Physician (Medical Director) National Center for Warrior Independence

The VA is seeking a board-certified Internal Medicine or Family Medicine physician with the qualifications to provide leadership as the Medical Director of the National Center for Warrior Independence (NCWI), at the Greater Los Angeles VA Health Care System (GLA).

The NCWI Medical Director will report to the NCWI Executive Director and will have oversight responsibility for the quality and provision of clinical care delivered across all NCWI locations. The NCWI Medical Director will directly supervise the NCWI Chief of Mental Health and the NCWI Chief Nurse, and will serve on relevant executive boards and committees overseeing NCWI operations. The NCWI Medical Director will work closely and collaboratively with executive leadership and all clinical and administrative services, both within NCWI and across GLA, to provide high-quality, efficient, and effective care to the Veterans served by the program. Candidate must be willing to travel across the GLA network to visit NCWI/CERS program sites and other GLA locations as needed. The NCWI Medical Director will be a physician leader responsible for the general, large-scale oversight of processes, procedures, and policies governing clinical operations within the NCWI.

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

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized for highly qualified candidates.
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Authorized, excluding Appraised Value Offer.
Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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

The duties and responsibilities of the NCWI Medical Director include but are not limited to the following:

• Provide general, large-scale oversight of processes, procedures, and policies governing NCWI clinical operations.
• Oversee the quality of clinical care and performance across all NCWI and related programs.
• Initiate and supervise the hiring of NCWI clinical leadership staff, as applicable.
• Ensure appropriate clinical workload, efficiency, productivity, and patient access across NCWI programs.
• Ensure that NCWI clinical staff meet institutional benchmarks for clinical care delivery.
• Participate in Process Improvement and Quality Assurance projects related to NCWI clinical operations.
• Assure that clinical protocols, utilization review, case management, and compliance programs are implemented in accordance with VA and GLA policies across all NCWI programs and related clinical services.
• Ensure effective collaboration across services and locations within NCWI, and engage appropriate stakeholders at GLA to optimize clinical services and care.
• Facilitate and oversee educational programs within NCWI, interacting with educational partners in the training of medical students, residents, and fellows, as well as promoting interdisciplinary training.
• Must be a clinical provider and maintain a clinical role within NCWI, as applicable and in accordance with National Labor Mapping Policies.
• Interacts effectively and in a collaborative manner with medical, nursing, mental health, pharmacy, and ancillary staff to ensure the provision of high-quality clinical care to NCWI patients.
• Promotes a learning environment for all providers within NCWI, actively participates in training of all clinical staff within NCWI, and represents NCWI in appropriate medical center-wide committees.
• Will take call for emergency coverage as scheduled for NCWI/CERS programs in the medical center.
• The NCWI Medical Director should be engaged in research related to NCWI clinical programs and care delivery for improvement of care, as well as appropriate for presentation at academic meetings and publication in the medical literature.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 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.

Additional Requirements:

• Board Certification: The candidate must be board-certified in Internal Medicine or Family Medicine.
• Faculty Appointment: Candidates must be eligible for a faculty appointment at the Associate Professor or Professor level at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Teaching of medical students, residents, and fellows requires a UCLA faculty appointment.

Preferred Experience:

• Candidate must have supervisory and management experience in the delivery of clinical care across a multidisciplinary, multi-site program.

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

Physical Requirements: Physical demands include repetitive body movements, such as frequent reaching, standing, walking, and lifting equipment and/or patients to provide patient care. This position requires extension of the hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction, including above or below shoulder level, during the provision of patient care, including the retrieval of needed equipment and supplies, and contact with the patient. This position requires maintaining an upright posture to perform patient care duties and is typically non-sedentary, frequently involving standing. Position also requires moving about to accomplish tasks, such as assisting with patient ambulation and transferring patients between areas. This position requires raising objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects from one horizontal position to another. Lifting may be used to move a patient from one location to another (e.g., from the exam table to the chair) and to move equipment or supplies.

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.