Physician - Addictions Psychiatrist

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.

We are looking for a skilled Psychiatrist at Fredericksburg Health Care Center, Mental Health. The staff psychiatrist serves as a member of an interdisciplinary treatment team with specialized expertise in medication management of mental disorders. The areas which the psychiatrist has clinical privileges to practice may include depression, anxiety, psychotic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorder, personality disorders, and other psychiatric disorders in primarily outpatient clinical settings.

The Fredericksburg Veterans Affairs Health Care Center offers a comprehensive range of outpatient services for Veterans in the Northern Virginia and Central Virginia area, including Primary Care and Mental Health services. The establishment of this new health care center is part of the Central Virginia VA Health Care System and the Veterans Health Administration's initiative to enhance access to care for Veterans, thereby providing them with more healthcare options within their communities and fulfilling the mission to deliver exemplary care to our Nation's Heroes.
VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Recruitment/Relocation incentive may be authorized for highly qualified applicants.
Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): The position is eligible for the EDRP. Learn more.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact Ms. Monique Head at monique.head@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator 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

The duties and responsibilities of the Physician include, but are not limited to the following:

• Provide outpatient psychiatric management for a diverse veteran population including geriatric and post deployment combat veterans, in the SUD Clinic.
• Acts as a liaison between colleagues in SUD specialty care clinic and the outpatient mental health clinic.
• Conducts history and physical examinations including mental status examinations, intake assessments, substance use disorder assessments, suicide risk assessments, crisis intervention and overall care of patients with psychiatric disorders.
• Provide diagnostic evaluation in complex cases that may include SUD and comorbid mental health disorders, co-occurring chronic pain and possible opioid use disorder.
• Collaborates and contributes effectively as a member of the SUD Clinic multidisciplinary team in team meetings, treatment planning conferences, SUD-specific committees and enhances coordination of comprehensive patient care.
• Provides in-service education for the SUD Clinic team. Maintains collegial and collaborative professional relationships with physicians in all clinical services in the health system as required for excellence in patient care.
• Practices independently, utilizes initiative and independent judgment in day-to-day activities.
• Manages medications including buprenorphine, naltrexone, etc for substance use disorders.
• Coordinates consults and triage of specialty clinic referrals.
• Ensures practice of psychiatric medicine is consistent with TJC, HIPAA, VA policies and procedures, clinical practice guidelines, national statutes and regulations, medical record documentation and mandatory continuing education.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM

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:

• Board certification General Adult Psychiatry with added qualifications in Addiction Psychiatry by American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN).
• Experience in Veteran care preferred.

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

Physical Requirements:
The physician needs to be mobile in that the job requires: sitting, walking, standing, and bending. Selected applicant will be required to complete an online on-boarding process. The job is primarily sedentary, and requires sitting, walking, standing, and bending. Incumbent is required to respond with time- sensitive reports while balancing multiple competing demands. Work is typically performed in an adequately lighted and climate-controlled office and/or home space.

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.