Physician (Supervisory Psychiatrist) - EDRP, Rec/Relo Incentive Authorized

Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

Duties

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Supervisor Psychiatrist is assigned to Behavioral Health Service within the El Paso VA Health Care System. The incumbent serves as the clinical supervisor of psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, and psychiatric residents assigned to the Behavioral Health clinic and CBOCs to include prescribers performing functions through Telemental Health. The incumbent is accountable for establishing productive relationships with the medical staff, other clinical and administrative services and external to the organization resources. In addition, the incumbent must be responsive to the clinical needs of the veteran community while navigating the organization's scope of care.

Clinical Responsibilities: (40 %time) - The incumbent functions as a staff psychiatrist. Clinical duties include but are not limited to:

• Provides a full range of psychiatric assessment services and diagnoses mental disorders.
• Provides consultation and oversight to professional staff in the outpatient Behavioral Health clinics.
• Functions independently as a member of the Medical Staff, with full clinical privileges. Assumes complete professional responsibility for his/her clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation.
• Develops, implements, and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for assigned patients, including prompt completion of clinical reminders..
• Provides or assist residents and/or nurse practitioners in the process of evaluation and treatment of the psychiatric patient.
• Provides appropriate and timely documentation, generally in the form of a staff progress note, in the patient's electronic record. Responsible for co-signing resident notes, indicating supervision and concurrence with the note.
• Manages review of community care requests for Partial Hospitalization, ECT, TMS, or other procedures and programs, and addresses inappropriate approvals originating from medical provider staff, etc.

Administrative responsibilities (50% time) - Administrative duties include but are not limited to:

• Assists the ACOS BHS in the design, development, and implementation of clinical programs for the treatment teams.
• Provides formal second opinion on medical care being provided in response to Veterans' complaints.
• Addresses clinical fallouts or other clinical practice issues with psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners, to include initiating clinical review action or disciplinary action in collaboration with program manager as appropriate.
• Mentors and assists psychiatrists and nurse practitioners as appropriate.
• Resolves complaints and grievances from the medical providers.
• Finds ways to improve production or increase quality of work produced by the service line to include active participation in improving all performance measures for BHS and the facility.
• Covers for the Chief of Behavioral Health Service in the ACOS BHS absence, etc.

Training responsibilities (10% time) - Training duties include but are not limited:

• Directly supervises psychiatric residents and coordinates residency training at the facility, serving as the primary liaison with the residency program(s) (Texas Tech faculty status is available).
• Provides leadership and works closely with Behavioral Health Service and facility colleagues to innovate comprehensive, state-of-the-art outpatient mental health care, including evidence-based practices and other essential components of the VA Uniform Behavioral Health Services Handbook.
• Provides education, training, and consultation in psychiatric medication management to BHS and other departments in the facility to include medical and non-medical staff as relevant to the delivery of quality services to Veterans, etc.

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

Work Schedule: 8:00am to 4:45pm, Monday - Friday

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized

Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): Learn more.

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

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

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.

Additional Requirement: Board Certification - Physicians are generally not required to be board certified for employment in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); however, this position meets the following circumstance in VA that requires physician board certification:

• Position being filled is required to be a supervisor for medical students or physician residents (including fellows), the LCME, ACGME or AOA standards requiring a particular board certification credential.

Preferred Experience:

• Veteran Population experience
• Experience prescribing clozapine, subonone, esketamine and ketamine
• Experience managing and de-escalating crisis
• Inter-Disciplinary Team experience
• Behavioral Health Administrative/Management experience
• Leadership and Employee Development experience
  
  • Prescribers,
  • Residents and
  • Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners (Advance Practice Nurses)

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

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

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 OPEN & CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT is scheduled to remain open until November 3, 2026; however announcement may be closed sooner (or extended) once position(s) is/are filled. Eligible applications will be referred at regular intervals (or as additional vacancies occur) on an as-needed basis, until position(s) is/are filled.

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