Physician (Psychiatrist) - EDRP and Recruitment/Relocation May be Authorized

The South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) in San Antonio, TX is seeking a staff Psychiatrist.

Recruitment (Sign-on Bonus)/Relocation Incentive May be authorized for highly qualified individual
Education Debt Reduction Program is authorized.

This is an Open Continuous Announcement & will remain open until August 10, 2026, or until all positions are filled. The first cut-off date is March 23, 2026. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.

Applicants will remain active for 3 months after their initial application is received and/or updated. After that time, you must update your application through your USAJobs account if you would like to be made active again for possible consideration during the open period.

• Participates in staff meetings, hospital committees, and peer review process.
• Maintains VA training requirements, timely completion of documentation and upkeep of credentials required for privileging and re-privileging.
• Participates in the FPPE/OPPE process.
• Participates in Clinical Pertinence Reviews (routine medical record reviews).
• Adherence to tour of Duties, timely requests for leave in VISTA and for clinic cancellations.
• Indirect patient care; accurate and timely open encounter & open consult management, adheres to CPRS documentation rules and requirements and to clinic procedures for patient scheduling & access; facilitates clinic staff productivity; oversight of relevant performance measures; and participates in the development of the new focus on the Patient Centric Care, Utilization Management, and Patient Safety initiatives, and process improvements (system redesign).
• Responsible for providing primary, secondary, and tertiary care in both hospitalized and outpatient settings, identifying the patient's mental and medical health problems and designing diagnostic and therapeutic plans to meet these needs.
• As required, provides consultations throughout the medical center; compensation and pension examinations; and tele-mental health assessments and treatment.
• Telemental health assessments and treatment may be provided by telework.
• May be required to work in an extended hour's clinic along with a compressed schedule.
• When required, cover other duties as assigned to include holidays, weekends, evenings and on-call coverage.
• Complies with clinical practice guidelines as measured by the External Peer Review Program and the Clinical Reminder reports.
• Provides patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the promotion of health, prevention of illness, treatment of disease, and care at the end of life.
• Demonstrates knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical and social sciences, and the application of their knowledge to patient care and the education of others.
• Ensures practice-based learning and improvement, practitioners are expected to be able to use scientific evidence and methods to investigate, evaluate, and improve patient care.
• Demonstrates interpersonal and communication skills that enable them to establish and maintain professional relationships with patients, families, and other members of the health care team.
• Demonstrates behaviors that reflect a commitment to continuous professional development, ethical practice, and understanding
  and sensitivity to diversity, and a responsible attitude toward their patients, their profession.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 0730 -1600, includes on-call
Recruitment (Sign-on Bonus)/Relocation Incentive: May be authorized for highly qualified individual
Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): 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. Learn more.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact vhaedrpprogramsupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.
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.
• 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: 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Proficiency in spoken and written English.

Preferred Experience:

• Board certified or board eligible with intention to pursue board within first year of employment in Psychiatry.
• Training and education experience in dealing with Mental Health illness.

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

Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting, 15-44 pounds; Moderate carrying, 15-44 pounds; Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers; Walking (8 hours); Near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; Far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; Hearing (aid may be permitted); Mental and emotional 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.