Physician - Section Chief for Specialty Services within Specialty Care ICC

The Syracuse VA is looking for an ABIM-certified physician to serve as the Section Chief for Specialty Services within Specialty Care ICC.

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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

Duties:

The Section Chief for Specialty Services within Specialty Care ICC is responsible for the direct supervision of the following Specialty Care ICC Sections: Cardiology, Dermatology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Hematology Oncology, Infectious Disease, Nephrology, Neurology, and Rheumatology. Duties will be 50% administrative, 50% clinical. The Section Chief for Specialty Care ICC is expected to remain privileged and practicing in his/her specialty field.

The Section Chief for Specialty Services within Specialty Care ICC makes clinical and administrative decisions, provides direct patient care, and is actively involved in the decisions that support the management of resources for the Syracuse VA Medical Center. As such, he/she is responsible for developing and implementing comprehensive healthcare delivery system within their specialty tailored to the needs of the Veteran patient population served and ultimately the quality of care and utilization of health care resources.

The responsibilities of the Section Chief for Specialty Services within Specialty Care ICC include, but are not limited to:

• Promotes the development of health care professionals within their Section
• Monitors and promotes compliance with VHA regulations, professional standards, and ethical conduct
• Works in a managerial capacity to ensure that the Syracuse VAMC programs reflect the mission and priorities of the VHA
• Participates in the selection of qualified professional staff
• Conducts quarterly meetings with Section staff
• Ensures that appropriate systems are in place to review and evaluate patient care activities and that corrective actions are initiated and carried out
• Monitors and tracks performance measures under Specialty Care ICC scope of practice, serves as service quality oversight leader
• Monitors and ensures each service section's staff is in compliance with agency regulations, medical staff bylaws, Joint Commission standards, and other appropriate regulations
• Evaluates, gathers information, and monitors section specific activities including, but not limited to: SPARQ metrics, Consult management, DSS data on RVUs, utilization and workload, Section productivity, Clinic utilization, Access to care
• Creates an environment of system-oriented continuous quality improvement
• Ensures that clinical, education, and research programs that complement the primary mission of patient care are established, maintained, and reviewed regularly
• Actively participates in the development of goals in support of VISN/VHA mission
• Responsible for conscientious use of Non-VA and Community resources based on VA regulations
• Establishes and maintains effective relationships with other Sections and Services within the Medical Center and VA affiliates
• Serves as a member of the assigned committees and closely follows actions
• Participates in Service/Syracuse VAMC/VHA initiatives to improve patient care
• 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
• Uses 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
• Reflects a commitment to continuous professional development, ethical practice, and understanding and sensitivity to diversity, and a responsible attitude toward their patients, their profession
• Demonstrates both an understanding of the contexts and systems in which health care is provided, and the ability to apply this knowledge to improve optimizing health care

Work Schedule: Full time, Monday - Friday 8:00am-4:30pm (or as per the needs of the service)

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.

Additional Requirement: Board Certification
Preferred Experience: Cardiologist, Dermatology, Endocrinologist, Gastroenterologist, Hematologist/Oncologist, Infectious Disease, Pulmonologist/Critical Care, Nephrologist, Rheumatologist physician preferred.

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

Physical Requirements: In accordance with VA Handbook and Directive 5019

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.