Physician (Chief of Surgery)

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.

Boise, Idaho blends urban sophistication with outdoor thrills. Take a stroll through Downtown Boise & Old Boise, where history meets modern design, or the Boise River Greenbelt. The city offers a vibrant and diverse dining and night life scene, Visit Boise's food guide, and is home to Boise State University's Bronco Stadium. Boise is a Kid friendly and Pet friendly destination. For more adventure head to Bogus Basin Ski Resort & Boise Foothills, or to the world-famous Sun Valley or scenic McCall.

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

Recruitment/or Relocation Incentive: May be authorized for highly qualified candidates.
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): May be authorized for highly qualified candidates.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact V20CompensationTeam@va.gov and VHA.ELRSProgramSupport@va.gov 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

Duties include but not limited to:
Clinical:

• Ensures the service functions as an integrated care delivery system, providing full continuum of patient-focused surgical services.
• Coordinates and integrates the interdepartmental functions of surgical service.
• Provides direct clinical care within specialty.
• Completes medical records and ensure subordinates complete medical records within a timely fashion and in accordance with current VA guidance.
• Provides quality clinical care that follows all relevant Joint Commission requirements, VA Handbooks, Directives, Medical Center Memoranda, and existing Surgical Service Standard Operating Procedures.
• Consistently demonstrates expertise in Surgery Section.
• Revises work schedules and assignments on short notice to meet frequent, abrupt, and unpredictable changes in prescribed workloads and deadlines to meet performance targets.
• Participates as a peer reviewer when requested.
• Provides other clinical services as assigned consistent with clinical privileges.

Administrative:

• Participates and attends health care system committees, as assigned.
• Represent the organization, internally and externally, in a manner that reflects positively on the Boise VAMC employees, the Veterans Health Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Selects new staff based on a performance-based selection process.
• Conducts employee performance evaluations and proficiencies as well as represents the Surgery Section at all levels in meetings between an employee and management (e.g., ER/LR and AFGE matters).
• This is a supervisory position and involves supervision of all personnel through Section Chiefs, when assigned, as noted in the organizational chart. This can include but is not limited to Full-time, Part-time and Fee-basis employees in the specialties of Anesthesia, ENT, General Surgery, Ophthalmology/Optometry, Gynecology, Orthopedics, Podiatry, Urology and Vascular Surgery.

Academic:

• Must have completed residency training or its equivalent, approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in an accredited core specialty training program leading to eligibility for board certification.
• VA Physicians involved in academic training programs may be required to be board certified for faculty status.
• Approved residences 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.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00 am-4:30 pm

Additional Requirement: Board Certified in General Surgery or Surgical subspecialty, extensive operating room and leadership experience preferred.

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.

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

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.