Physician (Pain Management)

This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until September 30, 2027. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applicants will be October 22, 2026 with subsequent cut-off dates every week. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until position is filled.

The Staff Physician, Pain Management, provides direct clinical pain care to Veterans as a member of the interdisciplinary Pain Management Team at VA Augusta Health Care System, established in accordance with the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016. The incumbent delivers comprehensive, patient-centered pain medical care through biopsychosocial assessment, diagnosis, and longitudinal treatment aimed at improving Veteran function and quality of life, applying the VHA Stepped Care Model for Pain Management. The Staff Physician reports to the Medical Director, Pain Management.

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

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized to highly qualified candidates.
Relocation Incentive: 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

Clinical Duties:

• Provides comprehensive pain evaluation, diagnosis, and longitudinal management for Veterans referred to Pain Management, including chronic non-cancer pain, cancer pain, post-surgical pain, neuropathic pain, and complex regional pain syndromes.
• Delivers care using a biopsychosocial framework, integrating pharmacologic, procedural, behavioral, rehabilitation, and Whole Health / complementary and integrative health modalities appropriate to each Veteran.
• Performs pain-related procedures within credentialed scope of privileges as clinically indicated (procedures may include trigger point injections, joint and bursal injections, epidural steroid injections, medial branch blocks, radiofrequency ablation, sympathetic blocks, and similar interventional pain procedures).
• Manages pharmacologic pain therapy in accordance with the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain, the Opioid Safety Initiative, and VHA controlled substance prescribing standards.
• Provides Medication-Assisted Treatment (MOUD) for Veterans with Opioid Use Disorder within the scope of DEA authority and X-Waiver credentialing (where applicable) in coordination with the Substance Use Disorder program.
• Adheres to Message Manager, encounter completion, and documentation timeliness standards.
• Provides consultative services via e-consult, SCAN-ECHO, telehealth, and clinical video telehealth as assigned.
• Provides Primary Care-Pain integrated services and consultation as assigned to Primary Care Service.
• Functions as a member of (or works closely with) the facility PMOP Triad and participates in program development and process improvement activities as assigned.
• Coordinates care with the interdisciplinary Pain Management Team, including addiction medicine, behavioral medicine, rehabilitation medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and Whole Health team members.
• Participates in interdisciplinary case conferences, pain team huddles, and complex patient case reviews.
• Coordinates transitions of care with Primary Care, Specialty Care, Mental Health, Palliative Care, and Community Care providers.
• Supports patient care in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Service (PM&RS) when assigned, including coverage of Pain clinic providers on leave.
• Complies with all Opioid Safety Initiative requirements including MME monitoring, urine drug screening, PDMP queries, informed consent documentation, and naloxone offering.
• Documents pain treatment agreements and long-term opioid therapy informed consent per facility policy.
• Participates in ongoing peer review, OPPE, and FPPE processes per VHA Handbook 1100.19.
• Reports adverse events and near-misses via JPSR per VHA Handbook 1050.01.
• Maintains compliance with all VHA clinical performance measures applicable to Pain Management.

Work Schedule: 7:30am - 4:00pm Subject to change based on the needs of the agency.

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.
• DEA registration with Schedule II-V authority.
• X-Waiver / buprenorphine prescribing authority preferred (or willingness to obtain within six months of appointment).
• Expertise or experience treating patients with Opioid Use Disorder including experience prescribing buprenorphine strongly preferred.
• Board eligible or board certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, American Board of Anesthesiology, or American Board of Family Medicine, with specialty or subspecialty boarding in Pain Medicine.

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

Physical Requirements: Standing, walking, lifting light loads, assisting patients with positioning and transfers. Must be able to use a computer to input orders, review reports etc. Must be able to communicate directions and patient orders. Light lifting (under 15lbs), light carrying (under 15lbs), use of fingers, far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and 20/40 in the other, hearing (aid permitted), emotional stability, mental stability, working closely with others, working alone, and working with biohazardous materials.

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.