Physician (Neurologist)

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 position is authorized to provide the right candidate with up to $200,000 toward education costs, and is approved to offer a sign-on bonus of up to 15% of annual salary per year for up to four years!!!! In addition, salary can go above the maximum amount shown if candidate meets annual performance metrics.

The Physician (Neurologist) is assigned to the VA Wilkes-Barre Health Care System, Medical Service providing comprehensive, efficient, compassionate, high-quality healthcare to all patients, functioning as a member of the inter-disciplinary team providing clinical care to the patients at VA Wilkes-Barre Healthcare System in both inpatient and outpatient settings. As a staff physician, the responsibilities include providing medical evaluation and directing overall management of patients in collaboration with other members of health care team. Supervision and education of Internal Medicine Residents and medical students may be required.Neurologist will conduct outpatient neurologic consultations and follow-up care, as well as nerve conduction testing, and botulinum toxin injections (preferred).

This includes subspecialist for consultations in the fields of epilepsy, movement disorders, neuromuscular medicine, MS, and dementia. Wilkes-Barre VA also has EEG testing, and neurology inpatient service.

The major duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies
• Participate in an effective clinical program with attention to patient outcome indicators
• Practice within the scope of assigned privileges
• Comply with the bylaws, rules and regulations of the facility and agency
• Meet medical staff criteria for initial appointment and reappointment, including ongoing CME
• Comply with prescribed record keeping practices in accordance with the rules, regulations and bylaws
• Comply with prescribed information security policy and procedures
• Work effectively with patients, families, staff, coworkers and other health care professionals
• Participate in Medical Service educational activities and scheduled meetings
• Participate in research activities with regard to the subspecialty of Internal Medicine, as assigned
• Comply with assigned Peer Reviews and maintaining quality assurance standards
• Complete all assigned health record reviews, peer reviews, MAOs, etc., within the identified timeframes
• Evoked potential multi-modality studies, electroencephalography, (EEG)
• Multiple sleep latency test
• Scoring and interpretation of polysomnograms
• Other related duties as assigned by the Chief of Medicine

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

Recruitment Incentive (sign-on bonus): Authorized (eligible for up to 15% of salary per year for up to four years of service)
EDRP Authorized: Authorized (Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive)
Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): 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 to Friday, 8am to 430pm, rotating shared home call schedule

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:

• Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education: 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.
• Licensure: 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:
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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.
• Language: Proficiency in spoken and written English.

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

Physical Requirements: Physical demands include repetitive body movements including the following: frequent reaching, standing, walking, and lifting of equipment and/or patients to provide patient care. This position requires extension of the hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction including above or below shoulder level, during the provision of patient care, including retrieval of needed equipment, supplies and to make contact with the patient. This position requires the maintenance of an upright position to perform duties associated with patient care. This position is typically non-sedentary, and frequently involves being in the standing position. This position requires moving about accomplish tasks, such as assisting with patient ambulation and moving one patient area to the next. This position requires the raising of objects from a lower position to a higher position or the movement of objects horizontally position to position. Lifting may be done to move a patient from one location to the next, i.e.- from the exam table to the chair, and in the movement of equipment or supplies.

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.