PHYSICIAN CARDIOLOGIST

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VA 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. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

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

Recruitment/Relocation Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized for highly qualified candidates
Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): Learn more.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
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 Cardiologist Physician is a health care professional who performs a specific specialty of patient services. The Cardiologist Physician will deliver comprehensive health care within their specialty.

The Cardiologist Physician will work full time as a resource for Eastern Kansas Health Care System (EKHCS)-Leavenworth campus. Duties include, but are not limited to:

- Provides competent care to a diverse Veteran population with consideration for differences in cultural, socio-economic, military service and age-specific criteria
- Obtains relevant health and medical history
- Performs physical examination based on age and history
- Performs or orders preventive/diagnostic procedures based on client's age and history
- Identifies health and medical risk factors
- Applies critical thinking in the diagnostic process- Synthesizes and analyzes collected data
- Formulates differential diagnosis based on history, physical examination, and diagnostic test results
- Establishes priorities to meet the health needs of the Veteran- Formulates individualized treatment plan
- Orders additional diagnostic tests
- Selects appropriate pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions
- Develops a patient education plan- Initiates consultation/referral as indicated
- Establishes priorities for interventions
- Provides individualized care appropriate to meet Veterans identified needs
- Implements interventions consistent with treatment plan
- Initiates interventions based on scientific principles, current knowledge, and level of clinical expertise
- Orders, conducts and interprets diagnostic tests accurately, and conveys those results to the patient
- Prescribes specific pharmacologic agents and/or nonpharmacologic therapies as indicated
- Demonstrates current knowledge of advance pharmacology and therapeutics
- Follows any standardized procedures accordingly
- Implements current clinical guidelines/pathways- Provides relevant patient education
- Makes appropriate referrals to other health care professionals and community agencies
- Participates in peer reviews as assigned
- Utilizes appropriate health care resources
- Obtains informed consent when appropriate
- Maintains a process for systematic follow-up
- Evaluates effectiveness of treatment plan promptly
- Documents effects of interventions and outcomes of care in the patient record accurately
- Reassesses and modifies plan as necessary to achieve health care goals
- Serves on committees, teams, workgroups, and chart reviews as requested/approved by administration
- Completes all training as mandated by VA
- The Cardiologist Physician will be responsible for a variety of duties which involves the development, implementation, and maintenance of a comprehensive health care plan for patients within scope of specialty
- Provides ongoing inpatient or outpatient care for patients in the Physicians assigned clinical setting
- When consulting in an inpatient setting, makes inpatient rounds, as appropriate, to observe and record each patient's medical progress, updating and summarizing medical records, changing orders when appropriate, and notifying the responsible physician of significant changes in the patient's condition
- In the outpatient setting, evaluates outpatients and managers acute and chronic illnesses according to the usual scope of care to include attention to maintenance of stable conditions, preventive health care and screening. Consult with other physician(s) regarding diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of outpatients as indicated

Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm

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: Board Eligible/Certified in Cardiology. Experience in general Cardiology

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

Physical Requirements: Periods of long standing. Occasional lifting of moderately heavy objects. Long periods of sitting at a computer station. The need for high degree of accuracy, potentially stressful situations, and the ability to adapt work plans based on patient status.

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.