Physician (Pulmonary Medicine)

The Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr., VAMC in Memphis, TN is recruiting for a Pulmonary Physician to serve as a full-time Specialty Care physician. The position is accountable to the Chief of Specialty Care, for assuring the most effective delivery of state-of-the-art care by meeting or exceeding compliance standards.

General duties include, but are not limited to:

• Board-certified or board eligible physician in Pulmonary and Critical Care and Sleep Medicine (Sleep Medicine when applicable), with evidence-based clinical training as well as expertise and training in Health Care Quality measures.
• Must meet the requirement for an academic appointment at our affiliate, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
• Comprehensive training and expertise in all aspects of Pulmonary & Critical Care & Sleep Medicine (Sleep Medicine when applicable), including the usual and core procedures unique to the specialty.
• Participate in the call schedule by rotation as assigned by the service / section chiefs.
• Demonstrate sound decision-making skills in both the clinical and administrative areas, including participation in committees as a member, or as chair as the situation requires.
• Serve as a preceptor to Residents, Medical Students and Fellows in his or her specialty area.
• Provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and treatment of disease.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills that enable them to establish and maintain professional relationships with patients, families, other members of the health care team, and VA staff.
• Skills relevant to the practice of pulmonary/critical care medicine, including significant clinical experience in general medical critical care as well as interest and experience in clinical research particularly in the area of PCCM & Sleep Medicine (Sleep Medicine when applicable) .
• Hands on clinical work and quality improvement leadership in all aspects of the Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep (Sleep Medicine when applicable) , including guidance and training for Pulmonary Critical Care fellows, Sleep fellows and other trainees.
• Ensuring that all clinical operations and health information practices within their respective operations are being measured for quantity and quality of the work performed, and conducted in continuing compliance with the laws, regulations and standards which govern those activities, the reasonable expectations of VHA's business partners, and the highest standards of Compliance and Business Integrity. This may require working with several databases that measure quality and productivity within the VA.
• Assist the service chief, and the section chiefs within Pulmonary Critical Care Sleep service to meet the performance measures and VHA Core Competencies.
• Assists with the development, implementation, and maintenance of GEMS requirements in accordance with VHA and Medical Center policy.
• Any other duties as assigned.

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

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May be eligible for highly qualified applicants.
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. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. 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

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: Experience in practice of Pulmonary and Critical Care and Sleep (Sleep Medicine when applicable) for at least five years after completion of the fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care.

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

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 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.
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.