Physician (Regular Ft)- Hospitalist

The Baltimore VA Medical Center is committed to advancing the Whole Health System of care, which empowers Veterans to take charge of their health and well-being and supports them in living life to the fullest. You will deliver personalized healthcare in a healing environment, forming strong therapeutic relationships and working within interdisciplinary teams, while upholding the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) mission to honor and serve America's Veterans with exceptional care.

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

FUNCTIONS OR SCOPE OF ASSIGNED DUTIES include but are not limited to:

• Clinical Coverage: Provide expert inpatient medical care and consultation to hospitalized Veterans on the hospital medicine service, including admission, evaluation, management, and discharge of adult inpatients.
• Supervision:
  • Provide clinical oversight and indirect supervision for Hospitalist Advanced Practice Providers (Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners) and residents rotating on the inpatient medicine service.
  • Supervise medical students and residents assigned, ensuring all required oversight is documented per VHA/Baltimore VAMC policy.
• Progress Notes: Ensure daily progress notes are entered for all inpatients. When notes are completed by a resident, document appropriate supervision in accordance with Baltimore VA Medical Center and national VA policy.
• Call Responsibility: Provide on-call phone coverage as assigned, ensuring availability for supervision and patient care issues within the inpatient medicine service.
• Discharge Planning & Interdisciplinary Care: Actively participate in discharge planning and interdisciplinary rounds and meetings to optimize patient transitions and coordination of care. Accurately and efficiently hand off patient care at the end of each rotation as indicated.
• Administrative Contributions: Support administrative and quality improvement efforts as directed by the Chief of Hospital Medicine, particularly those central to acute medicine and/or Baltimore VAMC, VISN 5, or national initiatives/directives.
• Documentation: Complete all required clinical documentation in accordance with Baltimore VA Medical Center and VHA policies and procedures.

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: Varies.

• Mainly 2 weeks on wards (including weekends) and then 2 weeks off. The 2 weeks off will include a couple days of administrative time.
• Expected to be on sick/emergency coverage 6-7 weeks (weekdays only) out of the year during "off" blocks.
• Required to take turns being the on-call Hospitalist while on wards to staff admissions with the residents before 10pm and staff emergency medicine consults (rare).

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.

Preferred Experience:

• Internal medicine board certified Hospitalists who have a passion for teaching and mentoring trainees
• Hospitalists who have interests in quality improvement and commitment to bettering systems issues to improve Veterans care and access
• Board certification in Internal Medicine is preferred

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.