Physician (Emergency Medicine) -Service Chief

The North Florida/ South Georgia VA Healthcare System is looking for a Emergency Medicine Chief Physician to join the Medical Care Service at the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville, FL. The Physician will provide direct patient care in the Urgent Care and/or Emergency Medicine departments.

This is an open continuous announcement that will remain open until filled. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis. Eligible applicants will be referred each week for consideration until a selection is made.

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

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact the VISN 8 Compensation Center of Excellence at VISN8CCOE@va.gov if you have any questions or concerns. Learn more.

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

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized
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

The Chief of the Emergency Medicine Service reports directly to the Chief of Staff and is responsible for the clinical and administrative functions of the Emergency Department. The incumbent is responsible for participation and oversight of staff physicians and NP/PA/ICT patient care performance measures, compliance, training, and performance improvement, recruitment and retention of highly qualified and experienced providers, participation in various Medical Center committees to ensure performance measures are met, compliance with applicable rules and regulations, as well as participation in system redesign activities.

The Chief of Emergency Medicine will also serve as a liaison between the Emergency Medicine Section and the other VA specialty sections, as well as the Emory Department of Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medicine Residency Training programs with the goal of eventual affiliation.

The incumbent will also serve as a staff Emergency Department physician. The incumbent will be responsible for all aspects of medical care delivered to patients in the Emergency Department. It is expected that the incumbent will spend 50% of his/her time in a clinical role and 50% in an administrative role.
Duties may include but not limited to the following;

• Representing the Emergency Department at all applicable hospital administrative and patient care meetings.
• Meeting with all providers in the Emergency Department regularly to review protocols, procedures, expectations for transported/transferred patients, including minor trauma victims.
• Monitoring established VA/VISN/Joint Commission, etc, performance measures and identified goals for the Emergency Department (e.g. physician report card), and provide providers with group and individual feedback on how to improve and/or sustain achieved success in such metrics/measures, including faculty development programs where applicable.
• Work to eliminate wasted efforts/work/testing in the Emergency Department, and develop and/or utilize preexisting patient care protocols (Acute Coronary Syndrome, Stroke, Sepsis) and develop tools to monitor the success of those efforts.
• Work with the VA Utilization Management (UM) department staff to monitor the preadmission screening process and its success in impacting InterQual appropriate inpatient admission/observation status utilization performance measures.
• Monitoring overall performance of all providers in the Emergency Department and provide performance improvement opportunities and/or interventions as appropriate.
• Monitor Emergency Department workforce needs and budget. Collaborate with the Medicine Service Group Practice Manager to develop budgets and conduct a yearly needs assessment
• Maintaining an up-to-date schedule which provides appropriate provider coverage in the Emergency Department.

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.
• Education: Degree of doctor of medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in 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.
• License and Registration: 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 (Emergency Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, or Family Medicine), 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 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), b) OR
  [(2) Those approved by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA),OR
  (3) Other residencies (non-US residency training programs followed by a minimum of five years of verified practice in the United States), 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.
  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 or fee-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.
• Board Certification: (Emergency Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, or Family Medicine),
• English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(d)

Preferred Experience:

• Two (2) years of leadership experience at chief level, preferably in the Department of Veterans Affairs system.
• Board certification in Emergency Medicine desired; however, those with board certification in Internal Medicine, Family Practice, or General Surgery will be considered if you have minimum five (5) years of Emergency Medicine experience.

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

Physical Requirements: Functional requirements may include walking (2 hours), standing (2 hours), kneeling (2 hours), repeated bending (2 hours), climbing, use of legs and arms, both eyes required, depth perception, ability to distinguish basic colors, hearing (aid may be permitted), emotional and mental stability.

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, or
2. Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation of the American Osteopathic Association for the year in which the degree was granted.
3. For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, facility officials must verify with the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) that the applicant has met requirements for certification, and must obtain a copy of the ECFMG certificate, if claimed by the applicant. [If the applicant does not claim an ECFMG certificate, facility officials must still confirm that the medical school meets (or met) ECFMG eligibility requirements for the year the candidate 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.