Physician - Urgent Care

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.

*This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will close on June 30, 2026. Qualified applicants will be considered and referred as they are received.*

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

Work Schedule: Full-Time, this position allows for physician coverage seven days per week, including weekends and holidays.
Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Recruitment/Relocation Incentives: Authorized
Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): Authorized Learn more.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact vhaedrpprogramsupport@va.gov, 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

As an Emergency Medicine Physician in the Urgent Care Center, you will provide emergent medical treatment and personal care services to ill and injured Veterans. The Urgent Care Center is critical to the mission in providing care to Veterans in our catchment area. This position allows for physician coverage seven days per week, including weekends and holidays. Part of the physician's role is to triage and assess patients who present to the Urgent Care Center and determine the appropriate level of care.Duties include but are not limited to:

• Documenting observations, assessments, and changes in patient's condition.
• Collaborating with health team members to facilitate positive patient care outcomes; ordering appropriate diagnostic tests, determining need for hospitalization at this facility or transferring the patient to another facility and performing minor procedures such as removal of foreign objects and suturing where indicated.
• Supervising APRN's, students, and residents.
• Working with the team to develop new programs such as Tele-Urgent Care, Geriatrics Urgent Care, and Whole Health Urgent Care.
• Participating in daily huddles and other performance improvement work groups as needed.
• Participating in peer review and other periodic chart reviews.
• Regularly attend department and medical staff meetings.

Physicians working at the Erie VA Medical Center enjoy working in a professionally stimulating environment that eliminates many of the burdens found in the private sector and provides every opportunity to focus on the practice of medicine. This approach offers a unique freedom of practice to VA physicians and contributes toward providing the highest level of quality care to the Nation's veterans. VA provides a supportive environment that further contributes to the delivery of quality health care. Predictable work hours and conditions along with competitive pay are just some of the perks of this position.

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.

Additional Requirement:

• Completion of an ACGME or AOA accredited residency training program in emergency medicine, internal medicine, family medicine.
• Clinical Experience: Applicant must provide documentation of provision of services representative of the scope and complexity of the privileges requested during the previous 24 months (waived for applicants who completed training during the previous year). Must have at least 1- 2 years of ER experience.

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

Physical Requirements: See VA 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.