and procedures for a particular physician will be determined by Service Leadership to best utilize the skills of the candidate.

Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases

Paid Time Off: 50-55 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year and possible 5 day paid absence for CME)

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory

CME: Possible $1,000 per year reimbursement (must be full-time with board certification)

Malpractice: Free liability protection with tail coverage provided

Contract: No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 08:00am - 04:30pm

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.Contact [redacted], the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

Recruitment/Relocation Incentive: Authorized - As determined by Facility/Agency

Telework: Ad-hoc/Situational-Occasional, Non-routine

Requirements

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Qualifications

To qualify for this position, you must meet the basic requirements as well as any additional requirements (if applicable) listed in the job announcement. Applicants pending the completion of training or license requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Currently employed physician(s) in VA who met the requirements for appointment under the previous qualification standard at the time of their initial appointment are deemed to have met the basic requirements of the occupation.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Degree of doctor of medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine. The degree must have been obtained from one of the schools approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the year in which the course of study was completed.
• Current, full and unrestricted license to practice medicine or surgery in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia.
• Residency Training: Physicians must have completed residency training, approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in an accredited core specialty training program leading to eligibility for board certification. (NOTE: VA physicians involved in academic training programs may be required to be board certified for faculty status.) Approved residencies are:
  
  • (1) Those approved by the accrediting bodies for graduate medical education, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA), in the list published for the year the residency, or fellowship if applicable, was completed; OR
  • (2) One year of post medical school training (internship, first year of residency, or transitional year residency) approved by ACGME or AOA followed by two years of post-training independent practice (performing under a full and unrestricted license) in the United States; OR
  • (3) Non-US residency training programs followed by a minimum of three years of verified independent practice in the United States (performing under a full and unrestricted license) performing duties related to the position they are applying for (United States fellowships would be creditable towards this requirement), which the local Medical Staff Executive Committee deems to have provided the applicant with appropriate professional training and believes has exposed the Physician to an appropriate range of patient care experiences.
  • Exceptions:
    
    • Residents currently enrolled in ACGME/AOA accredited residency training programs and who would otherwise meet the basic requirements for appointment are eligible to be appointed as "Physician Resident Providers" (PRPs). PRPs must be fully licensed physicians (i.e., not a training license) and may only be appointed on an intermittent basis. PRPs are not considered independent practitioners and will not be privileged; rather, they are to have a "scope of practice" that allows them to perform certain restricted duties under supervision. Additionally, surgery residents in gap years may also be appointed as PRPs.
    • In rare and unusual circumstances, the Facility Director can submit a memo to the VISN Director through the VISN Chief Medical Officer, who may approve requests for reasonable exceptions to the residency training requirement for Physicians whose composite record of experience, accomplishments, performance, and qualifications warrant such action.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Board Certified.

Preferred Clinical Experience

• Substantial (typically 5+ years) independent clinical practice as an attending neurologist
• Broad-based clinical competence across major neurologic subspecialties (stroke, epilepsy, movement disorders, neuromuscular disease, headache, MS, dementia/cognitive neurology)
• Experience with EMG/NCS and/or EEG interpretation
• Experience directing or heavily involved in an inpatient neurology/stroke service

Preferred Leadership & Administrative Experience (Core for Deputy Chief)

• Prior experience in a formal or informal leadership role (e.g., section chief, program director, medical director, lead physician)
• Experience supervising or mentoring physicians, residents, medical students, and/or advanced practice providers
• Experience with staff scheduling, workload management, and clinical productivity metrics
• Experience participating in or leading peer review, credentialing, or quality assurance processes
• Experience with budget oversight, staffing decisions, or resource allocation within a clinical service
• Demonstrated ability to deputize/act in place of a Chief (coverage during absences, shared decision-making authority)
• Experience serving on hospital/facility committees (e.g., Medical Executive Committee, P&T, Utilization Review)

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires potentially long periods of continued walking, standing, stooping, sitting, bending, pulling, and pushing. Transferring objects up to 15 pounds may be required. The physician may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials and may be required to wear protective clothing in isolation situations or operative/invasive procedures. The physician may occasionally be exposed in person or virtually (telephonic or electronic messaging) to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. The physician must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, and able to shift priorities based on Veteran needs. Ability to drive/operate government vehicle.

Education

Degree of Doctor of Medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine. The degree must have been obtained from an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study was completed. Approved schools are:

1. Schools of medicine accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for the year in which the degree was granted.
2. Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) for the year in which the degree was granted.
3. For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, confirmation must be made that the medical school meets (or met) Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) eligibility requirement for year graduated.

NOTE: The Under Secretary of Health or designee in the VHA Central Office may approve the appointment under authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405 of a physician graduate of a school of medicine not covered above if the candidate is to be assigned to a research, academic, or administrative position with no patient care responsibilities. The appointment will be made only in exceptional circumstances where the candidate's credentials clearly demonstrate high professional attainment or expertise in the specialty area.

Additional information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted