Physician - Mental Health Integrated Clinical Community Medical Director

The St. Cloud VA Health Care System Mental Health Integrated Clinical Community Medical Director (MH ICC) should be a licensed Psychiatrist with broad experience in general medicine and in psychiatry.

An incentive is authorized for highly qualified candidates.
This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan reimbursement program.

The Mental Health Integrated Clinical Community (MH ICC) Medical Director conducts diagnostic and therapeutic interventions on an outpatient and/or inpatient basis to a wide age range of mental health patients within the MH ICC. Additional duties include providing coverage on the Acute Mental Health Unit (15 beds) and consultation to various Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) and residential rehabilitation treatment programs. The incumbent is proficient with programming and best evidenced practices in Psychiatry and Mental Health. The incumbent functions as Medical Director of the MH ICC providing medical leadership and guidance to a very large multidisciplinary staffing group. The Medical Director is also responsible for providing administrative supervision to all Psychiatrists assigned to the MH ICC and health care system.

Duties Include:

Clinical Duties: (70% of time) The incumbent has the responsibility of providing direct patient care within Mental Health Integrated Clinical Community (MH ICC) to include providing coverage on the Acute Mental Health Unit, MHRRTP, and outpatient settings.

• Demonstrates clinical competence in the field of psychiatry that is based on best evidenced practice (i.e. diagnosis and treatment modalities).
• Coordinates/assists with transfer to other units in the hospital, other health care agencies or other VA or community hospital.
• Assists with Mental Health consults within the St. Cloud VA HCS and via VTEL to respective CBOCs.
• Is knowledgeable about, and complies with, policies and procedures relating to Public Health and Infection Control.
• Participates in Performance Improvement activities to improve organizational performance utilizing performance reports and benchmark data.
• Assists in the implementation of VISN-wide service line policies, procedures, performance goals, strategic plans, and initiatives address any barriers in the implementation of the above.
• Treats all customers (internal and external) with courtesy and dignity. Continual responsibility to improve customer service skills through educational opportunities will be attained.

Administrative Duties: (30% of time)

• Arranges all General Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic assignments/ Coverage.
• Responsible for providing clinical leadership to the ICC and health care system.
• Attends all identified clinical and administrative meetings, participates in quarterly medical staff meetings, peer reviews, and participates in facility and MH ICC quality improvement initiatives/activities.
• Leads to achieve the highest level of customer service, flexibility/adaptability, organizational stewardship, creative and systems thinking.
• Promotes clinical practice guidelines, rehabilitation, and implementation of measurable outcomes for all MH ICC staff.
• Teaches and mentors residents, interns, and trainees.
• Provides weekend and holiday on-call coverage for the year and arranges/organizes this for the MH ICC.
• Assists with other functions and duties as assigned by the Director of the MH ICC.

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

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): An incentive is authorized for highly qualified candidates.
Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) Authorized: 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. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. Contact VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov for questions or assistance. Learn more.

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

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm with evening and weekend rotations.

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 allopathic 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 accrediting bodies for graduate medical education, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA), in the list published for the year the residency, or fellowship if applicable, was completed; OR
  • (2) One year of post medical school training (internship, first year of residency, or transitional year residency) approved by ACGME or AOA followed by two years of post-training independent practice (performing under a full and unrestricted license) in the United States; OR
  • (3) Non-US residency training programs followed by a minimum of three years of verified independent practice in the United States (performing under a full and unrestricted license) performing duties related to the position they are applying for (United States fellowships would be creditable towards this requirement), 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.
  • Exceptions:
    • 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 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.
    • In rare and unusual circumstances, the Facility Director can submit a memo to the VISN Director through the VISN Chief Medical Officer, who may approve requests for reasonable exceptions to the residency training requirement for Physicians whose composite record of experience, accomplishments, performance, and qualifications warrant such action.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.

Preferred Experience:

• Mental Health Experience
• Previous Leadership Experience
• Board Certified/Board Eligible in Psychiatry

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

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. Typically, the employee will sit to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items (such as books, papers), accessing transportation, and/or driving a government vehicle.

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.
2. Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) for the year in which the degree was granted.
3. For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, confirmation must be made that the medical school meets (or met) Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) eligibility requirement for year 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.

• U.S. Citizenship: non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• English Language Proficiency. In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7402(f), no person shall serve in direct patient care positions unless they are proficient in basic written and spoken English.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 2-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.