Physician - Transplant Section Chief

Our facility is seeking physicians in the following disciplines to serve as Physician - Transplant Section Chief; Transplant, Hematology/Oncology, Nephrology, Dermatology, Gastroenterology, and Cardiology. This position entails a combined physician appointment in Medical Service of the VA TN Valley Health System (Nashville Campus) and with the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt Medical College.

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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.

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. (EXCLUDES NEPRHOLOGY SPECIALTY)

The physician will provide transplant medicine care within their parent transplant specialty. They will see patients referred for trasnplantation in an outpatient setting, and participate in the coverage of the impatient transplant consult service. They will also participate in training medical trainees both in outpatient and inpatient settings. Approximately, 50% of the time will be devoted to clinical activities.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:

• Consistently communicates and treats customers (veterans, their representatives, visitors and all VA staff) in a courteous, tactful and respectful manner. The physician will provide the customer with consistent information according to established policies and procedures and will handle conflicts and problems when dealing with customers constructively and appropriately.
• The Transplant Section Chief will have oversight of administrative matters assigned to him/her by the Chief of Staff and/or the Chief of Medicine. Also, the Transplant Section Chief will continue to provide clinical specialty care to Veterans commensurate with assignment by the Chief of Medicine.
• The physician will protect printed and electronic files containing sensitive data in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 and other applicable laws Federal Regulations, VA statures and policy and VHA policy. The physician protects data from unauthorized release, or from loss, alteration, or unauthorized deletion and follows applicable regulations and instructions regarding access to computerized files and release of access codes, etc.
• As the Section Chief, he/she has supervisory and administrative responsibilities specifically delegated by the Chief of Staff for section chiefs and attending physicians. Additionally, he/she functions as preceptor for nurse practitioners, physician assistants, fellows, residents and medical students as assigned by TVHS.

Work Schedule: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., requires flexibility for coverage, ADHOC may be approved at discretion of supervisor.

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: Successful applicants must:
(a) be board certified in Internal Medicine and/or an ABIM Specialty Board
(b) have documented experience supervising and teaching medical students, residents and fellows, and credentials to satisfy the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine faculty appointment requirements.
(c) have experience and publications in either basic or clinic research,
(d) qualify for an appointment as a faculty member in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University at least the level of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor and have national stature in the field.

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

Physical Requirements: The work is largely office based and in a sedentary setting. No manual labor is required above ordinary situations. Incumbent must be capable of using a computer given that all clinical charting is electronic.

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.