Physician - Intensivist

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.

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

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): May be available for highly qualified applicants
Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): Learn more.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact Jennifer Isbell-Gross (Jennifer.isbell.gross@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

Duties to be performed include but are not limited to:

• Responsible for the care of critically ill patients to include, but not limited to patient assessment, management, treatment, and airway management/ventilator management. Provide management of life-threatening illness and organ failure.
• Manage patients efficiently with attention to length of stay and care transitions.
• Champion inpatient initiatives to improve overall quality, safety, and patient experience.
• Performs academic bedside rounds with strong interest in medical resident supervision and evaluation.
• Perform daily ICU rounds, coordinating patient care.
• Perform patient history and physical examinations on admission to the hospital.
• Manage consultatively the care of patients on the surgical service, as requested.
• Respond to after-hours medical calls from the community living center, behavioral health, and intensive outpatient rehab.
• Provide highly detailed, timely (same day), and quality documentation in the medical record with attention to completion of encounters.
• Procedural skillsets of endotracheal intubation, central line placement, arterial line placement, bronchoscopy, chest tube insertion, PEG tube placement, thoracentesis, and paracentesis.
• Work in a team setting with other Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, Psychologists, Clinical Pharmacists, Physical Therapists, Registered Nurses, and support staff assigned to perform duties to accomplish the treatment of the Veterans.
• Practice setting to include but not limited to inpatient wards at the Fayetteville campus.
• Provide counseling to Veterans and families to include goals of care and family communication. Coordinate with Palliative Care.
• Adhere to established policies and processes
• Comply with all CPRS documentation procedures
• Comply with local and national performance measures
• Provide consistent customer service with patients/families, staff, facility management, etc.
• Review all Outlook and VISTA email communications prior to completing his/her duty shift.
• Complete and sign all electronic medical records and all orders prior to the completion of each duty shift. Consistent with current medical staff by-laws, all transcribed electronic medical record documents must be signed within twenty-four (24) hours of the encounter regardless of the duty schedule.
• Complete all patient encounters (note) within twenty-four hours of patient visit.
• Meet all performance goals.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am to 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:

• Board Certified/Eligible Intensivist

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.