Physician - Section Chief, Sleep Medicine

The Section of Sleep Medicine at the Salisbury VA HealthCare Center (SVA HCS), in NC is seeking a physician leader with training and expertise in sleep medicine to oversee operations at its three sites of care (Salisbury, Charlotte and Kernersville). The SVA HCS is a complexity 1a facility. The medicine specialty program consists of a broad array of services with over 100 specialists and consistently ranked in the top 10 by volume of encounters in the VHA.

Lead a high-performing Sleep Medicine program serving America's Veterans
The Section of Sleep Medicine at the Salisbury VA Health Care System (SVA HCS), a complexity 1a facility, seeks a physician leader with training and expertise in adult Sleep Medicine to oversee operations across our three sites of care: Salisbury, Charlotte, and Kernersville. As Section Chief, Sleep Medicine, you will:

• Provide clinical leadership and operational oversight for Sleep Medicine services across Salisbury, Charlotte, and Kernersville.
• Deliver and supervise complex inpatient and outpatient sleep care, including consult services and diagnostic testing.
• Advance education & research: Serve as a clinician-educator-research faculty member with flexible protected time for scholarly and educational activities; hold a faculty appointment at Wake Forest University School of Medicine (academic rank commensurate with experience).
• Mentor and supervise trainees: Residents and medical students regularly rotate in Sleep Medicine clinics; you will guide training and curriculum development.
• Drive quality & improvement: Lead process improvement initiatives and champion high-reliability principles across the section.

Why join SVA HCS

• Scale & impact: Our Medicine specialty program comprises 100+ specialists and is consistently ranked top 10 in the VHA by encounter volume.
• Comprehensive sleep services: Robust inpatient and outpatient consultative care supported by dedicated staff and space at all three sites. Diagnostics include a Sleep Lab performing ~2,000 studies annually, >3,000 home sleep apnea test (HSAT) set-ups each year, and overnight oximetry assessments.
• Academic excellence: The Sleep Medicine Section is affiliated with Wake Forest University School of Medicine and has been continuously accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for over 15 years.
• Mission-driven culture: A system highly focused on outcomes, quality, and continuous improvement-where research activity is encouraged and supported.

What we offer

• A meaningful leadership role with system-wide impact serving Veterans across three modern care sites.
• Academic appointment at Wake Forest University School of Medicine with protected time for teaching and research.
• Collaborative, well-resourced environment with accredited programs and strong diagnostic capabilities.
• Competitive federal salary and benefits package (retirement, health, dental/vision, paid leave), plus potential recruitment incentives per VA policy.
• VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.

Recruitment/Relocation Incentive: Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
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.

Additional Requirement:

• Medical degree (MD/DO); completion of Sleep Medicine fellowship training; eligibility for U.S. medical licensure.

Preferred Experience:

• ABIM board certification in Sleep Medicine; demonstrated leadership experience in multi-site program operations; track record in education and/or research.

Reference: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G-2 Physician Qualification Standard. For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: Must be able to physically and mentally perform the duties of physician under normal and emergent conditions. Bending, pushing, pulling, reaching and occasional kneeling, crawling and squatting; lifting, carrying, bending, and manipulation of equipment; patient assistance and positioning; walking and prolonged standing; the ability to read written orders, computer screens, patient records, and equipment controls; and the ability to communicate with patients, physicians, and coworkers. Near visual acuity to assess patient's physician condition when performing exams and evaluating images for diagnostic quality. Must be able to speak and communicate with patients; ability to make critical decisions, interact with patients of different ages and health conditions, maintain patient confidentiality, work under stressful conditions.

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.