Physician - Clinic Service Chief for Primary Care

The Clinic Service Chief within the Primary Care Service Line works with the Deputy Chief of Primary Care and/or the Associate Chief of Staff Primary Care to provide professional and administrative leadership for the Primary Care Clinic that they supervise. The Clinic Service chief has responsibility for staffing, work assignments, budget, clinical services provided and the day-to-day program operations.

The Clinic Service Chief works closely with the Deputy Chief of Primary Care in a leadership capacity to help manage the overall Clinic Services assigned and will have opportunities to represent the service on facility-wide committees, take part in strategic clinic services initiatives, and provide leadership in key decision-making situations.

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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 Clinic Service Chief position is located at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System in Richmond Virginia and the primary duties include but are not limited to:

• Administers information and analyzes systems to evaluate and enhance the quality of services provided to patients.
• Develops, implements, and evaluates clinical guidelines and protocols to establish appropriate utilization of services.
• Supervises a group of employees organized as inter-professional team performing work at various levels (e.g. physicians, psychologists, nurse practitioners, and program support/clerical staff).
• Provides administrative, technical, and clinical supervision in a manner consistent with a model necessary for accomplishing the work of the service including involvement and efforts at other sites within the Medical Center and/or VISN.
• Performs the administrative and personnel management functions relative to staff supervised.
• Observes worker's performance; demonstrates and conducts work performance critiques.
• Provides informal feedback and periodically evaluates employee performance.
• Assures staff are appropriately oriented and trained to perform duties, and monitors compliance with mandatory VHA training.
• Resolves informal and formal complaints and grievances, developing work improvement plans and recommending personnel action as necessary.
• Advises and counsels staff related to work and administrative matters.
• Effects disciplinary measures as appropriate to the authority delegated in this area.
• Reviews and revises clinic profiles according to program needs.
• Performs a wide range of services and provides technical assistance to state, local, and private agencies and universities and indicated.
• Uses sound judgement in the interpretation of trends and patterns; the application of guidelines; and the recommendation of program enhancements.
• Performs program analysis, development, review, research, design, and contact work as possible with various agencies.
• Performs program related reviews, monitoring, analyzing, assessing and planning of various programs under the Primary Care Service for the clinic assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday at 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:

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

Physical Requirements:
This position requires visual acuity, keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, and manual dexterity. This position requires potentially long periods of continued sitting or standing, transferring objects may be required. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities based on patient needs.

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.