Summary

You will deliver personalized healthcare in a healing environment, forming strong therapeutic relationships and working within interdisciplinary teams, while upholding the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) mission to honor and serve America's Veterans with exceptional care.

Duties

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FUNCTIONS OR SCOPE OF ASSIGNED DUTIES include but are not limited to:

• Leads, covers, and provides outpatient and inpatient care for the assigned / designated medical section of VAMHCS
• Provides specialty care in the medical specialty clinic, which will be mostly face-to-face but may include some virtual appointments
• Oversees the administration actions and procedures with support of the nursing service
• Performs clinical, administrative, educational, and research work as assigned
• Interviews, examines, selects diagnostic testing appropriately, and interprets/collates results to coordinate patient care
• Communicates and documents with clarity to patients and medical personnel to coordinate patient care
• Procedural skills may include but no limited to arthrocentesis, soft tissue injections & aspirations, central venous catheter insertion, biopsies, intravenous therapy, and central line access
• Consultative input to outpatient and inpatient care
• Collaborates with nurses, midlevel providers, and physician colleagues with clear communication and documentation
• Participates in, and attends, CME activities and VA continuing educational activities
• Performs other duties assigned by the Chief of Medicine
• Clinical supervision over the assigned medical specialty clinic, if applicable
• Performs the administrative components of patient care management, such as:

1. Participate in the educational programs of the section
2. Participate in monitoring the quality, safety, and appropriateness of patient care, both at the Section and facility level. Miscellaneous activities of the Medical Service inclusive, but not limited to special projects that help fulfill and/or enhance the mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs as assigned by the Chief of Medicine/Chief of Staff and the VAMHCS Executive Leadership
3. Demonstrate ethical conduct and serve as a positive role model to others at all levels of the organization
4. Participate in quality assurance programs and chart reviews
5. Attend Medicine Service monthly staff meetings
6. Complete medical records in accordance with Bylaws and Rules and Regulations of the Medical Staff
7. Participating in Medical Staff committee assignments

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: Varies. Schedule for hospitalists will be mainly 1 week on wards (including weekends) and then 1 week off. The 1 week off will include a day of administrative time. Hospitalists will also be expected to be on sick/emergency coverage 6-7 weeks (just weekdays) out of the year during their off blocks (where they can't be out of town and expected to come in if someone calls out). Hospitalists will also take turns being the on-call hospitalist while they are on wards to staff admissions with the residents before 10PM, staff emergency medicine consults (rare).

There are 4 general medicine teaching teams and 1 non-teaching team that the hospitalists all rotate equally through. The group currently consists of 10 full time hospitalists who work very well together, all extremely dedicated towards optimal care of our Veterans.

Requirements

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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.
• 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.

Preferred Experience:

• Internal medicine board certified hospitalists who have a passion for teaching, mentoring trainees since they'll be mainly working on inpatient teaching teams.
• Hospitalists who have interests in quality improvement, commitment to bettering systems issues to improve Veterans' care and access.

Grandfathering Provision. Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, are considered to have met all basic requirements for the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment-specific requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:

(1) Such employees are considered to have met the basic qualification requirements for the purposes of transferring or reassignment to another Physician position within VA.

(2) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.

(3) Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.

(4) Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation who subsequently obtain additional certification that meet all the basic or assignment-specific qualification requirements of this standard must maintain the required credential as a condition of employment in the assignment.

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

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

Whole Health is an approach to health care that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their life to the fullest. The VA is committed to Whole Health and values Veteran and Employee health and wellbeing. As a VA employee, you will practice Whole Health in an environment that supports personalized and proactive care.

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.