Summary

The Orthopedic surgeon will provide surgical and nonsurgical care to inpatient and outpatients; assist in the clinical education of orthopedic residents and students and pursue research opportunities (if available or desired), and participate in administrative assignments, such as committee membership.

RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE OFFERED

Duties

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Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Yes, Recruitment Incentive offered to highly qualified applicant.

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,

Practice elements will include a range of adult orthopedic surgery within your scope of training including inpatient management, outpatient clinic care and telemedicine, with VA referral sites throughout South-central Ohio. The Cincinnati VA Medical Center has a comprehensive orthopedic team that treats most orthopedic-related problems including hand/upper extremity, hip and knee replacement, shoulder repair and replacement, and spine surgery.

SCOPE OF ASSIGNED DUTIES:

Duties for this position include but are not limited to:

*Provide resident supervision and clinical instruction in the operating room, outpatient clinic and inpatient settings.

*Attend, participate and supervise residents/students in outpatient clinics and take an active role in the evaluation of the patient, decision for treatment/care, and documentation in the patient electronic records.

*Follows the VA Guidelines established for resident supervision, including those documentation requirements in the electronic patient healthcare record.

*Conduct postoperative follow-up. Accompany the patient to the PACU assuring that the patient's condition is optimal. If admitted, visit in-house patient within 24-48 hours following anesthesia to assess post-surgical recovery.

*Supervise Residents/students in clinical instruction and the performance of any bedside procedures appropriate to their level of graduate responsibility.

*Participate in call coverage to advise and supervise residents. An on-call response time of 15 minutes by phone and 60 minutes in person is expected of Staff Surgeons at VAMC Cincinnati. This includes night, weekend, and holiday hours.

*Maintains professional competency, courtesy, and flexibility to provide the necessary services of this specialty.

*Provide regional level specialty support to VA facilities located in South-central Ohio through such means as tele-medicine and referral-based consultations and treatment.

*Meet annual and mandatory training requirements that are specific to the Veterans Healthcare Administration.

*To support Graduate Medical Education, applicants must be competitive for faculty appointment in the Division of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Cincinnati to be considered for selection.

*Staff may be assigned to committee membership to represent the surgical service or the hospital medical staff, and actively participate in carrying out assignments by that committee.

*The surgeon must be able to function as an independent clinical provider. Initiative, diplomacy, and confidentiality are employed when dealing with patients, staff, and trainees.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00a.m.-4:30p.m.

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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation/examination.
• 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:

The orthopedic surgeon will

• provide quality surgical and non-surgical care to inpatient and outpatient veterans.
• assist in the clinical education of surgical residents and students and pursue research opportunities (if available or desired).
• participate in administrative assignments, such as committee membership.

Practice elements will include the full range of adult orthopedic surgery, including inpatient management, outpatient clinic care and telemedicine, with VA referral sites throughout South-central Ohio. The Cincinnati VA Medical Center has a comprehensive orthopedic team that manages:

• Hand/Upper extremity problems
• Hip and knee arthritis
• Shoulder problems
• Spinal problems
• Fractures

Preferred Experience: Board certified or eligible in Orthopedic Surgery, experience with total joint preferred.

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

Physical Requirements: Long periods of standing or walking in the operating room setting and outpatient clinic will be encountered. The surgeon may be required to return to the facility after the administrative workday and on weekends to fulfill the requirements associated with on-call coverage and resident supervision. The mental/sensory requirements include recall, reasoning, problem-solving, hearing, speaking clearly, writing legibly, reading, and logical thinking. The environment's pace can vary from steady to a sometimes-fast pace requiring handling of multiple priorities, frequent, sometimes intense customer, intense customer interactions, and the ability to adapt to frequent changes in a sometimes-noisy environment. There may be an occasional need to use personal protective equipment to prevent exposure to disease, illness, and hazardous materials.

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.