Physician - Primary Care

Functions as a Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) provider within Ambulatory Care Services at the Sioux Falls VA Health Care System (SFVAHCS). The position is located at the Spirit Lake Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) and reports directly to the Spirit Lake CBOC Medical Director.

Qualified applicants will be considered and referred every 2 days until filled.

Provides total care of the Veterans' medical needs by performing history and physical exam, ordering appropriate lab tests, radiology studies, and screening studies. This includes evaluating those tests, developing a treatment and follow-up plan to include medication, medical equipment, and home-based interventions within the guidelines laid down by the supervising physician. This care will also include outpatient follow-up visits, post discharge follow-up and managing care with specialty and sub-specialty medical providers. The patient care will be provided through face-to-face visits and/or other modalities (group clinics, telephone clinics, virtual visits, secure messaging, etc).

Assists in the preparation of the patient and/or his/her family to include but not limited to teaching (to include health promotion and disease prevention activities), accumulating data and medical problems, presenting patient centered discussion of medical problems for appraisal and scheduling patients with the appropriate department services.

Supports cross-site telehealth coverage for other CBOCs and primary care locations within SFVAHCS. It is anticipated that 50% of clinical time will be dedicated to cross site coverage (subject to operational need).

Collaborates with telehealth clinical technicians and other team members to ensure smooth and effective virtual clinical operations.

Manages urgent or acute care needs for Veterans assigned and others during gaps in provider availability. This position provides significant gap coverage for provider absences or vacancies as needed across all sites in the health system for the Primary Care Service Line.

Responsible for completing patient encounters, notes, and correctly coding visits in
accordance with coding guidelines.

Acts as the focal point of the designated outpatient clinic by being the contact person for all other consultant services regarding patient care and providing consultations for Primary Care department to other services.

Aid the Primary Care Department with other duties as requested. These may include but are not
limited to assisting in data assimilation for VA reports, quality assurance programs, or others as
determined by the Chief of Primary Care or Chief of Staff.

Demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the age of the
patients served in Primary Care Department. The individual must demonstrate the knowledge of the
changes associated with aging and possess the ability to provide care based upon physical,
psycho/social, cultural, safety and other age-related factors as noted in the competencies
described in departmental and/or unit specific policies and procedures.

Maintain skills, proficiencies, and professional knowledge required for licensing and clinical
scope of practice.

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

Recruitment/Relocation Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Authorized for highly qualified candidates.
Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): Learn more.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact vhaedrpprogramsupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
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.

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: Mon - Fri 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.

Preferred Experience: Primary Care and/or Internal Medicine experience 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.