Physician - Medicine Service Chief

Summary

This position will oversee the clinical and administrative operations for a growing group of specialty providers including Cardiology, Pulmonology, and Neurology in addition to Urgent Care Center, and Acute Medicine. Presently, the specialty services are located at the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center (CVVAMC) along with Cardiology, Vascular and Nephrology at Macon Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) and Nephrology at the Tifton and Albany CBOCs.

Duties

This is an open continuous announcement. Qualified applicants will be considered and referred until the vacancy is filled. The announcement will be closed when the vacancy has been filled, which may be earlier than the current posted closing date.

Duties:

• Upon request, the incumbent may participate as a member, lead or champion of process improvement teams, leadership committees such as Medical Staff Executive Committee, Medical Executive Council, Professional Standards Board, Peer Review Committee, etc. He/she is tasked with providing active leadership and decision making for the organization, is responsible for strategic planning, the budget process, and performance improvements initiatives.
• The incumbent will be an operational, working physician chief with at least 50% time dedicated to administrative duties and 50% time devoted to clinical care.
• The incumbent will have responsibility of the day-to-day operations including assignments, ensuring coverage, and working collaboratively with several other service lines to accomplish the mission.
• The service chief will be responsible for attending national and VISN training and conference calls.
• The incumbent will be instrumental in assisting with consult management, SAIL improvements, ensuring good communication and smooth hands off within the VA and with Veterans referred outside of the CVVAMC when appropriate.
• The service chief must have the ability to communicate effectively with community specialists and personnel at all levels of the community VA organization.
• The service chief will have direct supervisory authority over all the licensed independent staff in the section; reviewing and authorizing their leave, ensuring coverage, and ensuring that yearly performance appraisals are completed.
• Some of these tasks will be delegated to supervisory specialists in each of the following areas: Supervisory Cardiologist, Supervisory Pulmonologist, Supervisory UCC Physician and Supervisory Hospitalist.
• The Chief of Medicine Service, in conjunction with the Chief of Staff, is responsible for planning, organizing, developing, implementing, controlling, and refining a comprehensive patient management/clinical support/administrative program which provides services and technical counsel necessary to meet clinical, procedural, legal and administrative requirements relating to the care and treatment of outpatients to achieve maximum utilization of patient care resources in a cost-effective, efficient, and timely manner. Broad clinical and administrative expertise is required to meet the needs of this widespread rural health patient population, in order to integrate specialty care functions among the Medical Center, CBOCs and coordinate Veteran care with other VA and non-VA entities.
• Incumbent is responsible for implementing VHA Handbooks, rules, directives, information letters, policies and regulations governing a broad range of administrative aspects of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Medical Center. In order to affect the policies, incumbent must have the skills in management theory, cost-benefits analysis, and statistical analysis.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.

Recruitment Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized to a highly qualified 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: 8:00am - 4:30pm Monday - Friday. (Subject to change based on agency needs).

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• A drug test is required for the position.
• The position is subject to random drug testing.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

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.

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

Physical Requirements: Eligible applicants must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, without hazard to themselves or others. Depending on the essential duties of a specific position, usable vision, color vision, hearing or speech may be required. However, in most cases, a specific physical condition or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthesis or mechanical aid.

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.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.