Physician (Psychiatrist)

The primary role of the Psychiatrist on the Mental Health Care Line serves to provide direct care for Veterans who present with complex psychiatric and substance abuse issues.

The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

The sustained quality of the psychiatrist's clinical activities will be assured through participation in the ongoing professional practice evaluation program. The qualities assessed in practice evaluation are: Patient Care, Medical/Clinical knowledge, Practice-Based Learning, Interpersonal & Communication Skills, Professionalism, and Systems-Based Practice.

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provides high quality clinical examination, diagnosis, crisis intervention, patient management, consultation and appropriate documentation in clinical records
• Responsibilities for serving as an attending physician in multidisciplinary, team-based care. This may involve teaching medical students, residents, and/or fellows.
• Effective teaching, monitoring and coordinating educational activities including evaluating and documenting
• Negotiating assignments to clinical responsibilities in the appropriate care line programs, which include emergency psychiatric evaluation and treatment, acute inpatient psychiatric care, detoxification, outpatient mental health evaluation and treatment, substance abuse evaluation and treatment, residential rehabilitation treatment programs for substance abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic homelessness.
• Administrative responsibilities, including program planning and making administrative decisions affecting the care line program assigned.
• Identifying and defining significant research and development issues in mental health; to plan and execute research; and to generate reports worthy of publication.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00 am - 4:30 pm (alternate tours can be discussed with the hiring service)


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

Recruitment/Relocation Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Is being offered to well qualified candidates.

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

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 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 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.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.

Preferred Experience: Previous experience as a psychiatrist fulfilling patient care responsibilities in a multidisciplinary team.

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

Physical Requirements: Per VA Directive and Handbook 5019 - a physical examination will be conducted based on the physical requirements of the position. A physical examination prior to placement is required. Long periods of standing or walking in the operating room setting and outpatient clinic will be encountered. 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.

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.